Dropbox Alternatives 2026: Tresorit, OneDrive, Google Drive, Sync.com, Box, pCloud and Egnyte

The best Dropbox alternatives for a business are the storage you already pay for in Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive, unless confidential client files justify a separate encrypted service such as Tresorit. These 7 picks solve different jobs: office collaboration, private sharing, content governance or large-file delivery. Choose the job first; a cheaper seat is a saving only if the replacement preserves the way your business works.

Prices and plan details verified against the makers' live pages on 9 November 2026. This is a comparison of published plans and documented capabilities, not a hands-on speed test or an independent security audit.

Best Dropbox alternatives for business at a glance

Start with your existing office suite. Choose Tresorit when keeping client content unreadable to the storage provider is the purchase requirement. Sync.com is the lower-cost encrypted shortlist; Box and Egnyte deserve attention when managing access and records becomes an administrative job. pCloud is the large-file candidate.

The price column shows the entry team plan, not a personal subscription. Prices are USD per user per month, with the billing commitment stated. Free storage means a separate individual account, not a free business plan with the paid plan's controls. Encryption and administration refer to the scope described, not everything the vendor sells.

The pCloud figure is the monthly rate displayed on its business page, so it is not normalized to annual billing. Sync's introductory price is separated from its regular price. Google's temporary offer is excluded; the table uses its published standard rate. Pricing sources and the practical limits appear in each section below.

One correction matters before switching for security: Dropbox's own plan comparison lists end-to-end encryption on Advanced. The question is which plan protects which workflow, and what that workflow costs your business. “Dropbox has no encryption” is not a sound reason to migrate.

1. Tresorit: best for confidential client files

Tresorit is encrypted business file storage for an agency, consultancy or professional-services firm that needs controlled client sharing without making the storage provider a reader of its documents. Its advantage over Dropbox Standard is that zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption is central to the offered storage and sharing workflow. Zero-knowledge means the provider cannot decrypt the protected content. The catch is that you pay for that privacy architecture and administrative control, not bargain bulk storage.

Imagine a consultancy sending a confidential acquisition brief to an outside adviser. The useful question is not whether the folder syncs. It is whether the sender can limit access, see the relevant activity and close the sharing window when the assignment ends. Tresorit documents encrypted file sharing and requests, password protection, expiry and access limits, alongside Business admin policies and audit logs. Those are controls you can build a client handoff around.

Its Business plan also includes single sign-on, which lets staff use a central company login, and data residency options, which let you choose among supported storage locations. These are different decisions: encryption concerns who can read a file; residency concerns where it is stored. Neither should be used as shorthand for the other.

Best for: Agencies and consultancies exchanging confidential client documents.
Standout: Zero-knowledge storage and sharing with Business policy controls.
Pricing: SecureCloud Business starts at $23.20 per user/month on the yearly option, minimum 3 users, on Tresorit's business pricing page.
Free trial: 14 days; payment details required, with automatic conversion unless cancelled.

The entry team plan starts with 6 TB of encrypted storage, but its 15 GB maximum individual file size is the more useful buying check for a creative agency. A large video master can fail that test even when the account has plenty of total capacity. For mostly contracts, strategy documents and design handoffs, the balance looks different.

Pilot the client handoff before moving the archive

Use a non-sensitive sample project to decide whether the privacy workflow is comfortable for both staff and clients. These are acceptance checks to run in the trial, not claims that a migration has already been tested.

1. 1

   Separate working files from client delivery

   Create a sample project folder with a clear owner. Put only approved handoff documents in the area you intend to share, so a broad project link cannot accidentally expose internal drafts.

2. 2

   Apply the access boundary

   Create an encrypted share link, set an expiry and password, and choose the access restrictions the job requires. Send the password through a separate channel. Have the intended recipient try the link on their normal device.

3. 3

   Prove the end of the engagement

   Revoke the sample link and verify that it stops granting access. Review the available logs and document who owns the offboarding task. Revocation cannot recall a copy someone has already downloaded.

Verdict: pick Tresorit for the client-file boundary, not because every file in your company needs a second home. The full Tresorit review goes deeper into that choice. If most work is simultaneous document editing and confidentiality does not require provider-blind storage, the office-suite options below are the first place to look.

2. Microsoft OneDrive: best for a Microsoft 365 shop

Microsoft OneDrive is the natural Dropbox replacement when a business already works in Microsoft's document and identity system. Its advantage is consolidation: staff can keep files in the environment attached to their Microsoft accounts instead of maintaining a separate storage subscription and another sharing habit. The catch is ownership design. An employee's working files and the company's shared records should not become the same undifferentiated folder.

