Dropbox is so ubiquitous that it has become the default cloud storage software for most people — while many businesses still resist the cloud, they are often using Dropbox for their file-sharing.
Even though it may seem like there are many Dropbox alternatives, they still are “a safe bet” for most people.
There’s a good reason why that is the case.
Why Dropbox is Favorite to Most of Us
We all love Dropbox, who doesn’t?
They always push for innovation and transparency in all their work.
Dropbox is extremely easy to use and the basic plan has everything that an average customer needs.
However, with the increasing demand and storage requirement for today’s usage, a 2GB free cloud storage plan seems not sufficient.
One of Dropbox’s biggest advantages over competitors is its ability to integrate directly into your computer without consuming its resources.
You can instantly take screenshots no matter if you’re gaming or browsing the internet — all that with a single button!
This is how you do it with Dropbox Screenshot sharing.
You install the Dropbox desktop client software, and — like magic — you gain extra cloud storage space on your computer, instantly.
Dropbox Smart Sync is another great feature that brings convenience to the client but it’s only available to Premium users, unfortunately.
It was all about convenience until competitors can put out the same effort as well.
Why People Moving Away to Dropbox Competitors
Yet many people want to try something new.
If you don’t want to use Dropbox anymore, for whatever reason but most of the time is because of privacy and security issue. Dropbox has yet to answer the claim of improper data sharing and Edward Snowden had warn us about it years ago.
I’m sure that these are just a few of the reasons why people are ditching Dropbox and looking for alternatives.
While I still use Dropbox myself (for non-important file storage) but there are certainly several high-quality alternatives that you can use with the same efficiency and higher degree of privacy and security protection.
Even more importantly, they are 100% safe, so you can easily switch to them at any point. Check out my pCloud vs Dropbox particularly.
We aren’t just listing out the alternatives, that would be irresponsible.
We’ll be going over each Dropbox alternative in detail — from functionality to pricing.
The 5 Best Secure Dropbox alternatives that we will discuss in the following lines are as below:
5 Secure Dropbox Alternatives
* Numbering had nothing to do with ranking.
Quick Recommendation:
If you’re asking what would be the obvious choice among these 5, we’d go with pCloud. We use all of them to be honest. But we are using pCloud 2TB + Crypto bundle plan extensively and we simply love it. Read our full review on pCloud here.
All of them are perfectly viable choices, and we will describe in detail why you should give each of these solutions a try.
Let’s get started!
1. Sync.com
Sync was initially launched in 2011, and it has been one of the best cloud services on the market ever since. Thanks to a perfect combination of speed, security, and quality.
However, our fastest cloud storage test tells another side of the story about their speed though.
Put aside the uploading speed performance, Sync is a file hosting service that absolutely deserves your attention.
What’s the key to Sync.com’s success?
Well, the key lies in its zero-knowledge architecture. This system doesn’t allow anyone else to access your files.
You can protect your content with a smart encryption system and you will be the only person who can access these files.
We should also add that Sync’s servers are all based in Canada.
What does that even mean?
As I’ve mentioned in my Sync.com review as one of their strong features and why it matters to you.
Well, it means that the service is located in a country with some of the best privacy laws in the world.
Government departments and law enforcement agencies cannot just enter your premises or office and ask for details or information.
So, if privacy is your main concern, you won’t find a better solution than Sync.com!
Other than outstanding privacy and security, Sync also provides plenty of outstanding features.
All of these features drive both productivity and collaboration.
So other than basic file hosting services, you can also expect powerful device-sharing features.
The company offers a lot of flexible offers and, in our opinion, its 2TB storage plan is one of the best storage plans that you can find.
If we look at the price-performance ratio, this plan is really one of our top recommendations.
The free storage space itself is 5GB, and you can access your content via a mobile device, web browser, or a downloadable desktop client.
By default, you are the only person who can access this content. However, you can allow other people to access the content by sending special invitations.
In my opinion, Sync works best as a group of people sharing and utilizing them.
Sadly, Sync doesn’t have in-app integrations like Dropbox, but it has a variety of different options that you can use to overcome that fact.
Should I give Sync.com a try?
If you want to try new sharing solutions and if you want quality and security for more than yourself, usually I’ll recommend them to a small group of people (<5).
2TB of storage sharing with all the users with their Business Pro Plan is where the value lies. In that case, Sync is the perfect cloud storage solution for you.
2. pCloud
As opposed to Sync, pCloud stands out for users that need all the bells and whistles of a cloud storage service.
