What do the best Dropbox al­ter­na­tives offer?

Dropbox remains one of the most popular cloud storage services, largely due to its user-friendly interface. However, its in­fra­struc­ture is primarily based in the United States, which may raise concerns for users who pri­or­i­tize stricter data privacy standards. At the same time, many al­ter­na­tives offer more free storage and different ap­proach­es to hosting and pro­tect­ing data. So which options are worth exploring?

A direct com­par­i­son of Dropbox and its al­ter­na­tives

Last updated: March 2026

The best Dropbox al­ter­na­tives at a glance

Dropbox is one of the oldest file hosting services, but many companies have now es­tab­lished them­selves in the cloud storage market. Below, we introduce some of the best Dropbox al­ter­na­tives in detail.

Microsoft OneDrive

With Microsoft’s cloud storage OneDrive, you get 5 GB of free storage, which can be expanded to up to 1 TB with a paid plan. You can edit documents directly in your browser using web versions of Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point, and the platform also supports col­lab­o­ra­tive work through a range of built-in features.

If you choose the Single, Family, or Microsoft 365 Business plans, you can also use the well-known Microsoft Office ap­pli­ca­tions like Word, Excel, Pow­er­Point, and more. One key advantage is that the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, such as Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point, can be used offline and then sync au­to­mat­i­cal­ly via OneDrive.

Google Drive

With Google Drive, you get another widely used al­ter­na­tive to Dropbox. You receive 15 GB of storage for free when you set up a Google account. However, this storage quota also includes all files you store with other Google services (Gmail, Google Photos). If you need more space, you have to upgrade to the paid Google One service, which offers 100 GB, 200 GB, or 2 TB. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, Google’s AI plans, which include access to its AI features, offer up to 30 TB of storage. Whether you use the free or paid version of Google Drive, your data is always encrypted, including during trans­mis­sion.

One of the biggest ad­van­tages of Google Drive is the in­te­grat­ed office suite. It lets you work directly in your browser on text documents (Google Docs), spread­sheets (Google Sheets), and pre­sen­ta­tions (Google Slides). The documents are also very well suited for team editing – for example, changes are saved au­to­mat­i­cal­ly and a complete version history of each document is created (you can go back up to 30 days or 100 versions). Users can com­mu­ni­cate quickly through built-in com­ment­ing and chat features.

HiDrive cloud storage

IONOS has launched an in­ter­est­ing al­ter­na­tive to Dropbox with HiDrive Cloud Storage. This cloud service is aimed at private users and busi­ness­es and offers maximum flex­i­bil­i­ty and freedom when accessing and storing your files on all devices. To this end, HiDrive provides cross-platform web ap­pli­ca­tions that enable intuitive and efficient data syn­chro­niza­tion, desktop clients for Windows and macOS, as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Files are encrypted and stored in ISO-certified data centers in Germany in com­pli­ance with GDPR, the European Union’s strict data pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tion that sets high standards for how personal data is stored and processed. SSL/TLS-encrypted trans­mis­sion, fully automatic backups, and optional two-factor au­then­ti­ca­tion provide ad­di­tion­al pro­tec­tion. Depending on the selected plan, device backup and HiDrive Office are included or can be added at any time. In addition, the HiDrive plans offer a lot of storage space for com­par­a­tive­ly little money.

iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive is part of Apple’s iCloud service and includes 5 GB of free storage, which can be expanded at any time. Paid plans offer 50 GB, 200 GB, 2 TB, 6 TB, or 12 TB for a monthly fee. While Apple’s cloud storage also works on Windows and through a web interface, it is primarily designed for Apple users, es­pe­cial­ly those already using iCloud on a Mac or iPhone. In addition to storage, Apple provides browser-based office apps through its iWork suite.

Box

The Cal­i­for­nia-based company Box has been around since 2005, making it even two years older than Dropbox. The two providers are similar in many ways, as Box also uses strong AES en­cryp­tion with a 256-bit key length and stands out for its features. The platform is even slightly easier to use than Dropbox. However, Box is now primarily geared toward busi­ness­es and teams.

Private users receive 10 GB of free storage, but in­di­vid­ual uploads are limited to 250 MB, which makes it difficult to handle larger files. The paid plan increases the upload limit to 5 GB and includes a total of 100 GB of storage, which is rel­a­tive­ly modest compared to other Dropbox al­ter­na­tives. For business users, Box offers dedicated plans with unlimited storage and upload limits of up to 500 GB. With “Box Zones,” it is also possible to store data in specific regions.

Se­cure­Safe

The Dropbox al­ter­na­tive Se­cure­Safe combines cloud storage with password man­age­ment and is aimed at anyone who wants to protect their passwords and personal documents as ef­fec­tive­ly as possible. All data is stored on servers in Switzer­land and is securely encrypted. Triple-redundant backups, along with user au­then­ti­ca­tion via the Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol, provide ad­di­tion­al pro­tec­tion for files and passwords.

Se­cure­Cloud

Se­cure­Cloud also puts a strong focus on security, with end-to-end en­cryp­tion ensuring that data is encrypted directly on the user’s device. This Dropbox al­ter­na­tive also stands out for its server location, as files are stored ex­clu­sive­ly on servers in Germany. Features such as in­te­grat­ed chat and group man­age­ment make col­lab­o­ra­tion across teams easier, while the activity overview lets you track all changes made to your file libraries.

You can access your Se­cure­Cloud storage either through the web app or via client ap­pli­ca­tions for macOS, Linux, Windows, iOS, and Android. After a 14-day trial, a paid sub­scrip­tion is required to continue using the service. The service is mainly designed for teams, with the Business plan starting at two users and including 50 GB per user. Or­ga­ni­za­tions with 10 or more employees receive 100 GB per user under the “Advanced” or “En­ter­prise” plans.