Cloud file storage and sharing · Comparison
Box vs Dropbox vs Microsoft OneDrive
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Box | Dropbox | Microsoft OneDrive |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Saves engineering timeUnlimited storage with single sign-on, e-signatures and Box AI from the Business plan, and HIPAA and FedRAMP support on Enterprise. | Easy to adoptTeam storage built for sharing with clients: link passwords, expiry dates, download blocking and 180-day recovery on the entry team plan. | Worth the priceA terabyte per user with full link controls, file requests, audit logging and a HIPAA BAA for $5.40 per user, with business email and web Office apps. |
| Overall score | 7.3 | 7.6 | 9.2Best |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $5/user/mo | $15/user/mo | $5.40/user/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per user per month, 3 users minimum | Per license per month; storage pooled for the team | Per user per month; 1 TB of OneDrive per user |
| Free option | Individual plan, 10 GB; 14-day trial of business plans | Dropbox Basic, 2 GB; free trial of Standard and Advanced (30 days per the plans page) | Microsoft account, 5 GB; one-month business trial with a card |
| Reference scenario (10 users, 2 TB, annual) | $150/mo on Business ($15 × 10), computed | $150/mo on Standard ($15 × 10), computed | $54/mo on Business Basic without Teams ($5.40 × 10), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $20 per user on Business ($7 / $20 / $33 / $47 from Business Starter to Enterprise) | $18 per user on Standard ($18 / $30 for Standard and Advanced) | $6.48 per user without Teams, $8.40 with Teams |
| Storage on the scenario plan | Unlimited; Business Starter has 100 GB | 3 TB plus 1 TB per additional active license, pooled (12 TB for 10) | 1 TB per user; SharePoint pool of 1 TB plus 10 GB per license |
| Restore deleted files | 30 days by default, adjustable by admins; 50 file versions | 180 days on Standard, 1 year on Advanced | 93 days for work accounts; restore the whole OneDrive to any point in 30 days |
| Password and expiring links | All paid plans | Standard and up | Every business plan |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 1 and 2 Type II (under NDA); ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 report and ISO 27001 certificate cover Standard and up | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 (Office 365 in scope) |
| HIPAA BAA | Enterprise and up ($35) | Standard and up; US admins sign it in the Admin Console | By default through Microsoft's data protection addendum |
| EU data storage | Box Zones add-on, no listed price; checked on Enterprise Plus | By support request: 10+ licenses, annual billing, billing address outside the current region | Follows the sign-up country or region |
| SSO | Business and up | Advanced and up ($24) | Microsoft Entra ID (free version included) |
| Admin activity log | Full user activity tracking from Business Plus ($25) | Audit logs with file event tracking on Advanced; Standard admins see 180 days of activity | Purview Audit (Standard) on Business Basic |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Box Business gives unlimited storage, SSO, link controls and e-signatures for $15 per user. External collaborators, activity tracking and HIPAA move you up the plan ladder, and several add-ons have no listed price. | From its public pages, Dropbox Standard is a complete sharing plan for teams: link controls, file requests, 180-day recovery and a HIPAA BAA at $15 per user. SSO and audit logs need Advanced, and Enterprise and extra storage are priced outside the plans page. | From its public pages, OneDrive in Microsoft 365 Business Basic scores highest here: $5.40 per user with full link controls, 93-day recovery, audit logging and a BAA. Storage is per person, and shared team sites draw on a smaller organization pool. |
Evidence: Box: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Dropbox: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Microsoft OneDrive: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Box review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Box when
- You want unlimited storage and single sign-on at $15 per user.
- Pick Dropbox when
- You want a HIPAA BAA, 180-day recovery and remote wipe on the $15 Standard plan.
From our Box review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Box when
- You want unlimited storage, e-signatures and 1,500+ integrations in one platform.
- Pick Microsoft OneDrive when
- You want the lowest cost, $54 a month for 10 users, with a HIPAA BAA and audit log included.
From our Dropbox review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Dropbox when
- You want a HIPAA BAA, 180-day recovery and remote wipe on a $15 plan.
- Pick Box when
- You want unlimited storage and single sign-on at the same $15 per user, billed annually.
From our Dropbox review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Dropbox when
- You want one pooled team space and 180-day recovery rather than 1 TB per person.
- Pick Microsoft OneDrive when
- You want the lowest cost: $54 a month for 10 users on Business Basic without Teams, with SSO, audit and a BAA.
From our Microsoft OneDrive review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Microsoft OneDrive when
- You want SSO, audit logging and a BAA for $54 a month for 10 users.
- Pick Dropbox when
- You want one pooled team space of 12 TB and 180-day recovery on Standard.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- BoxLowest priceBusiness Starter$5/user/moBilled annually; $7 monthly; 3 to 10 users
- 100 GB of storage, 2 GB uploads
- 25 file versions
- 10 Box Sign requests a month
- DropboxStandard$15/user/moBilled yearly; $18 billed monthly; no minimum team size
- 3 TB for the first license plus 1 TB per additional active license, shared
- Password-protected and expiring links, download blocking, viewer history
- 180 days to restore deleted files and versions
- Admin console, team sharing controls, HIPAA BAA
- Microsoft OneDriveMicrosoft 365 Business Basic (no Teams)$5.40/user/moPaid yearly; $6.48 on a monthly subscription; up to 300 users
- 1 TB of OneDrive per user, SharePoint team sites
- Business email, web and mobile Office apps
- Password, expiry and block-download link settings, file requests
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Box 2026-10-16, Dropbox 2026-10-16, Microsoft OneDrive 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Microsoft OneDriveSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (9.2/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Box$5/user/mo for the Business Starter (billed annually) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Microsoft OneDrive9.2/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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