If you are already using a dropbox personal account and curious to know how a business account differs from it, this article is for you. By the end of this article, you will be able to decide which dropbox plan is suitable for you for both individual and business purposes.
Let’s start with the basic differences between Dropbox Personal and Business plans:
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Dropbox Personal vs Business
The Personal plan starts with the base model of dropbox for individuals that offers free account creation (dropbox basic) to access features like file sharing, syncing and cloud storage. Apart from the free basic plan, there are two paid plans designed for personal accounts, i.e. Dropbox Plus (for individuals) and Dropbox Family (for multi-users).
On the other hand, the Dropbox Business account is designed to manage small & large teams (various plans depending on your team size). To some extent, the dropbox individual and business plans seem the same in terms of features and price.
However, the business plans amplify the features you get in an individual account, along with some other unique team management and tracking features. While you can view personal dropbox logs with an individual account, the business account allows you to view team logs, activities and performance.
Here is the basic differences in features offered by both types of accounts for a better understanding:
Features | Dropbox Personal (For individuals and Families) | Dropbox Business (For Teams & Organizations) |
---|---|---|
Users | 1 user (Basic, Plus), Upto 6 Users (Family Plan) | Suitable for 3+ users |
Storage | 2 GB (Basic), 2,000 GB (Plus & Family) | Starts with 3,000 GB (varies for different plans) |
File Syncing | Yes | Yes |
Connect Multiple Devices | Upto 3 devices (Basic), Unlimited (for paid plans) | Unlimited |
Deleted Files Recovery/Restoration | For paid plans with 30 days recovery window | 180 days recovery period (1 year for advanced plan) |
Dropbox Backup | Yes | Yes |
Dropbox Rewind | For Paid plans with 30-day history | 180-day history |
Files & Photos Watermarking | No | Yes |
Remote Access to Data | Yes | Yes |
256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption | Yes | Yes |
Multi-Factor Authentication | Yes | Yes |
Remotely wipe devices | Yes | Yes |
File Locking | No | Yes |
Dropbox Transfer | Sends upto 2GB data per transfer | Sends upto 100 GB data per transfer with customization options |
Device Approvals | No | Yes |
File Requests | Yes | Yes |
Web Previews & Comments | Yes | Yes |
Viewer History | No | Yes (except standard plan) |
Customer Support | Live chat & priority email support | Live Chat, Priority Email Support, Phone support during working hours |
Shared Link Controls | No | Yes |
Smart Sync | No | Yes |
People Pages | No | Yes |
Team Management Tools like Admin Console, Multi-team admin and users login, team activity tracking, group management, etc. | No | Yes |
Single Sign-On Integration | No | Only in Advanced plan |
Dropbox Pro vs Business – What makes them different?
Dropbox Pro (stands for Professional) is the most advanced plan for Individual users that offers advanced sharing control & other features you won’t get in a basic or plus plan. Some of the unique features offered by Dropbox Pro for individuals are:
- Up to 3 TB Storage Space
- Allow sending upto 100 GB data per transfer with customization options
- Priority Chat Support
- View File Version History for up to 180 days
- Document Watermarking
- Branded Sharing – to let you send files with your logo, brand image and other elements
- Plus Button – allow you to create new microsoft office files, upload documents and scan them directly from the dropbox app on iOS devices.
- Document Scanning
- Full-text search
- Advanced sharing controls – to allow you to control what you are sharing by:
- Add passwords for shared links & files
- Add Expiry date for shared links & files
- Provide view-only permissions for particular files & folders.
Although these features make Dropbox Pro similar to Dropbox Business Pricing Plans, it is not. The biggest difference between dropbox pro and business is that a professional account is for one user only, while business accounts are for three or more members.
Also, the professional account doesn’t have team management features, which you can only find in dropbox business accounts.
Here are few prominent features that you can find in Dropbox Business Plans but not in the Professional plan:
Features | Dropbox Professional | Dropbox Business |
---|---|---|
Pricing | Starts $16.58/month | Starts $15/user/month |
Storage | 3 TB | 5 TB to Unlimited (for enterprise plan) |
Admin Console | No | Yes |
Device Approvals | No | Yes |
Multi-Team Admin Login | No | Yes |
Centralized Billing | No | Yes |
Unlimited API Access to security platform & data transport partners | No | Yes |
Tiered Admin Roles | No | Yes |
Sign in as user | No | Yes |
Audit Logs with File Event Tracking | No | Yes |
Enables HIPAA compliance | No | Yes |
Account Transfer Tool | No | Yes |
The advanced features of Dropbox Pro make it suitable for Solo professionals who want more than normal individual plans with safeguards for lost/stolen devices, except for the team-management features.