This is another cloud storage that we will look into as a potential alternative to Dropbox.
In general, this is one of the best cloud services that you can use at the moment.
If you’re mainly focused on video storage, you’re definitely in for a blast.
pCloud comes with full support for high-definition video formats. So you won’t need to upload your favorite videos in a lower resolution just to satisfy the storage standards.
What is more, you can upload your files in any format. Of course, just make sure that you have a quick enough connection to ensure that your upload speed is fast enough.
Blazing fast upload speed
Again, from our testing, pCloud comes second behind Dropbox in terms of uploading speed.
They are constantly innovating and upgrading their services. The latest is able to automatically back up your folder or PC.
pCloud also has a lot of additional link features. Namely, it can generate specific upload links, and it has its own password and expiry dates.
The last two features are especially important if you want your data to be secured safely at a specific time frame.
Speaking of privacy, we should point out that pCloud has a special security safeguard that no other cloud storage on the market can provide.
All you need to do is stash your favorite files there and nobody will have access to the decryption keys.
They are the first in the market that user can have both highly encrypted and normal files in the same account for your convenience.
Other than that, the user interface is very simple and straightforward and the file sync is astronomically fast.
Like a true modern cloud service, pCloud supports all modern mobile devices, and you can even use Bitcoin for (some) in-app transactions. You can stream your media directly on any device which is a very handy feature to have to make them one of my favorite music cloud storage due to the built-in player.
The only flaw here is that the service has no online document editor whatsoever.
If you’re looking to make some changes to your text files, you’ll have to re-download them in order to do so.
Or the easiest solution to this is to Sync your local drive folder to your pCloud account. Check out the video below for a better understanding.
Sync File with pCloud Drive – Video open in Youtube [new tab]
What’s the final verdict?
Undoubtedly, even despite this one flaw (no software is perfect after all), pCloud is an outstanding solution if you’re tired of Dropbox and if you want to try something new.
The quality of its features and a simple user interface are more than enough for us to recommend this service to everyone.
3. Google Drive
Google Drive is a service that most of you have heard of already.
Not only is it one of the best file hosting services on the web, but it’s completely free as well.
[Off record]- If you aren’t paying, you most probably paying with your privacy.
People from Google know what they are doing!
As you probably already know, the only thing you need to do in order to use any of Google’s services is a Gmail account. If you don’t have one, you will have to make it before you can upload anything. Otherwise, you are good to go!
The best thing about Google Drive is that it’s so simple yet so powerful at the same time. All features are available basically at your fingertips!
It’s there for you to access and it will keep on improving as long as Google decided to invest in it.
The first 15 GB are completely free and, for most people, that is more than enough.
If you need additional space, naturally, you will have to pay for it. But the prices are very cheap and affordable.
Especially when they re-brand their Google Drive to Google One and dropped the price tremendously.
So it’s really not an issue.
The biggest highlights of this service are very expansive third-party libraries and high-quality collaboration features.
Allowing third-party libraries for Google Drive is probably the single most important reason why you should consider switching to this service (as you know, Dropbox has no support for third-party libraries).
Are there any drawbacks to Google Drive?
While Google Drive is an ideal alternative for Dropbox, it’s far from perfect.
It’s a very user-friendly file-sharing service, but it lacks some features that nearly every advanced hosting service has to offer.
For instance, the service doesn’t have native support for private encryption, which could be a huge problem for security.
As we always stress that security and privacy concerns should always be your top priority given Google’s previous bad track record in holding them or abusing them.
The latest incident involving a user profile breach in Google Plus social network is the evidence and they just want to hide it. The biggest concern of all for me is their enormous large databases that always attract unnecessary attention from hackers around the world.
Your safety might not be compromised, but we would prefer it if Google added this feature by default.
So, if you’re a high-end up-loader, you might be disappointed. Otherwise, you will be fine.
Should I switch to Google Drive?
YES. Google Drive is a perfect alternative to Dropbox. Even though some features are not as good as the ones that pCloud and Sync.com can offer, this service is still an outstanding solution for almost any user. In a pool of different selections, Google Drive is one of the “safest” choices you can make, and it’s an ideal replacement for Dropbox.
However, for people who are more concerned about their privacy and security issues as what had been researched recently. You might want to take a second thought on this, maybe?
4. OneDrive
Here’s yet another cloud storage solution that most of you have heard of – OneDrive from Microsoft.
