Apple iCloud vs. Dropbox

Apple iCloud

Apple iCloud

618 Reviews and Ratings

Dropbox

Dropbox

4767 Reviews and Ratings

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
Apple iCloud	Score 7.7 out of 10	N/A	Apple iCloud is a document management software offering from Apple. It includes features such as access to music, photos, calendars, contacts, and documents, and it is built into every new iOS device.	$0.99 per month
Dropbox	Score 8.4 out of 10	N/A	Dropbox is a cloud storage solution, equipped with features that help users to save time, improve productivity, and collaborate with others. Users can edit PDFs, share videos, sign documents, and collaborate with stakeholders without leaving Dropbox.	$9.99 per month

Pricing

Apple iCloud

Dropbox

Editions & Modules

50GB: $0.99
per month
200GB: $2.99
per month
2TB: $9.99
per month

Plus: $9.99
per month
Essentials: $18
per month
Business: $20
per month per user
Business Plus: $26
per month per user
Basic: Free

Offerings

Pricing Offerings
Apple iCloud	Dropbox
Free Trial
No	No
Free/Freemium Version
No	No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No	No

Entry-level Setup Fee

No setup fee

No setup fee

Additional Details

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More Pricing Information

Community Pulse
	Apple iCloud	Dropbox
Considered Both Products	Apple iCloud Anand Chhatpar CTO Chose Apple iCloud iCloud is the most well integrated into Apple's operating systems. There is no comparison between Meldium's auth, which is browser based, and KeyChain, which is pre-installed and integrated into iOS and Mac OS. Dropbox doesn't do backup/restore of logins and auth-data yet, … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Executive Chose Apple iCloud We actually use all three, apple iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox. We use them for storing different kinds of files. With word documents and excel documents, we use Google Drive. For large saved files (designer files) we use Dropbox, and for Apple we use all of our photos, and … Incentivized Helpful? Mike McCloskey Owner Chose Apple iCloud Dropbox is a fine product. The thing that makes iCloud shine is its deep integration with Apple and Apple's legendary support. Finally, we are confident that Apple will be fully committed to privacy and our data remains safe. But, none of this is to denigrate Dropbox in any … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Project Manager Chose Apple iCloud Apple iCloud is more user-friendly and universal than either Box or Dropbox because most people already have an Apple product and an Apple account. Other products are fine to use, but they require that all users create a unique account and login, and that isn't always ideal, … Incentivized Helpful? Michael Timms Network Administrator II Chose Apple iCloud I prefer Google Drive to Apple iCloud. That being said, iCloud does have a huge and very loyal fanbase, and as I have seen in my career it is not going anywhere. If you need a cloud platform just for filesharing, I would pick Dropbox or Google Drive over iCloud. If you need a … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Apple iCloud Google Drive is great and it offers way more free storage than Apple iCloud, however, Google is known for sharing their user's data much more freely than Apple. To some people, this might not be a big deal. I prefer to pay a few dollars for added security. Dropbox is a … Incentivized Helpful? Emily Hammell Marketing and Social Media Coordinator Chose Apple iCloud iCloud integrates all my date from phone and laptop and was more affordable. I love the security and customization options. File storage and organization is great and you can't beat having all your documents in one easily accessible place. Sharing can be easier with Box or Dropb… Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose Apple iCloud While I have to use Dropbox on occasion, I greatly prefer to use iCloud for file sharing. I also have used Google's Apps, and because I'm a Mac/iPhone user, iCloud has more easily fit into the normal routine of what I'm already doing and using. Dropbox has some minor features … Incentivized Helpful? TM Thomas Myers Associate Chose Apple iCloud Dropbox is the king of cloud environments, and where Apple iCloud should go to. I have tried others but don't even remember their names now. We have our own personal cloud as well. I have used cloud environments since 2007 and would love to see Apple iCloud step up to a full … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Project Manager Chose Apple iCloud Already a part of the Apple ecosystem, so if it suits our needs, we will use it. We have a Department shared Dropbox account specifically for sharing large projects with vendors, so Apple iCloud is for lighter internal projects such as shared spreadsheets for project … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Apple iCloud Dropbox is more universal but has a higher price point that Apple iCloud and google while mid price point offers more options in software