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Azure Data Lake Storage vs Dropbox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Azure Data Lake Storage
Ranking in Cloud Storage
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dropbox
Ranking in Cloud Storage
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Content Collaboration Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Azure Data Lake Storage is 0.9%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dropbox is 4.8%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

Chetan Jayatheertha - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides valuable features such as access keys, container strings, lifecycle management, audit logs, and the soft delete option
Data Lake Storage provides valuable features such as access keys, container strings, lifecycle management, audit logs, and the soft delete option. These features help in cost-saving and provide an excellent mechanism for backing up data. Furthermore, Data Lake Storage can interact with any other Azure resources, providing seamless integration and connectivity.
Edgar  Paez - PeerSpot reviewer
Work from anywhere and backup easily while being practical
I recommend Dropbox, yet not for all of the features it has. I am a basic user. In a personal mode, we have about 100 employees, and maybe 20 of them use Dropbox as a personal backup system. ShareFile is more secure than Dropbox. Five years ago, ShareFile was qualified as having better security control, access privilege management, and version control recovery, among many features that we were using for private documentation. Overall, I would rate Dropbox an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Azure Data Lake Storage is user-friendly and easy to use."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its simplicity of configuration and setup."
"It's a cloud-based tool within the Microsoft ecosystem, offering many benefits for data handling."
"I also like its speed. It's basically built on Azure Blob Storage, which was already fast. But Azure Data Lake Storage adds the hierarchical structure for even better performance."
"Offers high scalability for data storage"
"Microsoft is quite good when it comes to integration. They have multiple connectors available and different ingestion and integration processes available."
"The tool's best feature is that it can store different types of data - structured, unstructured, and semi-structured—in one lake. We can use the required data for analytics and dashboard design."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Data Lake Storage is the ability to partition data into various datasets using a directory hierarchy. This folder structure is key for any delivery. Currently, we're not doing much with the data in the tool, but when Databricks comes along, we'll convert it to Parquet format. It's a two-step process: raw data is moved to Parquet, which Databricks can manipulate easily."
"I had a good experiment with the technical support from Dropbox."
"One of the advantages of Dropbox is that you can share files with people who are external to your organization without any additional costs. It is also easy to use, stable, and trustworthy."
"The security is very good."
"It is very practical and so easy to upload and download files and carry on without my computer."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The initial setup is simple and straightforward."
"We don't really use the collaboration features because we have only a small organization. Dropbox is valuable having the hard drive space available, and the access to be able to upload and access the content."
"The features that I find most valuable are the ability to sync across devices, easily access/share files and organize them among myself and my team."
 

Cons

"Microsoft Fabric costs more since we are charged for all the components."
"The scalability is limited. However, it's easy to set up."
"The documentation could be more user-friendly with better tutorials."
"Currently, Azure Data Lake Storage has blob, table, and file share, but no vector feature."
"Simple migrations from one data lake to another take too much time and could be improved."
"One improvement I'd suggest is the out-of-the-box conversion of input data, like spreadsheet or table data, to various formats. We'll be using Parquet, which enables transactional integrity."
"The version was a bit outdated compared to the newer Microsoft Data Fabric offerings."
"Pricing is always a factor. It could be more affordable."
"The product must provide users with the ability to edit and modify documents."
"Dropbox could introduce some sort of a notification with respect to how much storage you have left out of what is purchased."
"The complex initial setup phase of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The storage is not large enough."
"Security could be enhanced."
"The price is expensive for individual users."
"The free storage amount should be increased."
"They should archive the data."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as five."
"The tool is cheap, depending on the services and requirements you need."
"It costs just a few dollars per terabyte per month."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Compared to other options we've explored, I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"I rate the product price as two or three, where one is high, and ten is low. The product's price is really high."
"It's a pay-as-you-go model. Your charges are based on the amount of data you store."
"The tool's licensing model is pay-as-you-go. Regarding pricing, there's always competition between Azure Data Lake Storage and AWS. They're quite similar, but to attract more customers, Azure Data Lake Storage could consider adjusting its pricing to be more competitive with AWS. This might make Azure Data Lake Storage a more appealing option for users."
"We are using the free version of Dropbox which has approximately two gigabytes of data capacity."
"We pay a monthly subscription fee."
"I was using the free version of the product."
"Dropbox is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"We use a yearly license. The pricing is not a bad price. I'd rate it about a five out of ten, with ten being expensive and one being cheap."
"The pricing for non-corporations is expensive. They have raised their prices and have low storage capacity."
"I am on a monthly subscription for the solution and I am somewhat satisfied with the pricing. However, the price could a bit better."
"There is a subscription-based pricing model and I pay monthly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
65%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
3%
University
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Data Lake Storage?
The tool's most valuable feature is security access policies.
What needs improvement with Azure Data Lake Storage?
Maybe the solution could be a bit more user-friendly.
What do you like most about Dropbox?
For me, the biggest thing is version history. I can easily go back and view older versions.
What needs improvement with Dropbox?
I would like to have a document flow. Sharing documents with other people in the same division or department and being able to work without downloading the file would be ideal. Working online would...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Vita Coco, BCBGMAXAZRIA Group, Centric Project, Kayak, FourSquare, Asana, Huge Adversting , USA Gymnastics, Appen, Valliant, Radio Lab
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Lake Storage vs. Dropbox and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.