We make a comparison among these 3 prominent cloud storage – Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive.
Find out who scores the most and took the crown from our dedicated testing categories.
Microsoft and Google are rivals in many different areas and, naturally, cloud computing is no exception.
Whether one prefers one company or the other is a matter of personal preference.
However, OneDrive is undoubtedly one of the best Dropbox alternatives today.
OneDrive is pretty as much as old as Dropbox, with the codename “SkyDrive” back then (2007).
The refinement that came with each incremental update is pretty much on par with the notable service.
The features are very contemporary, and they were crafted by Microsoft experts to please any user. The synchronization is very fast and the price is extremely fair.
For roughly $7 per month, you get 1TB of raw storage and additional access to Office 365.
The jewel for this is the access to Office 365 for free here you can edit your document online and skip the hassle of downloading and uploading them again if you’re a frequent Office user.
What drawbacks can I expect?
While OneDrive is superb when it comes to many different aspects, they have some drawbacks as well.
Same as Google, they attract too much attention while these are not their fault entirely.
But we as normal users wouldn’t want to avoid it if there’s a better option.
As many unethical hackers always seek to hack Microsoft’s products, your profile will be at risk no matter what you do.
At the same time, you can only encrypt your files if you’re a OneDrive Business user.
So while you can enjoy the common features even with a basic account, you will eventually need to upgrade it if you want to reap all the benefits.
Should I Get OneDrive Instead?
But if you can get over these limitations, OneDrive has a lot to offer. For instance, you can link your passwords, you can stream your videos, and can even collaborate with other people.
If that’s not enough, you also have live chat support and a special family plan. So even your loved ones can upload their favorite files and keep them in the cloud indefinitely!
No matter if you’re a student or a business person, OneDrive is a great alternative that you have to consider if you want to take a break from Dropbox.
With a contemporary list of features and a very fair price, OneDrive is the perfect cloud storage for everyone.
5. SpiderOak
The last alternative and cloud storage that we will share here as the potential replacement for Dropbox is SpiderOak.
Even though this service is not as popular as the previous one that we’ve mentioned above, it’s still one of our recommendations as a secure Dropbox alternative.
SpiderOak is one of the most secure cloud storage solutions on the web.
It’s extremely safe and secure and hackers are very unlikely to break through. Obviously, this is extremely important if you want to keep your files safe and sound for a long time.
Unlike Dropbox, SpiderOak can back up files on hundreds of different computers and sync them up simultaneously.
Technically, you can have a gigantic library of different files on countless different computers, and you can upload them from anywhere.
The user interface is top-notch, and you can easily get a grasp of it without any additional assistance.
Unlike some traditional services, SpiderOak has no free plan that you can test out.
However, you can get a free 21-day trial that you can use to determine whether SpiderOak is a suitable solution for you or not.SpiderOak is not cheap by any means.
In fact, we recommend you sign up for a trial first! Only that way will you be able to determine whether SpiderOak is really worthy of a change.
Should I switch to SpiderOak?
In general, SpiderOak is a service that you need to try out first if you want a reliable Dropbox alternative. Certainly not the cheapest at $14 per month for a 2TB while pCloud offers $9.99 per month for the same amount of storage and great features as well.
It’s not a perfect service, but it’s good enough to make even the most demanding consumers satisfied.
And that’s really what we strive for!
Here’s a researched paper for SpiderOak from Anders P. K. Dalskov, Claudio Orlandi Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
To Wrap Up on Best 5 Secure Dropbox Alternatives
Dropbox isn’t the only cloud storage solution in the world, and there are a lot of alternatives out there.
Here, I cover five of the best services to replace Dropbox in all of its functionalities, including automatic uploads, folder sharing, and team collaboration features.
I’ve summarized the most important information about 5 other cloud storage services for you.
These are all viable choices, and it is up to you to decide which will work best for your needs.
Make sure you check out some of the worst cloud storage as well to avoid them in every way you can.
They all provide outstanding security and an array of different features that can please any user.
Even more importantly, all five of these dropbox alternatives have strong security protections to ensure that you’re never at risk of losing your files.
Or if you are a control freak and can’t stay calm without knowing your data are within your reach, maybe a NAS would be a better choice instead of the cloud.
To Recap:
If you’re asking who would be the obvious choice among these 5, we’d go with pCloud. It’s secure, affordable, and user-friendly. Get the pCloud 2TB + Crypto bundle plan, and you’ll simply love it. Read our full review on pCloud here.