Cloud file storage and sharing · Comparison
Dropbox vs Box vs Google Drive: Dropbox 7.6, Google Drive 7.4, Box 7.3; 10 users cost $140 to $150
We read the pricing, trust, legal and help center pages of three team file storage services on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 10 users with 2 TB cost, which plan has link passwords, SSO and a HIPAA BAA, and who should pick which.
On this page9 sections
On six indicators read from each vendor's public pages, Dropbox scores 7.6 out of 10, Google Drive 7.4 and Box 7.3. For our reference scenario, 10 users with 2 TB of work files in all, on the cheapest business plan whose storage covers it, billed annually, Google Workspace Business Standard comes to $140 a month and Dropbox Standard and Box Business to $150 each. Dropbox stands out for link controls, 180-day recovery and a HIPAA BAA on its entry team plan; Google Drive for SSO, activity logs, a BAA and an EU data region on a seat that also buys email and documents; Box for unlimited storage with SSO on Business.
All three are in the Good band, and all three publish annual and monthly prices. The scores measure what the public pages commit to, not how fast files sync or how the apps feel, and we did not sign up for any of them.
At a glance
| Dropbox | Box | Google Drive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Team storage with full link controls and long recovery | Unlimited storage with SSO, e-signatures and Box AI | Pooled storage bundled with Gmail, Meet and Docs |
| Free option | Basic, 2 GB; free trial (30 days per the plans page) | Individual, 10 GB; 14-day trial | Google account, 15 GB; 14-day trial |
| Reference scenario (10 users, annual) | $150 on Standard, computed | $150 on Business, computed | $140 on Business Standard, computed |
| Storage on that plan | 3 TB + 1 TB per active license, pooled (12 TB) | Unlimited | 2 TB per user, pooled (20 TB) |
| Password and expiring links | Standard and up | All paid plans | No link passwords; expiry for eligible work accounts |
| Restore deleted files | 180 days | 30 days by default, adjustable | 30 days, then 25 days for admins |
| HIPAA BAA | Standard and up | Enterprise ($35) and up | Accepted in the Admin console |
| SSO | Advanced ($24) and up | Business and up | Every Business plan |
| Score (public pages) | 7.6 Good | 7.3 Good | 7.4 Good |
What the public pages show
Dropbox sells team plans per license. Standard ($15 billed yearly) has no minimum team size and pools 3 TB for the first license plus 1 TB for each additional active license, with password-protected and expiring links, download blocking, file requests, 180 days of recovery and a HIPAA BAA. Advanced ($24) adds SSO, audit logs with file event tracking and ransomware recovery. Enterprise is priced by sales.
Box sells plans with a three-user minimum. Business ($15 billed annually) has unlimited storage, SSO, link passwords and expiry dates, File Request, unlimited e-signatures and Box AI; external collaborators need paid accounts. Business Plus ($25) adds unlimited external collaborators and activity tracking, and Enterprise ($35) adds the HIPAA BAA and FedRAMP Moderate.
Google Drive is sold inside Google Workspace. Business Starter ($7 with a one-year commitment) pools 30 GB per user, so 2 TB of files needs Business Standard ($14), which pools 2 TB per user and includes Gmail, Meet, Docs and eSignature. SSO, Drive log events, sharing policies and mobile account wipe are on every Business plan.
Strengths and things to know
Dropbox. Strengths: every common link control and file requests on Standard; 180 days to restore deleted files; a HIPAA BAA on the entry team plan; one storage pool for the team. Things to know: SSO and audit logs start on Advanced; EU storage is a support request that needs 10 licenses and a billing address outside the current region; the trial asks for billing information; Enterprise and extra storage have no price on the plans page.
Box. Strengths: unlimited storage at $15 per user; SSO on Business; link passwords and expiry on paid plans; e-signatures and 1,500+ integrations included; a long certification list. Things to know: external collaborators on Business need paid accounts with no listed price; the HIPAA BAA starts on Enterprise; the trash keeps 30 days by default; activity tracking and mobile security controls start on Business Plus; Box Zones and other add-ons have no listed price.
Google Drive. Strengths: storage plus email, meetings and documents in one seat; SSO and Drive activity logs on the cheapest plan; a HIPAA BAA accepted in the Admin console; an EU data region on Business Standard. Things to know: no link passwords or file request links listed; access expiry for eligible work accounts, editions not stated; a 30-day trash; and 2 TB of files needs the $14 seat, not the $7 one.
