Dropbox Alternatives: Prices and Plans Compared
Cloud storage options for people who want other pricing, other privacy terms or less AI in their file storage.
The best Dropbox alternatives depend on what you want to change: Proton Drive and Sync.com for encryption claims, iCloud+ or Google Drive if you already live in those accounts, pCloud for a one-time lifetime purchase, and MEGA or OneDrive as other mainstream options. This page compares those seven with Dropbox on price, storage size (in terabytes, TB, and gigabytes, GB), encryption and artificial intelligence (AI).
If you want storage that costs less or collects less than Dropbox, start with the 2 TB comparison: Dropbox Plus is $9.99/month and iCloud+ 2 TB is also $9.99/month, so price alone rarely separates them; the encryption claims and bundles do. Every fact below comes from each vendor's own website as of 2026-11-13. This page lists options and does not rank them; nothing here was tested.
Dropbox Alternatives at a Glance
| Product | Billing unit and entry price | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | Plus: $9.99/month for 1 person, 2 TB; Basic free, 2 GB | People already using Dropbox sharing and integrations |
| Proton Drive | Drive Plus: $2.49/month shown on annual billing, 200 GB; Free 5 GB | People who want end-to-end encryption on every file |
| iCloud+ | 50 GB $0.99/month; 200 GB $2.99; 2 TB $9.99; free 5 GB | People whose devices are mostly Apple |
| pCloud | Premium 500 GB: $159 lifetime (one-time) | People who prefer a one-time payment to a subscription |
| Sync.com | Personal 1TB $9/month on annual billing ($108 first year); Solo 5TB $21/month annual | People who want end-to-end encrypted storage |
| MEGA | Free plan €0; paid Pro I, II, III and Flexi plans billed in euros | People comparing encrypted storage with a free tier |
| Microsoft OneDrive | Bundled with Microsoft 365; price not retrievable 2026-11-13 | People already in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem |
| Google Drive | Free: up to 15 GB per account; Google AI Pro: 5 TB, $19.99/month or $199.99/year | People already using Google accounts |
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How the Dropbox Alternatives Differ
Dropbox Basic is free with 2 gigabytes (GB). Plus is $9.99/month for one person with 2 terabytes (TB), 30-day restore of deleted files and transfers up to 50 GB. Standard is $15 per user per month with 3 TB per team, and Advanced is $24 per user per month with 15 TB per team. Enterprise is custom priced.
Dropbox's plan comparison lists 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) encryption on paid plans and shows end-to-end encryption only on Advanced, so Plus has none. Standard and Advanced list password-protected links; Plus does not list them. On artificial intelligence (AI), Plus lists no AI credits, and Standard and Advanced list 250 AI credits per person per month for select teams. Dropbox's privacy page says it will not sell your data to advertisers or other third parties.
The alternatives fall into three groups: privacy-first storage (Proton Drive, Sync.com, MEGA), ecosystem storage tied to a device or office suite (iCloud+, OneDrive, Google Drive), and pay-once storage (pCloud). The sections below give each vendor's published plans so you can compare against the 2 TB Plus tier.
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Contact usProton Drive
Proton Free gives 5 GB at no charge. Drive Plus is 200 GB at $2.49/month, billed as $29.88 for the first 12 months and $47.88 every 12 months after. Proton Unlimited is 500 GB plus a virtual private network (VPN), Mail, Calendar and Pass at $6.49/month, billed as $77.88 for the first 12 months and then $119.88 a year. Proton Duo is 2 TB for up to 2 users at $14.99/month, billed at $179.88 a year. Proton Family is 3 TB for up to 6 users at $23.99/month.
Proton says all files are protected with end-to-end encryption and that not even Proton can view or edit them. Its privacy policy says servers are located in Switzerland, Germany or Norway and that it cannot decrypt user encrypted content. That page makes no AI or model-training statement.
Worked cost: a 2 TB year on Proton Duo is $179.88 against $119.88 for Dropbox Plus, so Proton costs $60 more, covers two users and bundles other Proton apps. Proton lists no single-user 2 TB plan, which is the main gap against Dropbox Plus.
iCloud+
Apple's US prices are 50 GB at $0.99/month, 200 GB at $2.99, 2 TB at $9.99, 6 TB at $29.99 and 12 TB at $59.99. The free tier is 5 GB. All paid plans include iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, a custom email domain and sharing with up to five family members.
The support page reviewed says nothing about end-to-end encryption or Advanced Data Protection, so this page makes no encryption claim for iCloud+. At 2 TB for a year it costs 12 x $9.99 = $119.88, the same as Dropbox Plus, with family sharing added.
iCloud+ fits households that mostly use Apple devices. It is a weaker fit for mixed Windows, Android and Apple households because the service is built around Apple's ecosystem.
pCloud
pCloud lists lifetime plans at their sale prices: Premium 500 GB at $159 (list $279), Premium Plus 2 TB at $379 (list $709) and Ultra 10 TB at $1,099 (list $2,799). The 3in1 Bundle is 3 TB at $579 (list $1,517). Its pricing page shows pCloud Encryption as not included in the three storage-only plans and included in the 3in1 Bundle. It lists recovery of data from up to 30 days ago.
