Box vs Microsoft OneDrive comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 7, 2022
 

Categories and Ranking

Box
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (4th), Cloud Storage (9th), Digital Asset Management (2nd), Document Management Software (1st)
Microsoft OneDrive
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Content Collaboration Platforms category, the market share of Box is 12.0% and it increased by 41.7% compared to the previous year. The market share of Microsoft OneDrive is 8.3% and it decreased by 40.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Content Collaboration Platforms
Unique Categories:
Enterprise Content Management
3.7%
Cloud Storage
15.4%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

Shrikant Pillay - PeerSpot reviewer
May 20, 2022
Allows you to upload and download files quickly but lacks integration with Office 365
For enterprise users, the data is in a local repository. We use it for files for the end user process. This is a cloud solution. In my current organization, we have over 10,000 people using this solution. I use it very extensively. Users these days are working remotely You can upload your bin,…
AN
Sep 27, 2020
Collaboration and sharing that is experiencing growing pains as it comes into its own
Syncing is one area that can be improved. When you click on sync on the online version, what happens is that it creates a drive on your desktop. Basically, it is like you have the online version directly on your desktop. Syncing has been an issue sometimes when there are huge folders. It might not be a huge folder in terms of space, but when there are a large number of files. When there are a lot of files, that is when the issue arises. For example, say you have a folder that has 200 files. When you sync it to a computer, it takes some time to load. When people start updating stuff in that same folder, it can slow down your computer because it updates you locally as well every time there is a change. That constant syncing can cause performance issues. It works fine if it is a smaller number of folders and files, but whenever there is a large number of files, that has been an issue for sure. They need to really improve on that. That is the biggest weakness of the solution, I would say. Syncing is number one. Another thing is when you delete stuff. You do not get a notification if you delete something online. So for example, if you are the owner of a folder and I have access to that folder and there is a file there and I delete it, it actually goes to your recycle bin. In other words, it goes to the owner's recycle bin. That is fine, but then the owner never gets a notification. So, if you have 10 files and then you notice that one is missing, you do not even know who deleted it or when it got deleted. It is residing in your recycle bin, and you can see that it is there. But you do not even know that you have to look at your recycle bin because you never got a notification. That is really a potentially huge issue with the solution. If you are a team leader and you do not know if someone is deleting your stuff, you might eventually lose something by accident. Another thing is permissions. There is no way to set non-delete permissions. You can be a viewer or an editor. If you are an editor, you can delete files. If you are a viewer, you can not delete files. But there is no option to remove the delete privileges from an editor. I think other companies, like Box and Dropbox, have that feature and they allow you to make it so you can edit but you do not have the ability to delete. You want people to be able to edit without deleting probably most of the time. I think that these are some pretty basic and fundamental things that Microsoft just does not have. But they could do even more with permissions. Just having viewing and editing permission is pretty basic, but even in Box, a person can view and edit, but not download. Or a person can view, edit, and download. The point is that there is more to do than just view and edit. There are many different options and combinations in Box that OneDrive just does not have. It is not so interesting to just have more new features. What is more important is having features that are really necessary and already exist in other competing products. That is something that I think Microsoft should strive for with OneDrive. Microsoft is probably one of the biggest companies in the world. If something like Box or Dropbox has better features than you, then you really need to look at your products and make some revisions.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I like that Box makes it easy to deploy virtual machines."
"Using Box for cloud storage allows us to focus on the service and maintaining infrastructure."
"Box is very user-friendly; more so than SharePoint."
"You can upload your bin, upload your files quickly, and download your files quickly. It provides a lot of other alternatives."
"The most valuable feature of Box is security."
"The solution is scalable."
"Office Integration. The full integration into the Microsoft Office products is just perfect."
"Governance and ease of use are why I think a lot of people like Box, including ourselves. Basically, we're concerned about what information is being sent to Box, so we use a lot of the Box governance features to make sure that what is being sent to Box is appropriate. If it is not appropriate, it is not allowed to be sent. It is also pretty easy to use. It is the easiest to use for customers and for technologists."
"Scalability is good just because it is a cloud-based product."
"It is good as a central hub for the storage of documents and sharing among team members."
"It's pretty easy to learn. Once someone taught me, I was able to navigate it quite easily."
"Ability to share documents."
"It is well integrated with other Microsoft products."
"The stability of Microsoft OneDrive is very good, it is reliable. There were multiple instances where I had lost my valuable data on hard drives in several other places. However, with Microsoft OneDrive, I've never lost a single file."
"We use Microsoft OneDrive for file sharing without the need for additional hardware (such as flash drives or external hard drives)."
"It helps you keep organized."
 