that allows for file editing and sharing directly in the document. Apple iCloud does not have that on offer. Apple iCloud is the lowest … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose Apple iCloud Apple iCloud allows to track devices when lost and uses end-to-end encryption for data such as iMessages of Health data. It also includes features of shared albums to optimize storage and can access these items through any Apple device in a quick and efficient way. Incentivized Helpful? Gavin Scott-Miller IT Consultant Chose Apple iCloud iCloud is probably the best option for someone who uses primarily Apple devices and services. If you are multi-platform in your technology use I would make sure you test out the free version of iCloud before you make the switch, Apple likes to play nice with Apple, which means … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Administrator Chose Apple iCloud One Drive can allow users to collaborate in realtime and rare crashes on documents. The storage is very generous, and pricing for business, especially non-profits, is fair. One Drive also allows for better photo storage for us as a school. We can keep yearbook items and also … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Apple iCloud Apple iCloud is specially made for iOS devices. Nothing and no one will ever be able to service an Apple product's needs better than Apple themselves. The Apple iCloud software is designed specifically for iOS devices, ease of use, and mindless security for automatic backups. … Incentivized Helpful? MK Matt Kennicott Vice President of Communications Chose Apple iCloud The security and functionality of iCloud beats out any other products I've tried. While two-factor authentication is available elsewhere, Apple seems to take security a step further with notifications across all devices. In addition, the pricing is right - the low cost of 1TB … Incentivized Helpful? Joshua Melder Customer Account Manager Chose Apple iCloud Overall, iCloud performs quite well against some of its larger competitors. In my opinion, iCloud may be better suited for personal and social sharing compared to business cloud platforms like OneDrive and Google Drive. iCloud is incredibly strong if your organization is fully … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Apple iCloud Apple iCloud is extremely similar to Google Drive. You’re able to access files from anywhere, even a PC, without needing to be on the device where the file was originally created. Incentivized Helpful? Gary Gray Founder Chose Apple iCloud While the others are superior for file sharing with other people or teams, they aren't part of the Apple ecosystem and as such don't provide the core functionally that iCloud provides of in-app integration. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Apple iCloud Unlike other solutions, iCloud automatically backs up data without the user needing to download an additional application. Additionally, iCloud is the only application to keep and manage iPhone backups. Lastly, iCloud's pricing options are much more favorable than the other … Incentivized Helpful? Shelby Bowden Graduate Research Assistant Chose Apple iCloud I selected Apple icloud mainly because it is the best for using with pesky apple file types, but overall it does a pretty poor job against competitors. It is more expensive, offers less storage, and is much more difficult to use. I'd stick to an alternative program if it were … Incentivized Helpful? Jeff Eaton Senior Digital Strategist Chose Apple iCloud iCloud is better than any competitors for single-user cross-machine file syncing on iOS and MacOS devices. It's passable for Windows machines but definitely not as well integrated into the OS. For multi-user file sharing scenarios (putting all of a team's shared files in one … Incentivized Helpful? Matt Heerema Director Chose Apple iCloud For a Mac user in a Mac-only shop, iCloud is by far the best of breed. If your company has a mix of Mac and Windows users, it will not be the right primary tool (go to Google Drive for that). iCloud is a necessary and built-in part of a Mac user's experience and so will … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Apple iCloud Apple iCloud is convenient, as most team members already have Apple ID's and devices. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Account Manager Chose Apple iCloud I don't think it is enterprise ready like Box or Dropbox, and seems to cater more to individual users, so I use it on a personal level just for redundancy. Incentivized Helpful?	Dropbox Joseph P. Baker, Jr., Ed.D. Customer Success Manager Chose Dropbox Dropbox as far superior to both Google Drive and Apple’s iCloud due to its ease of use and ability to handle multiple file types and regardless of device type Google Drive, always tries to open files in their native apps. And it is hard to share files from Apple iCloud Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Dropbox Hard to share files with others that don't have Apple Helpful? Jim Prittinen lecturer Chose Dropbox Dropbox is simply easier to use Helpful? Verified User Executive Chose Dropbox From our experience, Dropbox has the best offering. Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Dropbox accessibility advantage, file access Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Dropbox I can store files easier from Desktop to Mobile using Dropbox vs these competitors and it holds more file storage, is more secure, respectful of user privacy with regard to reproductive rights/choice, and is cross platform. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Dropbox I have and use iCloud but I prefer Dropbox. I don’t feel like iCloud is a robust system like Dropbox is. It’s basically just an automatic backup thing so I can do a restore in case something goes wrong. I use Dropbox like a drive on an almost daily basis. Helpful? Verified User Consultant Chose Dropbox I've only selected Dropbox because it's the file organization platform the majority of my clients use so it's more of a default choice than anything else, and wish more people used Google Drive (though its sharing capabilities and sync also could use some work). Helpful? Verified User Administrator Chose Dropbox Dropbox is easy to use and lets you know when a file is edited by more than one user at a time. Helpful? Niko Jalauzidis Sound Engineer Chose Dropbox No expiration on transfers is one of my strongest arguments FOR Dropbox Helpful? Jennifer Ward Creative Entrepreneur Chose Dropbox iCloud is a good service from Apple, but I prefer Dropbox because of the clarity Dropbox has given when syncing files from your desktop. iCloud was confusing and I ended up with files on my iMac that were supposed to be iCloud only. This did not meet my expectations of freeing … Helpful? Verified User Consultant Chose Dropbox Dropbox feels like an integral part of the OS. I do have some files on iCloud, but 99% of my work is in Dropbox. I think Office 365 sharepoint feels like a beta software relic from the 1990s. Google Drive is part of a different ecosystem and feels foreign and less trustworthy. … Helpful? SC Sara Coffey Creative Director Chose Dropbox I think Dropbox does a lot of things better than Google Drive. The link-sharing functionality makes it very easy for me to share with my clients vs Google Drive. I also think Microsoft products are excellent at compatibility with each other. Google Drive doesn't seem to compare … Helpful? Verified User Analyst Chose Dropbox Google Drive is slower and the synchronization speed as compared to Dropbox is not good. Also, Google Drive will synchronize files that I cannot see in Finder or Explorer, whereas Dropbox makes it much easier to see what it is doing. Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Dropbox Even when other solutions have better prices, I will choose Dropbox because of the ease of use and quality of service, and the determinant point is speed; Dropbox is, in my opinion, and use case the fastest tool. Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Dropbox Dropbox excels in syncing files across multiple devices, ensuring seamless access and updates. Its robust cloud storage system allows users to store and share large amounts of data effortlessly. With features like automatic backup, version control, and collaboration tools, … Helpful? Britni Banta Handmade Business Owner Chose Dropbox I used to hate Dropbox in college, but now I use it from a business standpoint and love the ability to share with people, I know why my professors used it! Helpful? Verified User Administrative Assistant Chose Dropbox I have used both of these services, but Dropbox was the first of its kind and still revenant and reliable. I share files with my family and co-workers from Dropbox that we use every day. I even have a friend in the United Kingdom that uses Dropbox to share photos from his … Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Dropbox Ease of use, local files, works well with Mac Finder system, syncing with multiple devices, access in the Cloud when necessary. Google is a strange system for people who use Mac. Sharing files with others in Google Drive, I always worry about people with weak passwords. I only … Helpful? Verified User Director Chose Dropbox Dropbox is miles ahead of iCloud and its accessibility. OneDrive is better integrated with Windows. Google just has way better environment functionality across products. And DocuSign is just such a leader in its field that no one has really shaken its use, which I think Dropbox … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Advisor Chose Dropbox I think Dropbox is a lot more professional and has a better name brand for security Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Dropbox I choose Dropbox for it's reasonable pricing relative to the amount of storage I have. Incentivized Helpful?
Top Pros	Pro Apple devices Pro Set up Pro Apple products	Pro Easy to use Pro Large files Pro Sharing files
Top Cons	Minus Web interface Minus Storage space Minus Windows users	Minus Free version Minus Customer service Minus Google drive

