Dropbox and Google Drive are easily the most popular cloud storage services out there today. You can use these tools to sync and share files across multiple devices. In this article, we compare between Dropbox and Google Drive and tell you which the better service of the two is.
Actually, such a comparison should not matter because most people have both Dropbox and Google Drive on their laptops, PCs or mobile devices. Still, it would be interesting to know which side comes on top in a Dropbox versus Google Drive contest.
As far as popularity is concerned, it’s a close contest, with both Dropbox and Google Drive claiming to have close to 400 million users. Both cloud storage services feature similar drag-and-drop features, offer free storage to an extent and ask you to pay more for additional storage. Now, let’s look at the differences.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: Storage Space For The Price
Dropbox gives you 2 GB of storage for free while Google Drive gives you more – 5GB for free. With Dropbox, you can get more storage for free if you connect your account with Facebook – up to 125 MB and with Twitter – again, up to 125 MB. You can get additional storage by referring other people to Dropbox, which is great. Dropbox’s paid plan starts at $9.99/month for 100 GB, and costs $49.99/month for 500 GB.
Google Drive gives you 25 GB of storage for as little as $2.49/month, and 100 GB of storage for just $4.99/month. If you have a small or medium-sized business, Google Drive offers 16 TB of storage for $799/month. Clearly, Google Drive’s plans are cheaper than those offered by Dropbox.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: Desktop Client
You get very similar desktop clients with both Google Drive and Dropbox. They allow you to access and open all files in a desktop folder. However Dropbox offers more flexibility as it allows you to open the files in MS Word as well, while Google Drive expects you to export the file from Google Docs and then open it in MS Word.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: File Type Support
With Google Drive, you can open and edit any type of file online. Dropbox allows that as well, except that you will have to download the files before you can edit them. So, this round goes to Google Drive.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: Sharing Features
Both Google Drive and Dropbox offer a seamless sharing experience. The difference is that while Dropbox allows you to share from its desktop app, Google Drive expects you to do so only through its Web app. So when it comes to sharing, you will have to do a lot less work with Dropbox than with Google Drive.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: Compatibility
Both Dropbox and Google Drive are compatible a majority of platforms – Windows, iOS and Android as well as on Linux and Blackberry. Only, you cannot use these services on Windows Phone just as yet.
Dropbox versus Google Drive: Security
Google Drive is linked to your Gmail account, which provides for a two-step authentication. You get a two-step authentication with Dropbox as well – here you are required to enter your password AND a six-digit security code to sign in.
So, Which is the Best Online Cloud Storage 2016?
It really is hard to tell which of the two online cloud storage services is better. But Google Drive is obviously cheaper than Dropbox and gives you much better online functionality. Dropbox has the first mover’s advantage though, as most people know about Dropbox and have it on their computer or mobile devices. Google Drive does not have the same level of name recognition as Dropbox as yet.
