Dropbox Business vs. Microsoft Azure

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dropbox Business
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Dropbox Business expands on the company's cloud storage service by providing additional features, such as lost file recovery for an extended period, integration with popular office suites (e.g. Office 365), the Dropbox Paper collaboration extension, two-factor authentication (2FA) and single sign-on (SSO), tiered administrator controls and granular permission sharing, remote device wipe, API, and other features of use to larger groups and businesses.
$15
per month
Microsoft Azure
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.
$29
per month
Pricing
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Editions & Modules
Standard
$15
per user/per month
Advanced
$25
per user/per month
Enterprise
Contact sales team
Developer
$29
per month
Standard
$100
per month
Professional Direct
$1000
per month
Basic
Free
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThe free tier lets users have access to a variety of services free for 12 months with limited usage after making an Azure account.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Considered Both Products
Dropbox Business
Chose Dropbox Business
We use many different file storage, versioning, sharing and document collaboration services. We are not exclusively using Dropbox. Rather, we use Dropbox Business when it is appropriate, like delivering to clients who use it. We also use it internally some, and as mentioned, we …
Chose Dropbox Business
Dropbox is easy to use when there's a need to move data for backing up (drag and drop); others you need to click and upload and [it's a] slower process.
Microsoft Azure
Chose Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure seems to be the most cost-effective and the ability to buy credits for projects instead of a license makes it attractive.
Features
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox Business
8.9
129 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Versioning8.9101 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files9.2112 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files9.1105 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration8.2119 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.5125 Ratings00 Ratings
File search9.1125 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync8.9122 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox Business
9.0
128 Ratings
4% above category average
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
User and role management9.2113 Ratings00 Ratings
File organization9.2125 Ratings00 Ratings
Device management8.8107 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox Business
8.9
125 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Performance9.0125 Ratings00 Ratings
Reliability9.0125 Ratings00 Ratings
Storage Reports8.691 Ratings00 Ratings
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox Business
-
Ratings
Microsoft Azure
8.5
27 Ratings
3% above category average
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime00 Ratings8.126 Ratings
Dynamic scaling00 Ratings8.725 Ratings
Elastic load balancing00 Ratings8.624 Ratings
Pre-configured templates00 Ratings8.225 Ratings
Monitoring tools00 Ratings8.326 Ratings
Pre-defined machine images00 Ratings8.424 Ratings
Operating system support00 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Security controls00 Ratings8.626 Ratings
Automation00 Ratings8.224 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 4.1 out of 10
DigitalOcean Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(130 ratings)
8.8
(96 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
5.0
(4 ratings)
10.0
(17 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(19 ratings)
8.3
(36 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(2 ratings)
6.8
(2 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(27 ratings)
9.0
(27 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Dropbox BusinessMicrosoft Azure
Likelihood to Recommend
Dropbox
Everywhere as aforementioned it is well suited ... The largest and most appropriate... A business can never ever have too many locations of its data stored. This option allows my company to have our data stored in one location and everyone works it in real time whereas the updates go in "Real time" no matter who is working that file. This is the most awesome trick of the entire program not to mention that I can see everything that Bobbiesue is working on out west at the same time pull another activity report to see if indeed Peggy logged in for work from home at 2p yesterday as she stated she did. Its a check and balance for small businesses such as ours that runs on the honor system for telework employees. At this time, there just is not any less appropriate!
Read full review
Microsoft
Azure is particularly well suited for enterprise environments with existing Microsoft investments, those that require robust compliance features, and organizations that need hybrid cloud capabilities that bridge on-premises and cloud infrastructure. In my opinion, Azure is less appropriate for cost-sensitive startups or small businesses without dedicated cloud expertise and scenarios requiring edge computing use cases with limited connectivity. Azure offers comprehensive solutions for most business needs but can feel like there is a higher learning curve than other cloud-based providers, depending on the product and use case.
Read full review
Pros
Dropbox
  • It enables us to share documents and workflow to all employees for whom access is allowed regardless of where in the world they may be located.
  • Dropbox Business provides a means to safely store our documents without having to have physical copies.
  • Dropbox also allows for easy organization of our documents in folders and such in the system.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Azure is highly scalable and flexible. You can quickly scale up or down additional resources and computing power.
  • You have no longer upfront investments for hardware. You only pay for the use of your computing power, storage space, or services.
  • The uptime that can be achieved and guaranteed is very important for our company. This includes the rapid maintenance for security updates that are mostly carried out by Microsoft.
  • The wide range of capabilities of services that are possible in Microsoft Azure. You can practically put or create anything in Microsoft Azure.
Read full review
Cons
Dropbox
  • I deeply dislike the navigation. I find it very clunky and hard and not intuitive. A few years ago Dropbox redesigned its navigation and I'm frequently at a loss to figure out where to access the option I need.
  • It should be quicker and easier to figure out how to send a file. I wish I could do that from the drop-down menu in my taskbar under the Dropbox logo.
