Box alternatives
Cloud Storage & File Sharing · www.box.com
Box is a cloud content management platform for secure file storage, sharing and collaboration, with built-in e-signatures, AI features, workflow automation and content APIs.
Switching to Dropbox saves $96 / year and covers 75% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Box alternatives
We compared 7 products and found 7 cheaper options (6 of them cover at least half the compared features) · vs Box Business Starter at $8/mo · scenario: single user, monthly billing, USD.
Box’s own free plan covers this scenario. If you’re paying for features you don’t use, downgrading beats switching. The paid comparison below is for when you’ve outgrown free tiers — the “Free plans” view shows alternatives if you want free with different limits.
Box costs $8/mo on the Business Starter plan at single user, monthly billing. We found 6 assessed alternatives that are cheaper in this scenario; 6 of them cover at least 75% of the 4 compared capabilities. Box's own free plan covers this scenario, so downgrading may beat switching.
| Product | Match | Price | Annual savings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
pCloud Premium 500 GB plan personal cloud — adjacent | 100% | $4.17/mo how? ⓘ | $46.01 / year 48% cheaper | |
Google Workspace Business Starter plan collaboration suite — adjacent | not yet assessed | $7/mo how? ⓘ | $12 / year 13% cheaper |
Which Box alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Best free plan
- Dropbox — $0/mo (Basic plan) · covers 75%
- Best open source or self-hosted
- Internxt — $0/mo (Free plan) · covers 75%
- Need share links, file versioning or desktop sync app?
- Dropbox — from $0/mo (Basic plan)
- Need team folders?
- Proton Drive — from $0/mo (Proton Free plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Box has that the top alternatives lack.
- File versioning — Restore earlier versions of a file or recover deleted files for a stated period.Missing from Proton Drive.
- Team folders — Shared folders for a team with per-member permissions.Missing from Dropbox, Internxt, MEGA.
Feature comparison
Box vs the top alternatives, on the 4 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Box | Dropbox | Internxt | MEGA | Proton Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share links from Individual | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| File versioning from Individual | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Desktop sync app from Business Starter | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team folders from Business Starter | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $8/mo Business Starter | $0/mo Basic | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Proton Free |
✓ means the product offers the capability — possibly only on a higher tier than the plan priced below it. The price row shows the cheapest plan that qualifies for our comparison scenario, with its plan name; a $0 free plan may not include every checked capability.
What Box covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Share links — from Individual
- ✓ File versioning — from Individual
- ✓ Desktop sync app — from Business Starter
- ✓ Team folders — from Business Starter
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
Who switched
Anonymous: no account, no email, no IP stored. Reports are shown once a switch has 3 or more and never change ranking or order — alternatives are computed from prices and capabilities only.
Sources
Every claim traces to an official source and a check date.
- https://www.box.com/pricing (official_pricing, checked 2026-08-26)
- https://www.box.com/pricing/platform (official_pricing, checked 2026-08-26)
- https://www.box.com/pricing/individual (feature_page, checked 2026-10-03)
Frequently asked
How much does Box cost?
Box's Business Starter plan costs $8/mo in our scenario (single user, monthly billing). A free plan exists.
Is there a free Box alternative?
Yes. Dropbox has a free plan that covers 75% of the 4 capabilities we compared against Box.
What is the cheapest Box alternative?
In our scenario (single user, monthly billing), Dropbox is the cheapest assessed alternative at $0/mo (Basic plan).
What is the cheapest Box alternative with Team folders?
Proton Drive covers Team folders and costs $0/mo (Proton Free plan) in our scenario.
Does Box have a free plan?
Yes. Box's free plan is limited to 1 seat.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-10-03 and 2026-10-29, on the vendors' official pricing pages.