Cons

"Better integration with other solutions is needed."
"The search features and role permissions are not very user friendly. It only searches the first few pages of a document, which is quite a problem."
"I would love to see the ability to invite collaborators extended to a file level, not just the folder level."
"It could be cheaper."
"The integration with other products should be improved."
"Tasks and comments could be easier to see, report, search, and manage."
"I haven't really come across a case where we're not able to use it for what it is, so I don't really have anything holding us up or any customers holding us up at this point that I know of. There are always some limitations, but as a technologist, I just live with them, and there is always room for improvement, but I don't have anything quantifiable."
"The room for improvement is in the area of integrations. They need to establish more integrations, especially with Office 365 and Outlook."
"The scalability has room for improvement."
"An increase in the capacity of storage in the free version would be nice."
"Recent functionality changes have actually made the product more confusing to use."
"Microsoft OneDrive could improve because it doesn't support backing up .PST files, which are Outlook data files, and email archives. This is a substantial setback when it comes to Microsoft OneDrive."
"No one gets an alert when files are deleted."
"Technical support is not very impressive and is typical of large company software support."
"I would advice not storage sensitive information since it could be prone to hacking."
"OneDrive is a bit behind competing products like Dropbox and Box."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My organization pays for the license."
"I have to pay for Box. It could be a little cheaper. On a scale from one to ten, I would give the pricing a five."
"The pricing may seem steep at first, but delve into the features and you'll soon realize it is incredible value for what you get."
"They are very price competitive when pushed. Initially, they come out with a standard list price, but they are willing to be very competitive. The Box price was pretty much equal to or lower than the Citrix price, and Box has more features."
"Our pricing and licensing is excellent. I'd tell all Higher Ed customers to talk with Internet2 for excellent pricing and support."
"Better sign a full year's contract to get a discount."
"It is expensive per head, as you need the enterprise license to get full security and tools. So negotiate a discount!"
"Box needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
"This is a pricy solution, given that we are only using it at 50% capacity."
"We pay a lot for the Enterprise version, but it is a premium service."
"Using this software, it has had an amazing impact moneywise on our business. It allows us to share documents without the need of extra hardware."
"OneDrive comes with Microsoft 365 so it is just an added part of that package."
"The price of Microsoft OneDrive is reasonable and compatible with competitors."
"The licensing is expensive and on a yearly basis."
"Costwise, it is a great option. In most cases, it is a free space, which will be more than enough for most customers."
"It is free if you are using Office 365, and you get a terabyte of storage with your account."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
47%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Box?
The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?
The solution is expensive when it comes to API calls.
What needs improvement with Box?
One drawback is its permissions system, which has caused issues prompting our transition to SharePoint. The reporting functionality could be improved; currently, they utilize Excel for reporting pu...
What do you like most about Microsoft OneDrive?
The backup capability is one feature I love about OneDrive. I also like how it syncs when you're working offline. Everything is updated once you connect again.
What needs improvement with Microsoft OneDrive?
It takes too long for OneDrive to synchronize various applications, especially when you are saving office data. It also requires too much bandwidth.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft OneDrive?
We use OneDrive to share documents throughout the organization and collaborate. It is also used for backups.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
MS OneDrive
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Chevron, Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, DBS, Nestle, Lowe's, MGM Resorts, Textron, MGM Resorts
Find out what your peers are saying about Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,061 professionals have used our research since 2012.