Box vs Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 8.3 out of 10

Based on 537 reviews and ratings

Score 8.8 out of 10

Based on 2534 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Versioning

Video files

Audio files

Document collaboration

Access control

File search

Device sync

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

User and role management

File organization

Device management

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Performance

Reliability

Storage Reports

Pros

easy to install and set up
Cross- platform. Box can be installed on Mac OS and Windows, and you can always access your files online.
Syncing is done nearly instantaneously. All files in the Box folder have a checkmark next to them, and when they've synced, the checkmark turns blue.

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Maike Holthuijzen

Graduate Research Assistant

Utah State UniversityHigher Education, 5001-10,000 employees

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Gives you availability of your files and functions within a web format so that you don't need to have your computer in order to get to your files, emails or needed programs.
In some cases, it gives you more features than the downloaded versions offer on their own.
Allows space to store files in the cloud, on a secure server, instead of saving items to your computer. Computers can fail, but your files don't have to be lost. Then when you get your new computer, you just download what you need and keep moving.

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Project Controls Analyst

Orbital Engineering, Inc.Civil Engineering, 201-500 employees

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Cons

No ability to properly share (with write access) to external collaborators. This is a real show-stopper.
No good integration with users' own file system.
Difficult to deploy on a smaller scale, so one has to rely on organization-wide SSO, adding additional bureaucracy.

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Verified User

Technician in Research & Development

Research Company, 11-50 employees

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First time install and setup is always problematic. Most new computers seem to come with a stripped down trial version and getting it to accept my license code to activate it is a pain. So much so that I typically will just uninstall it from a new computer and do a fresh install.

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Nathan Morimitsu

Director of Operations

H2 Manufacturing SolutionsAviation & Aerospace, 1-10 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

Box 8.0

Based on 12 answers

I like the security features and I like the website. It's easy to use and create and move things around as needed. The main reason for a lower rating is because the Box Sync app is just not a good program. It's a memory hog, it's slow, transfer speeds are slow, and it's not the most efficient route. If you have a large Box account and you need to get a computer up to speed on a large amount of data within Box, you are in for the long haul. Last time I had to do this, it took 3 days to sync all of the files and we are talking around 100 GB worth of data

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Sam Montoya, CSM

Project Manager

Primary Residential MortgageFinancial Services, 1001-5000 employees

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Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) 9.1

Based on 5 answers

I give it this rating because I am satisfied overall with what Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) can do and the basic functions it offers. It’s far from perfect and a bit costly, but overall, it is hard to live without. We use it on a daily basis and have come to rely on it very much all of the time.

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Owner

Homewatch CareGiversHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 51-200 employees

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Usability

Box 9.2

Based on 18 answers

Everything with Box is seamless. It can be integrated into virtually any other software or application. You can even get the app for your phone or tablet to work on the go. File syncing is so quick. The only reason I gave it a 9 is the issue I discussed earlier about the local file application rebooting and not continuing to sync files. Other than that, it's great!

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Tyler Grudowski

Product Development Engineer

NoMo DiagnosticsMedical Devices, 1-10 employees

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Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) 9.5

Based on 4 answers

Microsoft Office 365 has great usability. No need for high expertise to start using its tools. If you want to develop something more complex then I advice previous study, like VBA coding.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Mining & Metals Company, 10,001+ employees

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Reliability and Availability

Box 10.0

Based on 10 answers

Yeah, it's always worked, I've never had any kind of connection issues, the only issues I've had it I've been on our end when the Internet hasn't worked.

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Verified User

Director in Marketing

Religious Institutions Company, 11-50 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Performance

Box 9.1

Based on 24 answers

The general operation and management of Box is very efficient, both when accessing the account, and when adding files, downloading or modifying any document directly.The web platform, mobile and desktop versions work really well and quickly, making all the work and process flow smoothly and without setbacks. So far I have not been able to observe any inconvenience

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Graphic Design Specialist

Trans Air Express Pvt. Ltd.Internet, 1-10 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support Rating

Box 8.1

Based on 61 answers

I found their support community lacking in clarity when I experienced a login issue. The error messaging was poor on my Box Sync application. I did not reach out to support staff for help, instead, I reasoned that I should try downloading the Box Sync application again and reinstall it. That fixed my issue, thankfully. I think a less computer-savvy user would've been much more frustrated.

