Dropbox and Box.net: Compare free versions

TipsMake.com - Here are the things about Box.net and Dropbox. They are both cloud storage and synchronization solutions. They are all from the box in the name. They are all great solutions for sharing files in the cloud. They all work well. However, they are completely different.

In short, the Dropbox service revolves around the concept of a magic bag - you put something in the Dropbox folder, and it will be available there for you whenever you need it, anywhere. , offline, online, at work, at home or in a cafe, on the service's home page. Box.net is different. The service is more than an online workplace, focusing on web-based, SharePoint-inspired and GoogleDocs. These differences are even more pronounced in the free version of each service, which we will compare and offer differences in this article.

Price and product packages

Dropbox and Box.net all have free versions that offer cloud storage of up to 5GB. The Dropbox Basic account seems to have more features - you won't get more functionality when upgrading, only more storage space. On the other hand, the Personal version of Box.net is very similar to the 'small' version of Box.net Business (see feature below). The biggest shortcoming of the free version of Box.net is the desktop sync feature. Other information will be discussed later. In this review, we will only talk about what can be owned for free. However, we should still mention a little about the price when you want to upgrade because maybe you want to do that someday.

Dropbox with Box.net: Compare features / prices

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Dropbox, as mentioned before, is very simple. 5GB for free. 50GB is priced at $ 9.99 per month. 100 GB costs $ 19.99 per month. Thus, we can charge about $ 1 per 5GB per month. Pro users also get Pack-Rat, which stores all previous versions and deleted versions of files, instead of deleting them after 30 days.

One interesting thing about Dropbox on Teams accounts is the price of $ 795 per year (about $ 66.25 per month) with a capacity of 350 GB to share for 5 users.

Box.net provides Personal 5GB users for free. Users can increase the capacity of 25 GB at a price of $ 9.99 a month and 50 GB for $ 19.99 per month. On average, about $ 2 for 5GB of storage, double that of Dropbox.

Note : It only gives you additional storage space for the account without providing access to features only available to Bussiness users.

Now, if you upgrade to Bussiness, you will get 500 GB to share to all your users. It costs $ 15 per user per month. With only 3 users, you will have to pay $ 45 per month for 500GB of storage, but there is more functionality.

Like Dropbox, Box.net has a business solution: Box.net Enterprise plan. This is a customized solution - you will need to contact to ask the price.

For all accounts, Dropbox beat Box.net in terms of pricing when it comes to storage capacity and number of users. However, this does not mean that Dropbox has a higher value. It all depends on the needs of the user.

As all said, there is a major competition about free cloud storage. As soon as Amazon Cloud Drive or iCloud or SugarSync starts offering more free storage, other services are also following the trend.

Features of Box.net

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Prices using Dropbox service

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One important thing: Dropbox has a referral program to reward you (and anyone who logs into your referral link) with 250 GB of free storage on Dropbox.

Upload and synchronize

Dropbox is optimized as a cloud synchronization service. Therefore, its power lies in the desktop application. It sits discreetly in the system tray, helping your Dropbox folder to be synced across all machines and in the cloud. To upload or synchronize files, just put it in the Dropbox folder.

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Users can also upload files from the web browser by logging into Dropbox.com. Files posted via web browsers cannot be larger than 300 MB. Synchronized files via the desktop application are not limited by file size.

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The only complicated thing about Dropbox's way of working is that nos restricts your syncing files to a single folder. So if you want to sync several folders from My Photos, some songs from My Music and some files from the desktop, you won't be able to do it without some tips. However, you can still select each folder to sync to the Dropbox folder if you don't want personal data to synchronize with your company's computer.

As mentioned above, Box.net does not have a desktop application (unless you are a Business or Enterprise user). So, Personal account users will only be able to upload files through the browser. Uploading a single file allows you to browse a file on your hard drive.

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Uploading files in groups will run a Java application, helping you drag and drop files into the browser. Files posted should not exceed 25 MB for users of Box.net's Personal account.

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Without a desktop application, it would be more difficult to get files from Box.net to work locally. Users can download each file on Box.net by clicking on the arrow and selecting Download . To download the entire folder, you will have to upgrade the account.

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However, one thing that makes users happy is that you don't have to download files to work on your computer because Box.net allows to display / edit and work directly with files right on the browser.

Working with files in the cloud

This is the bright spot of Box.net. Dropbox cannot edit data online. Users can preview word data, pdf and other popular data types on the browser through shareable links. However, in terms of creating changes on files in Dropbox.com, you can't.

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If you want to edit a file in the Dropbox folder, you will have to use a desktop application, such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, Notepad, Photoshop, . The person who just edited the copy in the Dropbox folder or in the computer and synchronize changes with the cloud. There is only one problem: Desktop software is very expensive. Maybe you like to edit Dropbox files with Google Docs or Picnick or Zoho, but Dropbox's way of working is set up, you can't do that, at least up to this point.

