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Box vs Microsoft OneDrive comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Box
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (6th), Cloud Storage (12th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Document Management Software (2nd)
Microsoft OneDrive
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Content Collaboration Platforms category, the mindshare of Box is 9.5%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft OneDrive is 12.1%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Content Collaboration Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Parthasarathy Chellapillai - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for data storage and data collaboration, but its data security could be improved
If I have restricted access within an organization by keeping the data in Box, there are other applications through which I can barge into the data. If anyone wants to keep a file restricted to four people, I can access it because it's available in the cloud. I can directly access the file and pull in the data by entering the file's name. Someone from outside the organization can't access it. However, someone from within the organization who is not supposed to access the data can access it, provided it is in Box. Box is almost like a folder structure outside your system. The solution uses the cloud, and you don't need any separate storage in your system. Even if your system crashes down, the data will be saved. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.
CJ Aulisa - PeerSpot reviewer
Keep organized and have access to important files wherever you are
From my own personal experience, I have a story that tells about how and why the product can be improved and it mostly has to do with customer care. This is about a situation that really caused me great aggravation. I am an independent consultant, so I have OneDrive in my business set up and I pay monthly and it bills monthly. I foolishly let my granddaughter get a robot gaming account under my Microsoft account. Because she is only nine years old and she has autism, she really does not understand what she is doing sometimes. She kept buying points for a game she was playing a lot of and I did not know she was doing it. She would go buy $200 a day in robot points, and then I got on my robots bill and found out what was going on. They would not let me separate the accounts so I could stop the billing. If I canceled the account, I would have to cancel her account, and then she would lose all the things that she had done and accumulated in the game. So I removed the credit card, let that account die out, and then started a new account. I made a new password and all that stuff to start over. When you get a new account, they give you a 30-day free trial. Because I use it and knew I wanted it I already bought PowerPoint in the project and they built that. When the trial came near to the end, they sent me an email saying "your trial is coming to an end" and I called them just to make sure that the PowerPoint purchase was not considered part of the trial that they were talking about because I didn't want to lose anything when I let it lapse. They assured me that everything was good. When the trial came to an end. They removed all the files and I had been working on with a client analyzing their IBR (incremental borrowing rate). So I lost all my trees and they totally removed everything I'd spent hours on. I called and tried to find out what was going on. They spent an hour or two on the phone with me trying to go different ways calling different departments to find out where they might still have the data. Turns out they did not. They lost it. So my caution about the product and trial periods is to be careful. Because I had multiple Microsoft accounts, when the first tech checked and looked it up they thought I had a valid license for the new Microsoft account. They were referring to the old one. There is my lesson learned. Besides that episode, I like working with Microsoft products. But then another thing happened. I had another customer and they wanted me to set up on their desktop. So I created a Microsoft account for them so I could use their client email and their OneDrive and all that stuff in their name. For the life of me, I could not get that removed off my desktop after I had it installed. I had to call Microsoft to try and get it working right again. I could not do a regular delete to get rid of the stuff from the other account. It does not let you delete it. So every time I logged in from scratch, it sent up an error saying I had the wrong password for this account. I just do not need that account anymore and there was no way to get rid of it or regain control of the login. They were terrible for support after COVID hit. I want to write an article on the companies that achieved during COVID and then the companies that used it as an excuse to provide poor customer service. Microsoft would be under that jurisdiction. In the end, I would use it again if it worked and I got my password straight. It works great but with the product, you get the behemoth Microsoft customer support services. I have not contacted them lately, so I do not know if they got it working right. When COVID hit, they just went off the deep end claiming they could not fill support requests. Otherwise, I think Microsoft is pretty good. I can not think of anything that I could make OneDrive better. Besides having different outcomes from these experiences with Microsoft products, I have been happy with them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We can provide controlled access to documents using the product."
"The solution is scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Box is security."
"Box is very user-friendly; more so than SharePoint."
"I like that Box makes it easy to deploy virtual machines."
"File sharing with collaborators not on the same domain with offline access from multiple devices: I work on many projects that are multi-organizational, such as with customers, suppliers, or acquisitions."
"The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization."
"Box is very simple and effective, so I prefer Box."
"It's pretty easy to learn. Once someone taught me, I was able to navigate it quite easily."
"Image management is great since the search is simple, and accessing images with labels is easy."
"It is well integrated with other Microsoft products."
"Scalability is good just because it is a cloud-based product."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that Microsoft OneDrive works with any Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office app. You can edit a document on the cloud, share documents with your colleagues, and monitor changes. You can access your work almost anywhere. You can also sync Microsoft OneDrive with your workstation so that whatever you are working on gets automatically backed up to the cloud at regular intervals. So even if your system crashes, you still have a copy of your documents in the cloud, which I found very useful."
"It was extremely easy to setup."
"Ability to share documents."
"They have support for integration with a lot of tools."
 

Cons

"Tasks and comments could be easier to see, report, search, and manage."
"I recommend doing the trial first, because it's not cheap ware. It's not overly expensive, but it's not cheap ware, and enterprise has a minimum number of users."
"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."
"Working on documents in real-time is sometimes faulty and could be improved."
"With OneDrive, you can continuously save your files over a Box folder. That is something I wish we could have."
"I find their API to be quite complex and it could be more straightforward."
"It could be cheaper."
"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."
"The website could be improved. Sometimes I try to login and the website has issues, I can't retrieve my documents."
"An increase in the capacity of storage in the free version would be nice."
"An online video player would be great, since sometimes you have to download the video to play it."
"The online application is quite limited, for this and other Office offerings."
"The area that can be improved is to be able to share easily with folks outside the organization and with folks who don't have an office account. Sometimes, when you send a link, you might have some form of repetition. If you don't know how to share it properly, whoever you are sharing it with will have issues using it. Also, the link that you use to share a document can be made a bit shorter. It doesn't have to be long. Typically, when you want to share a document, it has everything, such as the name of the organization, SharePoint, etc. A short URL will be easier to use, and it will just make life easier, especially because a lot of people are now going mobile. I'm not sure if there's a mobile version of Microsoft OneDrive, similar to Google Drive. If they don't have a mobile app, it would also be nice to have a mobile app because that would help in checking out your documents. It would be easy to check your documents on the go on your phone."
"The scalability has room for improvement."
"The user interface sometimes fails and when it cannot connect, it does not give the reason why."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free version of the solution. There is a free version and monthly and yearly subscriptions available."
"Box needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
"I believe Box is cheaper than SharePoint."
"The more you dig, the deeper the level of tools, and the more expensive it becomes."
"A business account has a minimum of three users. If you are more than three people in-house, go for the Enterprise version. All the external users are free of charge."
"Better sign a full year's contract to get a discount."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"It is free if you are using Office 365, and you get a terabyte of storage with your account."
"The price of Microsoft OneDrive is reasonable and compatible with competitors."
"Costwise, it is a great option. In most cases, it is a free space, which will be more than enough for most customers."
"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."
"The licensing is expensive and on a yearly basis."
"OneDrive comes with Microsoft 365 so it is just an added part of that package."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
58%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Healthcare Company
3%
Educational Organization
56%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

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 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: December 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.