Cloud file storage and sharing · Comparison
Box vs Google Drive 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 | Google Drive | 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. | Worth the priceTeam storage bundled with business email, meetings and documents in one seat, with SSO, Drive activity logs and a HIPAA BAA on every Business 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 | 7.4 | 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 | $7/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 user per month; storage pooled across the organization | Per user per month; 1 TB of OneDrive per user |
| Free option | Individual plan, 10 GB; 14-day trial of business plans | Google account, 15 GB; 14-day Workspace trial | 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 | $140/mo on Business Standard ($14 × 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) | $16.80 per user on Business Standard flexible ($8.40 / $16.80 / $26.40) | $6.48 per user without Teams, $8.40 with Teams |
| Storage on the scenario plan | Unlimited; Business Starter has 100 GB | 2 TB per user, pooled (20 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 | 30 days in the trash; admins can restore 25 days more | 93 days for work accounts; restore the whole OneDrive to any point in 30 days |
| Password and expiring links | All paid plans | No link passwords; access expiry for eligible work accounts | Every business plan |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 1 and 2 Type II (under NDA); ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (Workspace in scope) | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 (Office 365 in scope) |
| HIPAA BAA | Enterprise and up ($35) | Accepted by admins 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 | Data region policy from Business Standard | Follows the sign-up country or region |
| SSO | Business and up | Third-party identity provider on every Business plan | Microsoft Entra ID (free version included) |
| Admin activity log | Full user activity tracking from Business Plus ($25) | Drive log events on every Business plan | 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, Google Drive in Workspace ties with OneDrive for the top compliance and admin scores here, for $14 per user with email and documents included. Its sharing tools are simpler: no link passwords or file requests, and a 30-day trash. | 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; Google Drive: 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 need link passwords, expiry dates, file requests and e-signatures in a storage platform.
- Pick Google Drive when
- You want email, meetings and documents with storage, and SSO, activity logs, a BAA and EU storage on a $14 seat.
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 Google Drive review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Google Drive when
- You want SSO, activity logs, a HIPAA BAA and EU storage on the same seat.
- Pick Box when
- You want unlimited storage, link passwords and expiry dates, and e-signatures in a storage platform.
From our Google Drive review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Google Drive when
- You work in Docs, Sheets and Slides and want storage pooled across the team.
- Pick Microsoft OneDrive when
- You work in Office files and want the lowest seat price, $5.40 on Business Basic without Teams.
From our Microsoft OneDrive review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Microsoft OneDrive when
- You work in Office files and want the lowest seat price with link passwords and file requests.
- Pick Google Drive when
- You want storage pooled across the team and work in Docs, Sheets and Slides.
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
- Google DriveBusiness Starter$7/user/mo1-year commitment; $8.40 flexible; up to 300 users
- 30 GB pooled storage per user
- Gmail with your domain, Meet for 100 participants
- SSO, Drive log events, remote account wipe
- 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, Google Drive 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
Add a product
Search by product name or by what it does, such as “email” or “feature flags”. 1 more fits in this comparison.