Box Vs OneDrive

Rendering the final verdict on which cloud storage provider is superior is no less than a Herculean task. Although the storage industry has witnessed just a few winters, the competition among the leading cloud storage providers appears to be quite intense. Over the last few years, users have seen commendable improvements and innovations in the storage industry, and who can forget about the famous price war?

Much has been said and discussed about the features and functionalities of two leading cloud storage programs, namely, Box Vs OneDrive. So we have come up with an unbiased comparison of these two leading products that can render an insight to users to cast their vote in favor of the one that best suits their requirements.

Box

Unveiling its cloud storage and sharing platform back in 2005, Box has become highly popular among businesses. Embellished with robust security provisions and lavish and business-oriented features, it is one of the top choices among businesses to store and share files and folders.

OneDrive

With several constant improvisations such as the January 2015 update of iOS for business integration, OneDrive has become an attractive service for both individuals and business-purpose users.

Let’s look at how they stand against each other on the following parameters.

Security

With the ever-escalating cases of phishing scams, data security is one of the prime concerns of Internet users. Whether it’s personal or business data, it is vitally important to maintain privacy and security.

Box

Box has 256-bit AES encryption for all the files uploaded to it. With Box, you have the ability to decide who can access or view your specific files or folders, and simultaneously, it also allows you the freedom to edit and upload the files. If you like to safeguard your files even further, you can protect them by creating passwords. Box is HIPAA compliant and certified for EU and Swiss Safe Harbor frameworks for the use of personal data from European member countries.

OneDrive

The transferring data is SSL encrypted. It scans all the files for “objectionable content” that sometimes may lead to deletion of your account or data. OneDrive offers two-step verification that further protects the log-in via text message or One Time Code app.

Additionally, it features e-discovery and data preservation, audit reporting capabilities, and compliance with high-level industry standards such as HIPAA, FISMA, BAA, and EU model clauses. With OneDrive for business, you can set the custom permission level for users in your company and add it to existing lists available while OneDrive personal allows you only to edit or read.

Usability

The user-friendliness of a product or service matters a lot, and the lack of it can repulse customers. So, which is more user-friendly – Box or OneDrive?

Box

In Box, anyone can create an account free of cost. The interface is pretty simple, and the “Make available” option is a great feature to store your data offline.

However, if you have multiple accounts, you cannot switch from one platform to another unless you log out and log in again. Also, the sharing and privacy features are built very much along business and IT lines and are a bit confusing.

Last year, it introduced a new mobile web interface that helps users take advantage of the same interface and navigation that Box mobile apps offer without the need to install the app on your mobile. It also added an HTML5 document-previewing feature that makes sharing your content effortless, even on the go.

OneDrive

The interface is quite simple, and the learning curve is almost zero. Something that may annoy customers is that once you sign in, you find yourself forced to use other Microsoft features such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote Online, Office Online, and Outlook, among others. But when it comes to sharing, OneDrive renders an easy and enriched user experience. You can conveniently share the files and folders either via email or the links generated for that purpose. Administering OneDrive for business is easy, especially if you are an Office 365 user, as it can be done from the admin portal itself. You can access it from anywhere, manage users and settings, control your storage, and most importantly, you can easily mix OneDrive for business with your on-premise solutions in the cloud. This clearly reflects Microsoft’s competitive positioning over other storage competitors, that is, serving the needs of companies that want to move to cloud storage for file storage and sharing but still would like to keep their on-premise infrastructure untouched.

Pricing

Although customers look for elegant and lavish features, price remains one of the chief concerns. Here, which service is more competitive in terms of pricing, Box or OneDrive?

Box

Box offers 10 GB of free space with a limit of 250 MB file size. The limited file size appears to be forcibly pushing the customer to the “Personal Pro” service at $10 per month, which provides 100 GB space with file size going up to 5 GB. However, the file size of 5 GB appears to be quite meager compared to the other providers. Box for business comes at a price of $17 per user per month, which allows content collaboration and user management for up to three users with a file size limit of 5GB. However, for large-scale user deployments, it offers customized pricing that comes under the Enterprise storage plan.

OneDrive

You get 15 GB free space with OneDrive. Office 365 users get 1TB of storage space that comes at a price of $6.99/month. There is a referral policy in place as well, which can help you get an extra 5GB free space if you refer upto 10 friends. Earlier, it had a 2 GB file size limit for sharing, which has been increased to 10GB size file support limit. OneDrive for business comes at a price of $5 per user per month with 1TB of storage space. It includes Office Online, which comes with a free trial, so you can always test it out first to see if it fits your bill. Last year, Microsoft announced it would offer unlimited storage space for Office 365 users starting sometime in 2015, which will keep them well ahead of Box.

Box for office 365

Several months ago BOX has released the new BOX for Office. Box goal was to make it as simple as possible for everyone to open, edit, save and share any file from BOX. That release enabled to save attachments from incoming mail to a folder in BOX, to insert links to files already stored on BOX, and to automatically turn attachments into BOX shared links. Two days ago, Box have announced it is joining the Microsoft Cloud Storage Partner Program. Box now will support native integrations with with Office for iPad, iPhone and online. This extends Box reach of existing integration with office. Box is taking an important step toward a more open future. This will be updated soon with also making office 365 on the web available later this year.