Originally the leader in online file storage, DropBox has declined in relevance due to rather restrictive and somewhat illogical policies for providing and counting storage space.
Although originally a celebrated innovator in the consumer online file storage, Dropbox’s innovations and features do not seem to have kept up with technology progress and user expectations.
- Firstly, DropBox only provides 2Gb of free storage space, compared to Microsoft OneDrive’s 5Gb and Google Drive’s 15Gb.
- Secondly, DropBox insists on counting and charging every user for the shared folders and files. I.e. if you are are sharing 3Gb of photos with 4 friends, DropBox charges each of you for 3Gb of space – so you are collectively paying DropBox for 15Gb of storage!
“The size of a shared folder will be counted against the quota of every member of that folder, unless each person is on the same Dropbox Business team or Dropbox Family plan.”
See https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/shared-folder-count-against-storage
There quite a number of disgruntled users who bemoan the decline of DropBox’s features and express their frustrations. By comparison, other popular online storage providers have more generous and rational policies:
- Google Drive
Free space: 15Gb
“Files in ‘Shared with me’ and shared drives. These files only take up space in the owner’s Google Drive.”
See https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6374270#zippy=,items-that-dont-take-up-space
Click for more Google Drive information. - Microsoft OneDrive
Free space: 5Gb (or 5.5Gb when you click this link!)
“Shared folders added to your OneDrive do not use any of your OneDrive storage space. They only count against the folder owner’s storage space.”
See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-and-sync-shared-folders-to-onedrive-for-home-8a63cd47-1526-4cd8-bd09-ee3f9bfc1504
Click for more Microsoft OneDrive information.
As a result, DropBox is losing in popularity and many are migrating their online storage to other providers such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, iCloud, etc.