Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing Dropbox vs Microsoft OneDrive, the Slant community recommends Dropbox for most people. In the question“What are the best cloud storage services?” Dropbox is ranked 9th while Microsoft OneDrive is ranked 15th. 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 Integrates with Microsoft Office software
It integrates with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc as if you were using OneDrive locally.
Pro Share files and folders easily
You can choose what files and folders to share with other people then send them a link.
Pro No setup for Windows 8/8.1/10
If you use Windows 8 or later, OneDrive is already built in your system and can be accessed via file explorer.
Pro Collaboration via Office 365
If you use Office 365 with OneDrive, you can share a file to edit collaboratively in real time.
Pro Photos taken with a smartphone can be set to automatically upload to OneDrive
When Android, iOS and Windows Phone users take a photo with their phone it can be set to automatically upload to OneDrive via app.
Pro Offers 15GB of storage for free
Pro Unlimited storage for Office 365 users
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 No client for Linux
No client for Linux.
Con Old versions and deleted files aren't available online, just on one computer.
On some other services you can see previous versions and deleted files for a time, but with OneDrive, these are only available on the computer the edit was made. So if someone who has write permission on your shared folder deletes your stuff you just have to ask them to go in their recycle bin (and hope they didn't empty it!), which makes it less useful for teams.
Con Online OneDrive are slow
Compared to other cloud storage, the web interface of Onedrive is slow. It got a slight delay on every action like opening a folder, delete, etc.
Con Recycle bin doesn't support replace
Imagine you have 100 folders to be restored, and they cannot be restored because existing folder is already in your main folder and you intend to overwrite them but they don't support it.
Con Time limit for inactivity
Based on OneDrive's terms of service, no account login within one year will be automatically terminated.
Con Strictest code of conduct
Terms of Service forbid any kind of nudity, or that incites, advocates, or expresses pornography or racism among other things.