Features

Apple iCloud

Dropbox

File Sharing & Management

Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
	Apple iCloud 8.1 77 Ratings 4% below category average	Dropbox 8.2 1055 Ratings 3% below category average
Versioning	8.353 Ratings	8.3857 Ratings
Video files	9.073 Ratings	8.3847 Ratings
Audio files	9.070 Ratings	8.6760 Ratings
Document collaboration	7.066 Ratings	7.7921 Ratings
Access control	7.364 Ratings	8.3982 Ratings
File search	8.069 Ratings	7.91016 Ratings
Device sync	8.076 Ratings	8.6973 Ratings

Cloud Storage Security & Administration

Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
	Apple iCloud 7.1 73 Ratings 20% below category average	Dropbox 8.1 1006 Ratings 7% below category average
User and role management	6.757 Ratings	8.1911 Ratings
File organization	7.769 Ratings	8.3993 Ratings
Device management	7.070 Ratings	8.0876 Ratings

Cloud Storage Platform

Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
	Apple iCloud 7.1 77 Ratings 19% below category average	Dropbox 8.5 995 Ratings 1% below category average
Performance	7.377 Ratings	8.7987 Ratings
Reliability	8.077 Ratings	8.9992 Ratings
Storage Reports	6.060 Ratings	7.8757 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	Apple iCloud	Dropbox
Small Businesses	SugarSync Score 4.5 out of 10	SugarSync Score 4.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	Druva Security Cloud Score 9.7 out of 10	Druva Security Cloud Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises	Druva Security Cloud Score 9.7 out of 10	Druva Security Cloud Score 9.7 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	Apple iCloud	Dropbox
Likelihood to Recommend	8.7 (77 ratings)	8.6 (1086 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	10.0 (4 ratings)	7.4 (34 ratings)
Usability	8.5 (23 ratings)	8.6 (240 ratings)
Availability	- (0 ratings)	5.1 (4 ratings)
Performance	8.2 (12 ratings)	4.8 (9 ratings)
Support Rating	7.5 (20 ratings)	4.7 (35 ratings)
Online Training	- (0 ratings)	8.2 (2 ratings)
Implementation Rating	- (0 ratings)	5.4 (5 ratings)
Configurability	- (0 ratings)	3.6 (2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model	- (0 ratings)	1.0 (1 ratings)
Ease of integration	- (0 ratings)	1.0 (1 ratings)
Product Scalability	- (0 ratings)	5.4 (5 ratings)
Professional Services	- (0 ratings)	1.0 (1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale	- (0 ratings)	1.0 (1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale	- (0 ratings)	1.0 (1 ratings)

