Dropbox Pricing: Plans & Discounts in 2020
Most of the best cloud storage providers choose to separate their features into several tiered plans. Although this usually results in a better deal for the end user, cloud storage pricing tiers can become complicated and confusing. In this article, we’ll be looking at how Dropbox prices its products to help you find the right plan (we have a guide to what Dropbox is if you’re not familiar with the service).
Dropbox offers six plans for users, and each has a free trial, except for the Enterprise plan. Downloading a piece of software for yourself is always the best way to check if it’s for you, but our Dropbox review has more in-depth information about the features and security that you can expect.
If you want to give Dropbox a long-term test or just need it for sharing a file or two, try the free Basic plan. With an email address and a password, you can store up to 2GB indefinitely, and begin to share and transfer data to other users.
Dropbox Personal Pricing
All three of Dropbox’s personal plans provide the same protections for your data. Although Dropbox’s security isn’t among the best, it doesn’t lock what it has behind the more expensive tiers. You can also access the desktop UI and mobile apps, even if features like “smart sync” and “offline file access” are restricted.
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Dropbox Plus
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Dropbox Professional
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The free Basic account provides little more than the bare minimum for file sharing and storage. You’re limited to 2GB of space and 100MB transfers. With these restrictions, you won’t be using it for large projects or keeping many files long term, so although this is a good plan, there are better free cloud storage solutions available.
You can upgrade your Dropbox account at any time, and the Plus plan is a substantial step up. It provides priority email support, as well as features like “smart sync” and Dropbox Rewind, the latter of which can reverse the state of your account by up to 30 days.
With 2TB of storage space and a 2GB transfer limit, this in-between option is competitive with similar products, especially if you pay yearly.
The Professional option isn’t quite as cost-effective when looking at its 3TB of storage. However, the 100GB transfer limit, extra sharing options and 180-day Dropbox Rewind period will push this plan past its competitors for some users. If you regularly need to share or transfer many files, this is one of the best options on the market.
Dropbox Business Pricing
Dropbox aims its business plans at bigger teams. It offers greater control over any file shared across your network and provides varying administrator powers to manage how users can sign in to or modify the system. Few providers make it as easy to share and sync data, so it’s easily among the best cloud storage for collaboration.
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Standard
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Advanced
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Enterprise
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Other than being limited to 2GB transfers, Business Standard provides all the benefits of the Professional plan, as well as extra administrative controls and features to make collaboration easier. If you won’t be storing more than 5TB, this is a cheap and powerful plan. However, for smaller businesses, a shared Professional plan may be a better value.
The Business Advanced plan is a significant improvement, with no storage cap and a few extra admin controls. If you are set on using Dropbox for its sharing and sync features, then it’s worth checking out the 30-day free trial of this plan. However, if the unlimited storage space is all you are after, programs like OneDrive for Business may be a better choice.
Business Enterprise is the final plan, and it’s set up differently from the others. Rather than having set features and pricing, you have to contact support to work out what you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it, although it’s generally aimed at larger organizations.
Is Dropbox Worth the Price?
For file sharing and temporary storage, the Basic free option is fine. As the plans increase in price, it starts to lose some value compared to its competitors. However, unless Dropbox Professional gets some new features or more space, the Plus plan is a great mid-range option for individuals at a reasonable price.
When looking at cloud storage for businesses, the more expensive Professional, Standard and Advanced plans are all worth considering. Although they aren’t as competitive on price per terabyte, they do provide plenty of features for collaboration and sharing to keep them ahead of the pack.
Across its whole range of products, Dropbox is a feature-rich program at a reasonable price. So even against some very competitive alternatives, the pioneer of cloud storage is still one of the top players.
Have you tried out Dropbox? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
Dropbox Pricing FAQ
How Much Does Dropbox Cost per Month?
If you want a step up from the free plan, the Plus plan costs just $11.99 per month, or $9.99 per month when billed yearly. Although this isn’t the cheapest 2TB of cloud storage, it will give you plenty of features to sink your teeth into.
Is It Worth Paying for Dropbox?
Whether or not a program is worth buying depends on your requirements. However, if the Basic free plan isn’t quite good enough, there are free trials for the paid plans, and each offers a decent value for its price.
With a handful of A-levels completed, Robin followed his passions for learning and informing others, finding a place among the CommQueR.com team. Between writing about software and creating fantasy worlds, he’s either losing games of Civilisation or darting about the UK in search of inspiring views and learning about each area’s history.