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Add to SafariWhen comparing Dropbox vs IDrive, the Slant community recommends Dropbox for most people. In the question“What are the best cloud backup services?” Dropbox is ranked 8th while IDrive is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Dropbox is:
You can use Dropbox via website, by installing a desktop client that creates a folder that you simply drag and drop files into, or with their mobile app. Everything synchronizes across all devices used and cloud storage. And Dropbox offers easy methods of sharing whatever is within it.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to use
You can use Dropbox via website, by installing a desktop client that creates a folder that you simply drag and drop files into, or with their mobile app. Everything synchronizes across all devices used and cloud storage. And Dropbox offers easy methods of sharing whatever is within it.
Pro Cross-platform desktop and mobile
Dropbox is available on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, OS X and Linux. By having a client for so many OS's pretty much anyone is covered no matter what kind of device or OS they are using.
Pro Allows sharing a folder
Using a desktop client: right click on the folder you want to share and select Dropbox > Share This Folder, then enter the e-mail addressees of people you want to share the folder with.
Pro Smart updates to big files
If a small portion of the file is changed it sends/receives only the differences (not the whole file), which is fast and bandwidth-efficient.
Pro Allows sharing a single file via link
Whether using desktop client or web interface, simply right click on the file you want to share and select Dropbox > Share link, then send the link to the people you want to share the file with. The recipient does not require a Dropbox account.
Pro Up to 18GB of free storage space
Dropbox personal accounts start out free, with 2GB of space, but users can get extra space by recommending the site to friends, or taking part in events like "Dropquest", where users can win extra space by solving puzzles.
Pro Linux support
Dropbox offers native Linux support, integrates with Nautilus file manager.
Pro Reliable
Pro Desktop client has no file size limit
As long as you have enough storage available, you can upload files of any size using Dropbox desktop client.
Pro Folders can be downloaded compressed to save bandwidth
To save bandwidth and download speed you can choose to compress a folder into a zip archive for download.
Pro Adjustable bandwidth use
To not slow down the network or save traffic you can limit the upload and download speeds of Dropbox.
Pro Lots of addons and integrations
There are official and third-party Dropbox add-ons that extend the functionality of the service and add ease of use of existing features.
Additionally, Dropbox can be integrated with existing applications to bring its functionality to other apps.
Pro 30-day version control
Dropbox keeps deleted and earlier versions of files for a month.
Pro Instant disaster recovery
Your files always synced online means instant disaster recovery. When your hard drive becomes unbootable, pick up another laptop and just carry on with your life from where you last saved.
Pro Available free storage can be increased with referrals
You get extra free space for you and your friend if they sign up.
Pro Fast sync speed
Pro Web UI admin console has a feature to individually update IDrive program *settings* on each device or make all the same
This is very helpful to remotely update one or more devices or ensure all settings are the same on devices when managing multiple device backups on the same account.
Pro Web UI admin console has a feature to individually update IDrive *installed program version* on each device or make all the same
This enables updating the installed version on remote devices.
Pro The client UI has a backup progress indicator
The progress indicator can show total bytes backed up and remaining, and the file that's being backed up.
Pro The client UI "Backup" tab has a summary list of folders and files and their sizes selected for backup
Pro Reasonably priced subscription plans
It's one of the few options with subscription plans for unlimited devices and tiered backup quotas, and not a ridiculous price.
Pro It's one of the cheapest options
Cons
Con Too little free space
There is just too little of free space available comparing to the competition.
Con Not secure
They don't apply end-to-end encryption, files are visible to admins, governments, etc..
Con No privacy
Extensive collecting and distribution of user data to commercial third parties.
Con Consumes a lot of CPU resources when syncing many files
Con All-or-nothing (non-selective) upload
Uploading generated contents (cache, compiled code, etc.) is prone to conflicts, wastes bandwidth and free space.
Con Low bandwidth
Con Dropbox keeps deleting features, chasing customers away
For instance, all photo albums got deleted. It used to be very easy to share a couple og photos, now it's PAINFUL and must be done file by file.
Con Nocive development model
Takes a lot of decisions that usually damage community, from deleting features to making impossible to use with other filesystems than ext4 because they decided without a plausible reason (they said it was about xattrs, but all modern linux filesystems supports xattrs, so it's bs.)(they remove this later, but it's too late).
Con Problems when synching between Linux and Windows devices (unconfirmed)
This summer I lost thousands of files due to this problem on older projects which subsequently needed revising and had to be rebuilt as tons of the source was gone.
Con Restricted only to 3 devices for FREE accounts
Recently dropbox decreased the number of linked devices to 3, so you can't have more than 3 linked devices. This is problematic if you use Dropbox to sync between your computers.
Con Can unintentionally delete your files if you reinstall your OS without closing Dropbox
If you reinstall the operation system for your PC and you do not close Dropbox, it will delete all files.
Con Support is slow to respond or non-responsive
They offer same-day responses when emailed feature requests but take days and days and non-helpful responses when inquired on issues.
Con IDrive program does not auto-update to new versions (many other backup programs do)
While not having an automated version upgrade doesn't enable unattended backup (particularly desired for remote devices or for non-techy users), these options exist:
- The web UI admin console has an option to update the version.
- When a new version exists, an "Upgrade" button appears on the client UI.
Con The backup often misses files
While testing it by editing a file, the app missed it for many hours. However, it usually found the file a many runs later/the next day and backed it up. This flakiness is enough to be concerned.
Con The backup regularly "locks up" on a file in OS-specific directory during backup
When including OS-specific directories in the backup, it regularly freezes on a file, and never the same file. It's possible to cancel the backup, run it again, and it almost always works. Support said not to backup OS directories, and this is true for other backup products too; CrashPlan did not have this issue.
Con Requires too much manual monitoring because it is an unreliable product
It's necessary to regularly check if it's working because it can lock-up on some files, or continually say "verifying files". It's a flakey product.