For a small agency preparing Word proposals and Excel budgets, the useful pilot is an ordinary client job. Open the source files, make changes with the relevant colleagues, and invite an outside reviewer. Check whether the proposed Microsoft license includes the applications people actually use. A storage migration that forces staff off their required desktop editing workflow is not a clean saving.

The current OneDrive business pricing page presents Microsoft 365 bundles. Its lowest displayed business bundle is Business Basic without Teams, which includes web and mobile Office applications, company email and identity/access management. Do not read “Office included” as “desktop Office included.” The quoted Basic plan is the web/mobile proposition.

Best for: Businesses already paying for Microsoft 365 and working in Office files.
Standout: File storage inside the Microsoft account and application environment.
Pricing: Microsoft 365 Business Basic without Teams is $5.40 per user/month, paid yearly, on Microsoft's OneDrive business pricing page.
Free trial: Offered on the business pricing page; check the selected bundle's terms.

The comparison lists 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user. Treat that as an employee allocation, not a promise that every shared company library has the same pool. The bundle also includes SharePoint, Microsoft's team-site and shared-content service. Before buying, have the administrator map where personal work, client projects and permanent company records will live.

Microsoft describes encryption in transit and at rest, with encryption keys held within its service architecture. That is protection, but it is a different model from choosing a provider that cannot decrypt your protected content.

Verdict: use OneDrive when Microsoft is already your working environment; make the shared-library decision before the bulk upload. If your organization already has an appropriate license, compare the marginal cost of using it with the full cost of retaining Dropbox. Do not buy a second Microsoft subscription merely because a comparison page lists a low starting price.

3. Google Drive: best for a Google Workspace shop

Google Drive is the sensible Dropbox alternative for a business that creates its work in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. Its advantage is keeping source documents, business email and storage inside the Google Workspace suite. The catch is the small entry storage allowance: Business Starter's 30 GB pooled per user can be suitable for document work and unsuitable for a media-heavy archive.

Consider a marketing consultancy whose campaign plans and reporting sheets already live in Google Workspace, while exported presentations and client assets live in Dropbox. Moving the remaining files into Drive may remove the question “which system has the current version?” That is a useful operational gain when it eliminates a split source of truth, even before a subscription disappears.

It does not follow that every Dropbox folder belongs there unchanged. First identify the authoritative document. A downloadable export and its editable source are different objects, and a migration should preserve that distinction. Give staff an agreed place for final client deliverables rather than asking them to infer it from whatever folder hierarchy survives the copy.

Best for: Google Workspace businesses producing documents and spreadsheets together.
Standout: Storage alongside the Google tools already used to create the work.
Pricing: Business Starter's standard rate is $7 per user/month with an annual commitment, billed monthly, on Google Workspace's pricing page.
Free trial: 14 days.

The published storage is pooled across the organization. That helps distribute capacity, but it does not turn the starting plan into a large-file archive. Measure the existing Dropbox footprint, expected growth and other uses of the allowance before selecting a tier. If storage is the constraint, compare the appropriate Workspace plan, not just Starter's headline price.

Google offers client-side encryption on eligible editions, including Enterprise Plus. It is an additional configuration and entitlement, not a property of every Drive account. A buyer choosing between Starter and encrypted client-file storage should not mark both “E2EE” without that qualification.

Verdict: pick Drive when the documents already start in Google Workspace. If the business is happy in Microsoft and the only goal is a cheaper Dropbox bill, introducing a second office ecosystem adds another decision to a simple storage problem.

4. Sync.com: best for lower-cost encrypted sharing

Sync.com is the value shortlist for a small team that wants end-to-end encrypted storage and controlled external links. Its advantage over Dropbox Standard is offering E2EE at the entry team level. The catch is administrative depth: the cheapest team plan provides an administrator account, but not the group-based control and delegated administration available higher up the range.

For a boutique consultancy collecting client documents, the practical benefits are straightforward: file requests, shared folders, password-protected links, expiry dates and download limits. The pricing comparison also lists activity logs and 180-day file history on Teams 1TB. Those capabilities make it worth evaluating as a working file service, not merely an encrypted archive.

The important buying distinction is between a person being able to turn on a security setting and an administrator being able to require it for everyone. Sync lists two-factor authentication on the entry plan, but puts 2FA enforcement policy on higher plans. Two-factor authentication adds a second sign-in check; enforcement makes its use a company rule. A client requirement for the latter changes the plan you need.

Best for: Small firms that want encrypted sharing with a lower starting subscription.
Standout: E2EE plus practical link controls on the entry team plan.
Pricing: Pro Teams 1TB is $6 per user/month billed annually, with a displayed $4.50 first-year promotion and a 3-user minimum, on Sync's pricing page.
Free trial: 30 days advertised on the pricing page.

Sync's regular rate is the planning number; the first-year discount is temporary. Do not compare that promotion with another vendor's undiscounted rate and assume the gap will stay unchanged.