Worked cost: 2 TB lifetime is $379, against $119.88 a year for Dropbox Plus, so the one-time price breaks even after about 3.2 years (379 / 119.88). That assumes sale prices hold and ignores any change in pCloud's pricing.
A lifetime plan removes renewal bills but puts a large payment up front, and the cheapest plan with client-side encryption is the $579 bundle.
Sync.com
Sync describes itself as an end-to-end encrypted storage platform so that only the account holder can access files, and lists System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 1, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) compliance on all individual plans, with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) listed only for Solo 5TB. Personal 1TB is $9/month on annual billing ($108 for the first year, regular $12/month) or $12/month on monthly billing. Solo 5TB is $21/month annual ($252 first year) or $24 monthly. Personal Unlimited is $33.75/month annual ($405 first year). Teams plans are billed per user with a 3-user minimum: 1TB at $4.50 annual, 2TB at $6.75 annual and 10TB at $11.25 annual.
The first-year prices are promotional. Sync lists no free plan on its pricing page, though a 30-day free trial exists. It does not state a hosting location on that page and the page makes no AI statement.
Worked cost: Sync lists no 2 TB personal tier. The nearest personal option for more than Plus's 2 TB is Solo 5TB at $252 for the first year, against $119.88 for Dropbox Plus, in exchange for 5 TB. A three-person team on Teams 2TB annual pays 3 x $6.75 x 12 = $243.
MEGA
MEGA's pricing page lists a Free plan at €0 forever with limited transfer, and paid Pro I, Pro II and Pro III plans plus Pro Flexi for people who need more storage. Paid plans are billed in euros, and the page offers monthly, yearly and two-year billing. MEGA also sells a VPN and a password manager as separate products.
The page reviewed loaded its price amounts in the browser, so this page states no per-plan euro figure. MEGA's own site describes its password manager as using zero-knowledge encryption. The pricing page makes no AI or training statement.
MEGA fits people who want a free tier plus the option to pay for more storage and transfer. Its free plan has limited transfer, which matters for frequent sharing.
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive is Microsoft's storage service and is sold with Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Microsoft's plan and pricing pages did not load on 2026-11-13 (they returned an access error), so this page gives no OneDrive price, storage size or encryption claim.
OneDrive fits people already paying for Microsoft 365 for Word, Excel and Outlook, because storage comes with the suite rather than as a separate bill.
Google Drive
Google states that every Google account includes up to 15 GB of storage shared across its services. Paid storage is now sold inside Google AI plans: Google AI Pro is 5 TB at $19.99/month or $199.99 a year and includes Gemini features, and Google AI Ultra starts at 20 TB at $99.99/month. Google's plans page lists a 2 TB option under Google AI Plus but shows no price for it, so this page states none.
For a year, Google AI Pro at $199.99 gives 5 TB against 2 TB for $119.88 on Dropbox Plus. That price includes AI features, which matters for readers trying to avoid AI bundles. Google Drive fits people who already use Gmail, Docs and Android.
How to Choose a Dropbox Alternative
Pick the constraint first. If it is encryption, compare Proton Drive and Sync.com, which both describe end-to-end encryption, with Dropbox, which lists it only on Advanced. If it is avoiding AI add-ons, note that Dropbox lists AI credits on team plans and Google bundles Gemini into its larger storage plans, while Proton and Sync.com list none on the pages above.
If it is cost over several years, work the arithmetic: pCloud lifetime breaks even against Dropbox Plus after about 3.2 years at the 2 TB tier. If it is simplicity, stay inside the ecosystem you already pay for, which usually means iCloud+, OneDrive or Google Drive.
Check the limits Dropbox publishes that others may not: 50 GB transfers on Plus, 30-day deleted-file restore and password-protected links on Standard and above. Not every vendor above publishes the same limits.
Who This Is Not For
This page is not for readers who need compliance advice, such as HIPAA or GDPR suitability for a business. It lists vendor-published plans and claims only. It is also not for readers with very large archives, since several vendors above do not publish transfer or file-size limits.
What Would Change Our Answer
A published end-to-end encryption tier on Dropbox Plus, a published price for Google's 2 TB option, a standalone 2 TB plan at Proton, or a loaded OneDrive plan page would change which options fit which reader. Prices are as of 2026-11-13 and several are first-year promotional prices.
When Dropbox Is Still the Better Fit
Dropbox fits teams and individuals who rely on its sharing links, desktop sync and third-party integrations, and who do not need end-to-end encryption on every file. Its Plus plan is a flat 2 TB for $9.99/month, which is a simple comparison point for the larger tiers above.
It also fits teams that need per-user plans with 180-day or one-year restore windows, which Standard and Advanced list, without moving shared folders to a new service.
Verdict
Proton Drive and Sync.com fit people focused on encryption claims, iCloud+ and Google Drive fit people inside those ecosystems, and pCloud fits people who prefer a lifetime purchase. The next step is to decide how much storage you need, then compare that tier's price on each vendor's page for a full year.