For several decades, companies that want to store large amounts of data have relied on large internal servers (opens in new tab) which are not only expensive to purchase but also require specially trained personnel to maintain, which can prove costly.
Individuals – and even small businesses – had to make do with computers (opens in new tab) You buy. Anything beyond that was usually stored on an external drive, which while offering a degree of portability, doesn’t always make files accessible on all devices.
Cloud storage (opens in new tab) Drives are nothing new these days, but there are so many to choose from that making the right informed choice isn’t exactly easy. In this head-to-head comparison, we put two popular services through their paces, testing things like performance and support, and looking at their true value for money.
Box vs Google Drive: Features
Crate (opens in new tab) takes a Dropbox-like approach to the way files are stored and, to some extent, mirrors native computer file management. Files are stored in folders, but they are all in one primary, parent folder. This is most notable with the desktop client, where everything is in one folder instead of being spread across different categories like Photos and Media, Documents, and Downloads, which is what you might expect if you’re familiar with Microsoft OneDrive. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t put similar folders in the primary Box folder.
Yes, there is browser access, but the best experience is to use the desktop client, which syncs in the background and keeps all files up to date. However, there are more sophisticated clients that offer better control over things like bandwidth throttling, but for many this is an unnecessary extra. There are mobile apps too, so you should be able to access your files anywhere, assuming you have internet access or you’ve marked specific files for offline access.
While there is one paid personal plan, there are several business proposals at different price points (more on that below). This is enhanced by the 1,500+ third-party app integrations the company allows, making working on things like Photoshop templates fairly seamless, although you’ll need subscriptions for many third-party apps, which adds to the cost. However, this is true of most competitors.
Google Drive (opens in new tab) works similarly, with file management reflecting what you probably already know from your computer. However, unlike other cloud drives, we think the best way to access it is through the browser portal, especially if you’re using the company’s free online-only word processing apps: Docs, Sheets, and Slides. We’d love to see desktop versions of these apps – like Apple’s Pages, Numbers, and Keynote – but at least there are mobile apps.
There’s a desktop client that, unlike Box, has controls for things like bandwidth throttling and proxy settings, and this works well if the files you’re working with have desktop-accessible software.
Again, there’s no shortage of third-party integrations, with mind mapping, document converters, and collaboration tools all available.
Google Drive’s backup tool lets you choose folders on your computer to also be automatically backed up to the cloud, but that comes from the storage space you pay for (or the free 15GB). Having this as an option and even being able to use both types of storage side by side is great if you work from multiple devices and want to keep things separate.
Box vs Google Drive: Performance
We tested 50+ cloud storage drives and backup tools and used the same 1GB test file to check things like upload and download speeds. This is best seen as a comparison and is not fully representative of the products. The speeds you experience depend on several aspects, such as your own internet connection.
That said, both Box and Google Drive were among the best we tested. It took less than five minutes to upload and about a minute and a half to download again. For comparison, the fastest upload speed we found was Terabox (3 min 51 sec) and the fastest download speed was Tresorit (33 sec).
Box vs Google Drive: Support
If the help you need is fairly basic, there’s a whole catalog of self-help articles available on the Box website to get you started. More complex troubleshooting is best performed by Box staff, who can be reached via email, phone, and live chat.
Google Drive also has a large library of self-help articles that span all of its services and are probably best found by Googling the issue. Paying customers also get email, phone, and live chat support, but members of the 15GB free tier get none of that.
Box vs Google Drive: Pricing
Not only do Box subscription tiers differ in terms of storage space, but there are other limitations as well. Most notable is the file size limit, which is a fairly small 250MB on the free plan, allowing users to store up to 10GB of data for free.
This can be upgraded to 100GB with a 5GB file size limit on the paid plan, but this costs $14 (£11) per month, which we found quite pricey compared to most of its competitors.
There are several business plans to consider including Starter, Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise. They all require at least three users and range from 100GB to unlimited storage. Even the most expensive plan has files capped at 150GB, which should cover some pretty colossal files but could be a bottleneck for media companies working with large, high-quality videos.
Even Google Drive’s free 15GB plan gets access to Documents, Spreadsheets, and Slides, which is incredible value (or no money). Paying customers subscribe to Google One, which offers 100GB, 200GB or 2TB of storage for $1.99 (£1.59), $2.99 (£2.49) or $9.99 (£7.99) each Month brings, all of which can be shared by six people. The top-of-the-line Premium plan also gets access to a VPN app on iOS and Android devices. That pricing is fairly standard, but iCloud Drive’s 2TB plan costs £1 a month less (it costs the same in USD).
Three business plans are available for $6 (£4.60), $12 (£9.20) or $18 (£13.80) per user per month. They belong to the Google Workspace category and come with 30GB, 2TB, or 5TB of storage. Another customizable Enterprise plan is also available.
Box vs Google Drive: Verdict
Overall we think Box is quite expensive for what it offers. For individuals, it makes perfect sense to go with Google Drive, and even for business users, we recommend Google’s offering over Box’s. However, Google’s desktop client isn’t as well-equipped as some might like, and for that, Box might be worth the extra money.
We have listed the best free cloud storage services.