For an owner-led firm with simple access requirements, Sync may be the stronger value choice than Tresorit. For a firm that needs the specific SSO, policy or residency features documented in Tresorit Business, compare the plans that satisfy those requirements. Choose the least expensive plan that meets the access policy, not the least expensive plan that uses the word encrypted.

5. Box: best for a content-governance shortlist

Box is a content-management platform worth evaluating when the business needs a more formal way to manage documents, permissions and records. Its advantage over a simple Dropbox replacement is the breadth of content controls available across its business and enterprise range. The catch is that its inexpensive Business Starter plan is a small-team foothold, not the enterprise governance package.

A growing professional-services business may need to answer questions beyond “where is the file?” Who can access a client record? Which content needs a classification? What should happen when an engagement closes? Those questions justify evaluating a content platform. They do not justify attributing the capabilities of its most expensive edition to its cheapest one.

Business Starter has a particularly concrete limit: 100 GB of storage and a 2 GB individual upload ceiling, for up to 10 users. That can fit a small document workflow. It can also disqualify the plan immediately for an agency delivering large media files. Make the largest actual deliverable part of the shortlist before a sales demonstration.

Best for: Firms evaluating structured content management and a path to stronger governance.
Standout: A product range built around managed business content and enterprise controls.
Pricing: Business Starter is $5 per user/month on annual billing, minimum 3 users, as published on Box's pricing page.
Free trial: Offered for Business Starter.

For a buyer leaving Dropbox because access control has become difficult, write a short list of required policies and ask Box to demonstrate each on the proposed license. “Advanced security” is too vague to approve. An explicit example, such as a restricted document category and the rule that blocks an unauthorized recipient, gives procurement something concrete to verify.

Verdict: shortlist Box for governance; buy Starter only if Starter's limits describe the job you need. Its entry price should start the conversation, not close it.

6. pCloud: best for large-file storage and delivery

pCloud is a business storage candidate for agencies whose biggest problem is moving large deliverables without a small individual-file ceiling. Its business page advertises unlimited file-size uploads, teams and access controls, and a virtual drive that avoids keeping every cloud file on the local disk. The catch is encryption scope: included pCloud Encryption does not mean every file uploaded by every method receives client-side encryption.

For a production studio, test the largest finished master, the project folder and the client's download experience separately. A service accepting a large upload answers only the first question. The studio still needs a workable revision process, access rules and enough capacity for the active archive.

pCloud Business includes 1 TB per user, activity logs, shared folders and storage allocation controls. Its page also lists file comments and 180-day version history. That is a plausible collection of tools for delivering work and recovering an earlier version, but it is not evidence of measured transfer speed. No speed winner is claimed here.

Best for: Small studios storing and delivering large media assets.
Standout: No advertised individual upload-size ceiling on the business offering.
Pricing: Business is $9.99 per user/month billed monthly, minimum 3 users, on pCloud's business pricing page.
Free trial: 30 days.

The vendor's connection and encryption documentation makes the distinction concrete: ordinary protocol uploads receive server-side storage encryption, while Crypto Folder uploads require a compatible pCloud application. Decide which workflow will hold confidential files before declaring the whole account zero-knowledge.

Verdict: pick pCloud for the large-file job, then validate the sharing and encryption path you will use. Do not buy a personal lifetime offer as a shortcut around evaluating the business account's ownership and administration.

7. Egnyte: best for growing file-governance needs

Egnyte is a business content platform to consider when shared files span office users, specialist applications and infrastructure that an administrator must govern. Its advantage is the platform's combination of file access and governance capabilities, including edge caching and content lifecycle options across its range. The catch is plan selection: the small-team entry price does not buy every control in that range.

An architecture practice is a useful buying scenario. Its problem might include large project files, staff accessing them from different locations, and closed projects that need a consistent retention process. Edge caching means keeping a nearby copy to help users access cloud content; lifecycle management means applying rules about retaining, archiving or deleting records. Those solve different parts of the workflow, and each needs a plan-level check.

The entry Team offering is explicitly for 1-10 users. That makes Egnyte worth checking even when a business is smaller than its enterprise positioning suggests. It does not mean the Team plan can be assumed to include classifications, ransomware controls or every integration on the broader platform page.

Best for: Firms moving from basic shared folders toward managed content and infrastructure.
Standout: A broader file-governance platform with hybrid-access capabilities to evaluate.
Pricing: Team is $10 per user/month paid annually, for 1-10 users, on Egnyte's Team pricing page.
Free trial: Offered; no permanent free storage plan is listed.

The broader Egnyte plan comparison places content lifecycle management and artifact-based ransomware detection in Enterprise Lite, and sensitive-data classification in Ultimate. These are buying distinctions, not minor footnotes. If one is the reason for leaving Dropbox, Team's starting price is not the budget for that requirement.

