The 8 Top Free and Open Source Dropbox Alternatives. Businesses, big or small, have a lot of digital stuff. I’m talking about everything from accounting spreadsheets to email messages to contacts to legal documents to invoices to business cases. Many small businesses don’t use a shared or cloud- based file storage system—all their files are small enough to save on local computers. Yet there often comes a breaking point when. Many businesses go right to Dropbox, which, according to Gartner, is “the best- known provider of cloud file storage and sharing, with the largest user base for consumer services.” Yet “best- known” isn’t always “best for your small business.” In fact, there are tons of free Dropbox alternatives that are better than the original. Dropbox alternatives. To be clear, there’s a lot that Dropbox does right (if you have a strong opinion on it, leave a review). When filtering through the huge number of free and open source file storage services, I found businesses tended to care most about these five features: 1. Free storage Dropbox’s free storage starts at a measly 2 GB, with the potential to upgrade to 1. GB (users get 5. 00 MB per referral and bonuses for following Dropbox on social media). As I researched Dropbox competitors, I found an overwhelming number of free storage software options offering a cap of 2 GB or 5 GB, so the minimum for this list was raised to 1. GB. Doing so eliminated some better- known file sharing services, such as Sugar. AdsFix, for techs and advanced users, is designed to disinfect the shortcuts infected by certified-search-toolbar, 22Find, awesomehp, nation-zoom and others. Download Dropbox. Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically. GLADINET enables private file sharing for businesses with its self-hosted dropbox alternative for enterprise file sync and share. Brandable, private cloud storage.
Sync. Locally- hosted options are confined by hardware capabilities, so they were not subject to this restriction. Security. Dropbox uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) network encryption protocols (TLS and SSL are essentially the same thing) when moving your files around. It also uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for files at rest. AES is so secure it’s the National Security Agency’s only approved publicly accessible cipher and it’s used to protect government classified information. That’s all to say, Dropbox is super secure, and small businesses would probably prefer a similar level of security for their file storage. Therefore, all recommended software here have TLS/SSL and/or AES encryption. Mobile apps. Dropbox offers free Android, i. OS, and Windows mobile apps. Recommendations here were required to offer at least one free app for one of those services. Collaboration and sharing features. One of Dropbox’s best features is the ability for files to move from device to device and from user to user. All programs recommended here provide sharing features. Scalability Unless you go for one of the locally- hosted, open- source Dropbox competitors listed below, there’s a good chance that your business will eventually need to upgrade. Dropbox jumps from its free account to Dropbox Plus at $9. TB of storage space. The free Dropbox alternatives listed below must scale at a similar rate or be an entirely free system with more than 1. GB of storage available. With all those qualifications in mind, I sifted through hundreds of file storage services and ended on the eight free or open source Dropbox alternatives in this list. They are arranged alphabetically, as each free file storage system offers unique benefits. When it comes to file sharing there is probably no greater rivalry than Dropbox vs Box. That’s because both products are incredibly similar: both provide intuitive file storage and sharing over a public cloud, both provide high- grade file security, and both can easily work as an online business center. Box’s main customer base are businesses, whereas Dropbox largely caters to consumers. That’s why Box sometimes markets itself as a project management solution, complete with tasks and discussions around relevant files. It also prides itself on being secure enough on a number of global compliance fronts, including HIPAA, PCI, FINRA 1. Fed. RAMP. Using Box functions similarly to Dropbox too—simply drag files into the application for them to upload. However, unlike Dropbox, Box’s free, personal edition also integrates with popular programs like Google Apps, Office 3. Outlook, and provides some advanced file- sharing features like granular permissions setting, custom URLs, and a number of free Box- branded add- ons, like Box Capture, Box Assured, and Box Notes. Free storage. 10 GBSecurity. SSL/TLS, 2- Factor Authentication, and 2. AESMobile apps. Android (4. OS (2. 