On the other hand, Box.net is all about online editing. This service has its own .webdocs format very similar to the version of Google Docs. However, if you don't want to use this format, you can still edit Box.net files with Zoho Office or any other web application supported by Box.net.

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In addition, at least one other application allows you to directly edit files in Box.net from Microsoft Office, just like you can edit SkyDrive data in Office. It's called DocsInOffice.com - it's still in beta.

In short: Dropbox requires tuyens external editing with the ability to synchronize automatically with the cloud whenever you update a file. Box.net allows online editing as well as editing capabilities with 3rd party applications. Whichever is better depends on the tool you choose. It is also worth mentioning that Box.net will lock files when you edit them online to avoid conflicts. Dropbox will save 2 versions of the data if there is a conflict.

Work and share

Because Dropbox is about offline editing, the ability to expand the work is very high, showing in the shared folder. For example, you and your colleagues use Dropbox. Dropbox folders shared by 2 people are always synchronized on both computers. So, if you upload or edit a certain data on your hard drive, it will be displayed immediately on your co-worker's computer.

Besides, Dropbox also allows you to share single files or entire folders with people via shared links (no need of Dropbox account to display / download files). Just take the link with any file in the Dropbox folder. It will look like:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zw6g8z9hcdnlc8/googlemusicterms.docx

Box.net's online editing capabilities better support the ability to work than Dropbox. Each file has its own backchannel and meta data, including items like tasks, tags and comments. For example, users can edit files with Zoho Office and then explain what they did in the comments section on Box.net. You will also receive an email notification for this information.

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Or, you can also assign other Box.net users a task. You can even assign tasks to a customer. If they are not Box.net users, they will see the quick registration page immediately before they have access.

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Have you seen the basic differences between Box.net and Dropbox? Box.net means that to replace the project management system, data editing software and anything else, you'll have to do a project from start to finish. On the other hand, Dropbox is going in a way that allows you to use any system or software you use - Dropbox is only responsible for syncing files.

Mobility and expansion

The last important thing to talk about is mobility. Both Box.net and Dropbox extend functionality for tablet / mobile devices. Dropbox has a great app for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry. This application is getting better every update.

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Recently, they have added offline viewing capabilities to Dropbox files (add them as Favorites and you can view files without Internet access. Users can view data, PDFs, photos and post them. photo from camera or take a new photo.

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With the iOS version, you can even save some data - like movies - from Safari right on Dropbox.

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Uploading photos from iPhone to Dropbox is easy, you can use this service to wirelessly sync photos and hinfih screenshots instead of cutting your phone to your computer.

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However, the desktop version does not have any editing features. Users can solve this problem with many applications that can plug into the Dropbox API, such as Quickoffice, Documents to Go and PlainText.

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Box.net has a mobile app for Android, iPad and iPhone that is optimized for other smartphones.

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It allows you to do all the same work as with Dropbox - browse files and folders,. Display and share files, save files for offline access, upload photos, comment on files, .

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It also has a Updates card that also provides you with feed information on the data, so you can know who edited the file, comment on flile, complete a task, .

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Along with the ability to edit files in Box.net's mobile application, you basically can't do this. However, thanks to the Box.net API, you can edit Box.net files via a 3rd party service, such as Documents To Go. In fact, Box.net has 3 pages of mobile apps that can be plugged into Box.net.

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Overall, apps for Dropbox and Box.net up to this point are equal. There are a few differences in the interface, but it also doesn't give any service any advantage.

Which service is better: Dropbox or Box.net?

It doesn't make any sense to tell the real winner between Dropbox and Box.net. Unlike Dropbox and Sugarsync, there is a slight overlap in functionality between these two services. However, they are designed for different purposes. The question is: What do you want your cloud storage service to do? If you're looking for a low profile service, syncing files doesn't need to be interfered, use Dropbox. We can ensure that up to 99% of individual users will be satisfied with Dropbox, but for business users still have to review.

However, if you are looking for a cloud-based collaboration, go to Box.net. It has thousands of collaboration features that Drophox does not have. One is the ability to edit data files online. The feature to make comments and tasks is also very noticeable. However, the problem with Box.net's Personal account is that you don't have desktop synchronization. This will make the free version of Box.net completely useless if it is a backup tool. Users can use Box.net as an online office suite. Box.net is the most user-friendly tool for the enterprise environment. Big companies like AARP, Six Flags, MTV, Dell, Harvard Business Publishing, DirecTV and Panasonic all use Box.net and like this service.

However, we are sure that most users do not pay much attention to your title. Most of us want to access files anywhere. And Dropbox is the best sync, file lock and cloud storage tool we've used.

Of course, it would not be possible to try both services within 30 days. They are all free. And if you are not satisfied with both services, try SugarSync.