Pricing reality
Reference scenario: 10 users who keep 2 TB of work files in all (about 200 GB each) and share them with colleagues and clients, on the cheapest business plan whose storage covers that, billed annually, at US list prices before tax.
| Service | Plan | Monthly cost | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Business Standard | $140 | Computed: 10 × $14; Business Starter pools only 300 GB for 10 users |
| Dropbox | Standard | $150 | Computed: 10 × $15; 12 TB pooled once 10 licenses are in use |
| Box | Business | $150 | Computed: 10 × $15; Business Starter has 100 GB and a 10-user cap |
Month to month, the same seats cost $168 on Google Workspace, $180 on Dropbox and $200 on Box (computed). The plan you need moves the number more than the entry price. For single sign-on, Dropbox needs Advanced ($240 a month for 10 users), while Box Business and Google Business Standard include it at $150 and $140. For a HIPAA BAA, Dropbox Standard and Google Business Standard stay at $150 and $140, while Box needs Enterprise ($350). All figures are computed on annual terms. New Google Workspace customers also get 10% off the first 20 users for 12 months, which would bring the Google figure to $126 in the first year (our arithmetic).
How we scored them
Every product in this category is scored on the same six indicators, read from the vendor's own pricing, trust, legal and help center pages, with fixed formulas. The overall score is the plain mean. Our methodology page explains how these scores work.
| Indicator | Dropbox | Box | Google Drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing clarity | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| Free plan and trial | 5.2 | 7 | 7 |
| Price for 10 users | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| Sharing controls and recovery | 10 | 9 | 3.5 |
| Compliance and data residency | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| Admin and security controls | 7.8 | 8.4 | 10 |
| Overall | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.4 |
Pricing clarity reflects prices the pages leave out: two for Dropbox, three for Box, one for Google. Dropbox's lead comes from sharing and recovery, where it has every link control, file requests and 180 days on Standard. Google Drive scores lowest on sharing because Drive lists no link passwords or file requests, but highest on admin controls, with SSO, activity logs, device wipe and sharing policies on every Business plan. Box's compliance score reflects the HIPAA BAA and EU storage starting above Business.
Also in this category
Microsoft OneDrive scores 9.2: Microsoft 365 Business Basic without Teams costs $54 a month for 10 users (computed), with 1 TB per user, link passwords and expiry, file requests, 93-day recovery, audit logging and a BAA by default; storage is per person, and shared SharePoint sites draw on a pool of 1 TB plus 10 GB per license. pCloud scores 5.8: $79.90 a month for 10 users on Business (computed), with client-side encryption included and an EU or US region chosen at sign-up, while the pages we read state no SOC 2 report, HIPAA BAA or SSO.
Who should choose which
- Choose Dropbox if you share files with clients and want link passwords, expiry dates, file requests, 180-day recovery and a HIPAA BAA on a $15 plan. Look elsewhere if you need SSO or audit logs at that price.
- Choose Box if you want unlimited storage, SSO and e-signatures in one platform at $15 per user. Look elsewhere if you work with many outside collaborators on Business or need a HIPAA BAA below Enterprise.
- Choose Google Drive if you also need business email, meetings and documents, and want SSO, activity logs, a BAA and an EU region on the same $14 seat. Look elsewhere if you need password-protected links or file requests.
Bottom line
From public pages alone, Dropbox edges out Google Drive and Box, 7.6 to 7.4 and 7.3: all three cost $140 to $150 a month for 10 users in our scenario. Dropbox puts the most sharing control and recovery on its entry team plan, Google Drive the most admin and compliance control, bundled with email and documents, and Box the most storage, with SSO included. For all three, compare the plan that has the SSO, audit log or HIPAA BAA you need, not the entry price.
How we checked
We read the vendors' pricing pages and plan tables, trust and compliance pages, legal terms and help center articles on Oct 16, 2026. Box's pricing page answers plain requests with a bot check and fills in prices by script, so we read it in a browser and compared its plan table with the Internet Archive copy of Oct 12, 2026, which matches. Dropbox's monthly prices come from the same plans page with monthly billing selected. We did not sign up, start a trial or call an API. Facts the pages did not state, such as the price of Box's paid external collaborators or which Workspace editions get Drive access expiry, are left out rather than guessed. Every figure is on the vendors' pages as of that date or, where marked, computed from them.