9 stars)Windows phone (4. Collaboration features. Comments. Document preview. Integrations. Note- taking tools. Permissions setting. Share files. Tasks. Pricing. The first tier of upgrades can go one of two ways: individual users can upgrade for $1. GB of storage. Business can also upgrade for just $5 a month for 1. GB, but that “starter” program requires a minimum of three users. Pros. An emphasis on collaboration makes Box an excellent choice for small teams. Enterprise- level file security. Free plans still have access to standard customer support. Cons. Free version provides no version control. No free storage expansion options (Dropbox allows its users to “earn” more storage)Slow and unreliable i. Phone and i. Pad apps. Used Box? Leave a review! Image via Tech. Crunch. If you’re looking for a Dropbox alternative that’s easy to use, offers plenty of free storage, and puts an emphasis on file sharing, Cloudup may be your best bet. Cloudup is to Dropbox as instant messaging is to email; it’s faster and simpler but doesn’t provide the labeling and infrastructure that some users enjoy from Dropbox’s service. Instead, Cloudup automatically renders an image of all hosted files—from documents to music files to movies—for Pinterest- like scannability. Cloudup uses simple drag- and- drop uploading and allows users to send file links as they work—a feature Dropbox doesn’t have at all. While file upload size is capped at 2. MB, Cloudup provides 2. GB of free storage to its users, making it one of the largest free file sharing and storage options available. It doesn’t have version control, commenting, or even an option to upgrade to more storage (so you would have to migrate your files if you used all your space). Cloudup is great for freelancers and businesses that do not intend to grow larger than five people, but that’s it. Free storage. 20. GBSecurity. SSL/TLSMobile apps. Android (4. 3 stars)Collaboration features. Document preview. Share files. Visual, shareable “streams”Pricing. Free. Pros. Gorgeous aesthetic for a pleasurable user experience. Incredibly intuitive—if you can drag- and- drop, you can use this service. Password protection available for “streams,” which are essentially visual folders. Cons. File upload size is capped at 2. MB No options to scale, so it’s best for freelancers. Support is limited to Twitter and email. Used Cloudup? Leave a review! While some other popular Dropbox competitors like One. Drive and Sync were nixed when creating the requirements for this piece, Google Drive prevailed. If you’re already using other Google apps like Gmail, extending into its free file storage and sharing ecosystem is often an obvious choice. Once you create a Google account, you can access Google Drive through your browser, mobile phone, or through its app. Use its system to create folders as you would on your desktop and take advantage of its starring and labeling systems to keep yourself organized. While surprisingly still not as robust as its search engine, Google Drive does provide a search function to find missing files. Users can share files on Google Drive privately or publicly. Each type of Google file (like Google Sheets, the free spreadsheet app, or Google Docs, the free word- processing tool) also comes with a number of extensions so you can customize as needed. Free storage. 15 GB and unlimited low- resolution photo storage. Security. SSL/TLS, 2- Factor Authentication, and 2. AESMobile apps. Android (4. OS (4. 7 stars)Collaboration features. Comments. Digital signature. Document editing. Document preview. Note taking. Permissions tools. Plenty of add- on apps, like Word. Press, Panda. Doc, and Mind. Meister. Share files. Tasks. Version history. Pricing. Upgrades start at $1. GB of storage or 1 TB for $9. Pros. Popular system that’s easy to sync with third parties. Searchable, easy- to- use content management system. Well- loved mobile apps for Android and i. OSCons. Can’t directly edit files that aren’t a part of Google’s App suite. Gmail counts towards total file storage cap. Slower upload speed than Dropbox. Used Google Drive? Leave a review! If one of the reasons you’re looking for a Dropbox competitor is that you want something secure and based outside of the United States (and out of the NSA’s clutches), consider hubi. C. That’s over a thousand times more free space than Dropbox offers. Not only that, but hubi. C doesn’t limit maximum file upload size and can double as a full backup for your computer. While hubi. C is certainly a standout file sharing and file storage tool, its feature set is pretty thin. Most notably, it requires that all links to a user’s file have an expiration date, and hubi. C needs its users to create a new link every time a file is modified (the changes don’t automatically show up). There are no available password protections, so be careful with whom you share your files. Free storage. 25 GB with the potential to get up to 2. TSecurity. SSL/TLS and data is hosted between three data centers Mobile apps. Android (3. 7 stars)i. OS (4. 0 stars)Windows Phone (4. Collaboration features. Pricing. Upgrades start at ? Leave a review! Nextcloud 1. Even though it just came out in 2. Dropbox competitor, own. Cloud), it has gotten major positive coverage from tech sites like Tech. Republic, ZDNet, and CIO. I predict that, over the next few years, Nextcloud will become synonymous with file storage just as Dropbox has over the next few years. Nextcloud tends to attract three kinds of users: those who are highly security minded, those who want huge scalability potential, and those who are fans of other open- source projects, like Collabora Online.
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August 2017
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