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Verified User

Director in Information Technology

Internet Company, 1-10 employees

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Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) 7.5

Based on 106 answers

Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.

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Sam Livermore, MCP, iTIL

Lead Systems Administrator

MoneySolverFinancial Services, 201-500 employees

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In-Person Training

Box 10.0

Based on 1 answer

The in person training was done in house and I helped with the training, people seem to respond well.

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Verified User

Director in Marketing

Religious Institutions Company, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Online Training

Box 10.0

Based on 3 answers

The documentation is good. Since Box is a popular service, there were also a number of YouTube videos and other sources that were helpful as we were considering the product and planning for deployment. Also, the ability to try the free version helped to prepare us.

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Verified User

C-Level Executive in Information Technology

Information Technology and Services Company, 501-1000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

Box 10.0

Based on 12 answers

Be careful with settings. It is easy to get overwhelmed with updates. For example, you don’t want to be updated when doing historical data uploads. I recommend taking off notifications initially and then turn on post you have done your historical data upload.

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Verified User

Director in Legal

Computer Software Company, 201-500 employees

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Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) 10.0

Based on 1 answer

Everything works and I use it all the time.

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Owner

Forensic Accounting , LLCAccounting, 1-10 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Both of these services are fine but they both seem to either be missing features or are much slower to do what needs to be done. Price might be the biggest difference since Google Drive is free but paying for Box is still worth it.

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Founder

Graphic PolicyBroadcast Media, 1-10 employees

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I have used a few other products similar to Microsoft 365. I used to use Dropbox as a file storage, cloud based solution for storing documents and data. I was introduced to Microsoft 365 a few years after using Dropbox, and I prefer Microsoft because of the entire suite that compliments the storage center. Everything in the suite works together so seamlessly.

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Marquis C. Brantley

Regional Manager

Vivint Smart HomeConsumer Services, 10,001+ employees

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Scalability

Box 10.0

Based on 1 answer

It's great, as we put more files on there it's done very well.

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Verified User

Director in Marketing

Religious Institutions Company, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Collaboration online through Box has required fewer in-person meetings to discuss project progress.
The most up-to-date information on each project and file can be reliably found in one location. Collaborators can easily view the most current progress and pick up where others have left off.
Project supervisors can be as involved as they need to be. Overseeing the progress of a project is easier than ever.

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Verified User

Employee in Customer Service

Education Management Company, 201-500 employees

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Increased efficiency through easier, more efficient, and higher quality collaboration.
Widespread adoption allows for reduced costs and greater consistency within the organization.
The subscription-based package model means that licenses are purchased for some users that may not use certain applications or features within the package.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Medical Devices Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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Screenshots

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

Box Editions & Modules

Edition

Starter	$7.00¹
Business Plus	$35.00¹
Business	$20.00¹
Enterprise	$47.00¹

per month

Additional Pricing Details

Box is available as an annual subscription. Many customers opt for either our Digital Workplace or Digital Business suite, which includes the baseline software plat (Box Enterprise) plus multiple additional features including Box Shield for data loss prevention and threat detection, Box Governance for retention management and legal holds, Box Relay for no-code workflow, and Premier Services. Customers are eligible for discounting beyond volume list prices, depending on a number of conditions.

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) Editions & Modules

Edition

Individual	$5.84¹
Business Basic	$5.00²
Business Standard	$12.50²
Business Premium	$20.00²
Business - Apps	$8.25²
Enterprise - E3	$32.00²
Enterprise - E5	$57.00²
Enterprise - F3	$10.00²

*Per Month
Per User Per Month

Additional Pricing Details

*When billed annually.

Rating Summary

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Box

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

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