  • I wish I had the option under the same drop-down menu in my taskbar under the Dropbox logo to go to where the files are on my laptop, which I find much easier to navigate.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The cost of resources is difficult to determine, technical documentation is frequently out of date, and documentation and mapping capabilities are lacking.
  • The documentation needs to be improved, and some advanced configuration options require research and experimentation.
  • Microsoft's licensing scheme is too complex for the average user, and Azure SQL syntax is too different from traditional SQL.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Dropbox
Dropbox is very expensive and its price is not as competitive as it was. We are looking for an alternative that will enable as to subscribe more users at a more affordable cost. Also, we did not like Dropbox customer service, and felt that they should have found a way to compensate us for some of the damage they were responsible for when restoring our data.
Read full review
Microsoft
Moving to Azure was and still is an organizational strategy and not simply changing vendors. Our product roadmap revolved around Azure as we are in the business of humanitarian relief and Azure and Microsoft play an important part in quickly and efficiently serving all of the world. Migration and investment in Azure should be considered as an overall strategy of an organization and communicated companywide.
Read full review
Usability
Dropbox
Well-designed, smart, packed with functionality without being overwhelming—Dropbox knows what they are doing and they do it well. They know what users want from the service and they make sure that all the normal use cases are intuitive and at your fingertips. I have never had a hard time finding things with Dropbox and I think their usability is excellent.
Read full review
Microsoft
As Microsoft Azure is [doing a] really good with PaaS. The need of a market is to have [a] combo of PaaS and IaaS. While AWS is making [an] exceptionally well blend of both of them, Azure needs to work more on DevOps and Automation stuff. Apart from that, I would recommend Azure as a great platform for cloud services as scale.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Dropbox
At least once a week the app crashes on my computer and causes files to stop syncing. It is an easy fix to re-open the app, however I have to notice the app stopped working to realize it needs to be reopened.
Read full review
Microsoft
It has proven to be unreliable in our production environment and services become unavailable without proper notification to system administrators
Read full review
Performance
Dropbox
The Dropbox site and tools load in a reasonable amount of time. I don't feel like their site and app performance is any better or worse than any other paid product that I've seen offered by any other large company. Compared to a competing product like Google Drive, the performance is probably about the same.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Dropbox
I give it a nine because I haven't ever had to use the support or help. I would give it a ten but since I've never had to use them, I can't really give a full review of how their support works. I've talked to market research teams from Dropbox about new features, but have not had to get any assistance with a problem yet.
Read full review
Microsoft
We were running Windows Server and Active Directory, so [Microsoft] Azure was a seamless transition. We ran into a few, if any support issues, however, the availability of Microsoft Azure's support team was more than willing and able to guide us through the process. They even proposed solutions to issues we had not even thought of!
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Dropbox
The implementation was actually very simple. Again, as stated previously, the most intriguing part of the entire exercise was the implementation of the directory structure for each account. Once you design and implement it for one, it becomes quite simple to replicate for each account you implement thereafter. You just really need to take time to ensure you implement the first perfectly and those that follow on will be likewise work efficiently and easily.
Read full review
Microsoft
As I have mentioned before the issue with my Oracle Mismatch Version issues that have put a delay on moving one of my platforms will justify my 7 rating.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Dropbox
Dropbox Business is dependable, adaptable, and cost-effective for our businesses. On the inside, it’s comparable to other file-sharing and storage. Also, file access and navigation are much faster. We use it to share documents and store data and files for our business purposes. And I’ve never been convinced of other tools’ integrity or dependability. Dropbox Business has good connectivity and is smooth to use.
Read full review
Microsoft
As I continue to evaluate the "big three" cloud providers for our clients, I make the following distinctions, though this gap continues to close. AWS is more granular, and inherently powerful in the configuration options compared to [Microsoft] Azure. It is a "developer" platform for cloud. However, Azure PowerShell is helping close this gap. Google Cloud is the leading containerization platform, largely thanks to it building kubernetes from the ground up. Azure containerization is getting better at having the same storage/deployment options.
Read full review
Scalability
Dropbox
We've used this when we were 2 users and when we were 20. It did not make any difference. Even when we've had to scale down and fire 10 employees, it was still easy to salvage all the material and keep it organized within Dropbox.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Dropbox
  • Improved risk mitigation - know our files are encrypted.
  • Expiring Shared Links are a must have.
  • Positive impact from Happy Customers. No more trying to send cumbersome encrypted emails that customers struggle with. Dropbox makes it easy for them to retrieve their files.
  • Collaboration makes it faster for us to complete plan documents with our customers.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • For about 2 years we didn't have to do anything with our production VMs, the system ran without a hitch, which meant our engineers could focus on features rather than infrastructure.
  • DNS management was very easy in Azure, which made it easy to upgrade our cluster with zero downtime.
  • Azure Web UI was easy to work with and navigate, which meant our senior engineers and DevOps team could work with Azure without formal training.
Read full review
ScreenShots