Verdict: shortlist Egnyte when files have become an IT governance problem. For an owner-led business that only needs uncomplicated client delivery, a narrower storage service is easier to justify.

How to choose among Dropbox alternatives

The decision flips on the requirement your current setup cannot meet. Begin with that requirement and a representative client project, not a list of every feature you might someday use.

Cheaper alternatives to Dropbox

Use an appropriate office-suite entitlement first. If your Microsoft or Google subscription already provides enough storage and the required sharing controls, consolidation can avoid buying another service. Check the actual license and capacity; existing does not automatically mean sufficient.

For a separate encrypted service, put Sync on the shortlist and price the tier that meets your administrative policy. For a small document-only workflow, Box Starter may qualify, but its storage and upload ceilings need to pass first. Budget for the minimum seat count, onboarding and the overlap period while both systems are live.

Dropbox enterprise alternatives

Evaluate Box and Egnyte against named policies. Ask the vendor to show the exact behavior you need on the license being quoted: access restriction, record retention, activity evidence or removal of a departing employee. A successful demonstration is more useful than a generic compliance logo.

If the requirement instead says the storage provider must not be able to read protected client content, start with Tresorit or Sync and examine the encryption scope. Governance and provider privacy are related, but one does not automatically supply the other.

Free Dropbox alternatives

Use free accounts to evaluate the experience, not to scatter company ownership across staff accounts. Google Drive is the practical free starting point for ordinary document collaboration; Tresorit Basic and Sync offer small encrypted allowances for checking that workflow. Free storage capacity does not answer who controls the account after an employee leaves.

Dropbox self-hosted alternative

Nextcloud Files is the open-source option if you want to operate the storage yourself; choose it only when someone owns updates, access control, backups and recovery.

How these were picked

The selection prioritizes the jobs of a small business, agency or startup: reuse an existing office suite, protect confidential client files, improve content administration, or handle large deliverables. Each full pick has a published team offering and a specific reason to enter the shortlist. The order is conditional on those jobs, not a claim that the first tool beats every other tool at everything.

The comparison uses live vendor pricing and documentation checked on the verification date above. It distinguishes individual free accounts from paid team subscriptions, introductory discounts from standard rates, and encryption from administration. No accounts were exercised for a speed benchmark, no independent penetration test was performed, and security certifications are not being treated as automatic compliance for your business.

The limits are deliberate. A plan's presence on a pricing page is evidence of what is offered, not proof that a client will find its sharing workflow easy. The next step is a pilot with your actual file types, external recipients and access rules.

The ones to avoid for this job

Avoid Box Business Starter for a media archive that exceeds its upload ceiling. The low seat price cannot repair a file-size mismatch. Evaluate a suitable plan or a different service before moving the archive.

Avoid Google Drive personal accounts as the default home for a company's shared records. The attractive free allowance does not replace a managed business ownership model. The same principle applies to personal OneDrive accounts and pCloud personal subscriptions.

Avoid choosing Sync Teams 1TB when your written policy requires centralized 2FA enforcement or delegated admins. Those requirements point above the entry tier. Picking the right provider but the wrong plan leaves the original problem unsolved.

Avoid treating storage as a complete deal-room or signature workflow. Dropbox DocSend and Dropbox Sign are different product decisions. Use the DocSend alternatives comparison for deal-room and document-tracking needs, and the DocuSign alternatives comparison when signatures are the purchase requirement.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free Dropbox alternative?

Google Drive is the practical free choice for ordinary document work, with 15 GB shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos. For an encrypted workflow, evaluate Sync's 5 GB or Tresorit Basic's 3 GB. These are individual allowances, not substitutes for the company controls of a paid team plan. For a business, ownership and offboarding matter more than the largest free number.

What is the most secure Dropbox alternative?

Tresorit is the strongest shortlist here for confidential client files when zero-knowledge encryption and business policy controls are the deciding requirements; Sync is the lower-cost encrypted candidate. That is a fit judgment, not proof of an absolute security winner. Dropbox Advanced also advertises E2EE. Compare the protection of the actual sharing workflow, account recovery, administrator access and the plan you will buy.

How do I move files off Dropbox?

Inventory the files, owners, external links and permissions first. Make a separate backup, then ensure the files you are copying are complete local files rather than cloud-only placeholders. Pilot a non-sensitive project in the destination, verify file counts and representative documents, and recreate access rules and client links deliberately. Check version history and metadata rather than assuming an ordinary file copy transfers them. Agree a cutover, stop editing the old working copy, verify recipient access and retain the backup before cancelling Dropbox.

Use the AI business workflow audit checklist to map file ownership, handoffs and recurring work before changing systems. Get the checklist through the newsletter.