As the plan offers more data transfer and storage capacity, with branded sharing & watermark features, it can be really useful for photographers, creative professionals and freelancers.
How to decide which dropbox plan is suitable for you?
All dropbox pricing plans have their own characteristics and importance for personal and business accounts. Thus to decide which one would be suitable for you, keep the following criteria in your mind:
- Storage: First, decide how much storage you want. If you only need to store some documents and files, the free dropbox basic plan with 2GB storage would be enough for you.
However, if you want to store large files, videos and backups on your personal account, go for one of the paid plans: Plus (2TB) or Professional (3TB).
If you require more space for the whole team, choose from the business account plans (which provide from 5TB to unlimited storage).
- Users Count: If you need only dropbox features for a single user, you can go for free or paid plans of an individual dropbox account.
However, if you want to manage photos, videos and file sharing with the whole family, go for the dropbox family plan (which supports up to 6 users with a shared 2TB storage space).
If you have three or more team members to manage, go for the dropbox business plan.
- Sharing Capacity: If you want to share less data per transfer, like up to 2GB for an individual account, you can choose from the basic, plus or family plan.
However, to get up to 100 GB of sharing space per transfer with customization options, choose Dropbox Professional for an individual account and Standard or Advanced plan for team accounts.
- Requirements & Features: Dropbox has designed various user plans depending on their requirements and features. Start with the free basic plan if your requirements are pretty simple and minimal, like file sharing and cloud storage (limited space) for individual usage.
If you want to manage teams with dropbox tracking features and sharing linked controls, go for business account plans. Apart from team management and activity tracking, there are some exclusive features which you only get in team accounts, like:
- People Pages: It is a business-only feature where dropbox automatically creates a people page for team members or contributors with whom you are always collaborating. These pages summarize all the crucial information that you have shared with that colleague, like files, meetings, updates, folders, etc., you have shared with that colleague.
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance: Only the dropbox business account offers HIPAA compliance. So, if you want to store anything that falls under HIPAA compliance, go for business account plans only.
- Number of Connected Devices on Dropbox: In the free plan (Dropbox basic), users can have up to three connected devices on their account. In contrast, the other paid plans for both business and personal accounts support unlimited connected devices. Also, in business accounts, you can restrict the number of devices team members can connect.
- Support: You get live chat and email support with every dropbox subscription. However, if you want priority chat or phone support for an individual account, that comes only in Dropbox Professional plan.
For team accounts, phone support (during working hours) comes in all business plans. So, depending upon the type of customer support you require, you can choose the suitable plan.
Dropbox Personal Plans & Features for Individual and Freelancers
- Basic: As dropbox basic is a free account plan, you get only some limited features with it, like file syncing, cloud storage, automatic backup and file recovery with backup. The plan supports a limited number of connected devices and storage space. Thus it is suitable for those who just want to try the platform.
- Plus: Dropbox plus is the entry-level paid dropbox plan and is suitable for those individuals & business professionals who want more storage (up to 2 TB) and unlimited device access.
The plan supports crucial integrations with tools like Office360, Dropbox Paper, etc. It also offers security features like remote device wiping, 30-day file recovery, etc.
- Family: It is the only paid plan designed exclusively for family members and allows up to six users to access the same account with 2TB of shared storage. The plan only supports family members’ connected devices on the account and not any other. The plan offers all the features an individual gets in Dropbox Plus plan, making it a good choice for family members.
Dropbox Business Plans & Features for Small & Large Teams
- Standard: Dropbox Standard is the Tier-1 paid plan for team accounts and is suitable for managing small teams. The plan offers 5GB TB storage with admin console & content team management settings. The plan also offers file locking & other security features with unlimited API access to security & productivity partner platforms.
- Advanced: If you are looking for an advanced plan for growing teams with unlimited space. The plan offers all the features a standard plan has, along with some additional advanced features like Single Sign-On integration, file event tracking, domain verification, etc.
- Enterprise: The plan is suitable for large businesses that want customized team management control and features. It is the only plan that supports 24/7 phone support.
Conclusion
Both Dropbox Personal and Business accounts have their own benefits and distinct features. You can decide which plan is suitable for you depending on your requirements, team size and storage space you want using this guide.
You can start with the free basic plan and then move to any of the paid dropbox plans for more storage and advanced file recovery and tracking features. For any more queries, get in touch with us in the comments.
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