Box
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 0% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Box alternatives
We compared 7 products and found 7 cheaper alternatives · 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 1 assessed alternative that is cheaper in this scenario; 0 of them cover at least 75% of the 14 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 | not yet assessed | $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 0%
What you give up
Capabilities Box has that the top alternatives lack.
- Reusable templates — Start a signature request from a reusable template.Missing from Dropbox.
- Audit trail — Keep a timestamped audit trail of who signed and when.Missing from Dropbox.
- API access — Send and manage signature requests programmatically via an API.Missing from Dropbox.
- Custom branding — Apply your own branding to signing pages.Missing from Dropbox.
- Embedded signing — Embed the signing experience directly in your own app or site.Missing from Dropbox.
- Identity verification — Verify a signer's identity before they can sign.Missing from Dropbox.
- SSO / SAML — Sign in through your company's SSO/SAML identity provider.Missing from Dropbox.
- File uploads — Let respondents attach files as part of their answers.Missing from Dropbox.
- Docs & wikis — Create shared documents and a team wiki alongside tasks.Missing from Dropbox.
- Whiteboards & mind maps — Sketch ideas on a shared whiteboard or mind map.Missing from Dropbox.
- API access — Access and update project data programmatically via an API.Missing from Dropbox.
- AI assistant — Get AI help drafting updates or summarizing project status.Missing from Dropbox.
- Workflow automations — Automate repetitive workflow steps.Missing from Dropbox.
- SSO & SCIM provisioning — Sign in through your company's SSO with SCIM provisioning.Missing from Dropbox.
Feature comparison
Box vs the top alternatives, on the 14 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Box | Dropbox |
|---|---|---|
| Reusable templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Audit trail from Individual | ✓ | ✗ |
| API access | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom branding from Business | ✓ | ✗ |
| Embedded signing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Identity verification from Personal Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| SSO / SAML from Business | ✓ | ✗ |
| File uploads from Enterprise Advanced | ✓ | ✗ |
| Docs & wikis from Individual | ✓ | ✗ |
| Whiteboards & mind maps from Individual | ✓ | ✗ |
| API access from Business | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI assistant from Business | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow automations from Enterprise | ✓ | ✗ |
| SSO & SCIM provisioning from Business | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $8/mo Business Starter | $0/mo Basic |
✓ 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.
- ✓ Reusable templates
- ✓ Audit trail — from Individual
- ✓ API access
- ✓ Custom branding — from Business
- ✓ Embedded signing
- ✓ Identity verification — from Personal Pro
- ✓ SSO / SAML — from Business
- ✓ File uploads — from Enterprise Advanced
- ✓ Docs & wikis — from Individual
- ✓ Whiteboards & mind maps — from Individual
- ✓ API access — from Business
- ✓ AI assistant — from Business
- ✓ Workflow automations — from Enterprise
- ✓ SSO & SCIM provisioning — from Business
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
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)
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 0% of the 14 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).
Does Box have a free plan?
Yes. Box's free plan is limited to 1 seat.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-08-25 and 2026-09-12, on the vendors' official pricing pages.