User Testimonials
	Apple iCloud	Dropbox
Likelihood to Recommend	Apple iCloud is also great to keep access to photos synced across devices. Ex: I can snap a photo at a job site and have access to that photo on my desktop when I return to my office. I can then drop the photo into a document that is stored in iCloud and have instant access to that document on my iPad at a client's office later in the day. Seamless transitions make life much easier. Incentivized Doug Fish Finance Director Read full review	Dropbox It's the perfect backup solution for documents - setting up a sync folder and saving / working on documents directly in the sync folder means that we don't have to think about actively backing up. The document being backing itself up the second it is saved and Dropbox detects a new file. This is its strongest suit. However for large file transfers, the resume function comes into its own as well. Using Google Drive or WeTransfer can be successful, but for large file transfers they seem to bomb out with regularity for us, which means having to use ftp (not always an option) or just keep trying until download is successful. Dropbox's sync / resume means that while it might not be the fastest solution, it is the most reliable we have tested. ET Enzo Tedeschi Producer Read full review
Pros	Apple Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I'm away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa. It stores files (e.g photos) nicely Once it's set up, it's fairly easy to use. Incentivized Michelle Braun Learning & Organizational Development Manager Read full review	Dropbox Gives easy set secure access to information. Any unauthorized access is caught right away Flexible across multiple platforms with no limits on the number of devices. Built-in viewers for easy access, eliminating the need for all software on all devices simply to review information. Incentivized Rev Michael Andersen Founder Read full review
Cons	Apple Customization - iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people. Remote use - Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly. Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors Incentivized Gavin Scott-Miller IT Consultant Read full review	Dropbox I wish I could interrupt it's backup process more easily, especially when I start to backup 30Gb files accidentally. I wish it didn't pull files from my computer when I dragged them to the Dropbox folder, but I know this is a Windows issue. Incentivized Allen Morris Illustrator Read full review
Likelihood to Renew	Apple It's so seamless that I can't imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I'm confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I'm a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Dropbox Dropbox is a user-friendly, easy tool which requires little to no skill and they offer a free version with a good amount of storage available. There are other file sharing tools available however at a cost. Dropbox free version I have used for years and it serves every purpose I need. Incentivized Michelle Hidalgo Development and Marketing Manager Read full review
Usability	Apple While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem. Incentivized Shelby Bowden Graduate Research Assistant Read full review	Dropbox Dropbox is incredibly user-friendly and accessible. Its intuitive interface makes uploading, organizing, and sharing files effortlessly. With seamless syncing across devices, I can access important documents anytime, anywhere. The mobile app is especially convenient for on-the-go work, ensuring productivity without hassle. It’s a reliable, stress-free storage solution, which is why I give it a 10! Brittany Diamond entrepreneur Read full review
Performance	Apple Occasionally, large files that haven't yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I've rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently. Incentivized Jeff Eaton Senior Digital Strategist Read full review	Dropbox Dropbox is really useful, you can access any file from anywhere and you can upload and even edit files online, but, sometimes it can be slow. Downloading, uploading, and syncing is a bit slow, it can take several minutes. Furthermore, the search engine for large amounts of data can be slow too and it is not powerful. Incentivized AR Adriano Rosa Programmer Read full review
Support Rating	Apple Apple customer service is fantastic. iCloud is built with Apple in mind and its design is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, whenever our team has encountered issues, the speed of Apple support has been more than timely in addressing our issues and solving our request. We have encountered relatively few issues in my time with the platform and this only improves our overall score for those who keep the platform stable. Incentivized Joshua Melder Customer Account Manager Read full review	Dropbox They immediately responded like in an example that I gave where one of our staff members accidentally deleted the whole Special Hope Network Dropbox, we immediately contacted Dropbox they walked us through the steps of how to retrieve the information and luckily enough we were able to retrieve the entire Dropbox and we have had back and forth with Dropbox on what to do when an employee leaves how to remove them how to add another employee. Incentivized MP Milika Phiri Head of Operations Read full review
Online Training	Apple No answers on this topic	Dropbox I did not personally take any training for Dropbox so I am self taught but I know when our Vice President selected Dropbox, he personally did do some training modules on it and I'm assuming it was very easy and simple to understand since he now acts like he is a pro at it! Incentivized AG Andrea Garofalo Office Manager Read full review
Implementation Rating	Apple No answers on this topic	Dropbox I needed to stay current in improving my daily operations. Dropbox was suggested to me by a former colleague two-years ago and I've been using it just fine ever since. Annesa L Lacey Founder & CEO Read full review
Alternatives Considered	Apple Apple does offer an alternative to Office & the Google Docs family but trusting to use it with both internal and external parties is tough. Google is more universal and easier for 3rd parties to collaborate with. Apple works well for a closed internal group that is native to Apple's ecosystem. Google offers more storage space than Apple Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Dropbox Better organized and simple distribution from a phone or other device. No matter how sophisticated or "clean" other programs are, such as Google Photo apps or other, they are useless without the overall organization of the app. This is where DropBox has always generally excelled in packaging each function correctly for the best Ux. Incentivized Harold Miller CEO Read full review
Scalability	Apple No answers on this topic	Dropbox bc i think box.com is better and more affordable Incentivized Dr. Meshia Miller General Manager Read full review
Return on Investment	Apple If I lose track of my credentials or my continuing education documentation, I could end up not being able to renew my certification. This would lead to a major loss in revenue. Time is money and having all of my required documents easily accessible in iCloud saves me time and allows me to work more efficiently. My Apple devices were certainly not cheap purchases. iCloud has allowed me to maximize my productivity through synchronizing my work no matter which device I'm working on. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review	Dropbox I use Dropbox to share content with my clients. Without this feature, I would not have the ability quickly access the information needed to keep in touch. Pointing clients to Dropbox allows me to seamlessly share videos. These videos can play seamlessly for different clients at different times. Using Dropbox allows me to collaborate on documents with clients and colleagues. Incentivized Rebecca Fronberg Yoga Teacher Read full review
ScreenShots		Dropbox Screenshots