云存储(Cloud storage)以任何人都无法想象的方式改变了计算世界。对于普通用户来说，它几乎完全扼杀了使用便携式媒体在设备之间移动数据的想法。现在您可以放下一台设备，转移到另一台设备上，并且借助云存储，您的数据已经在您拥有的所有设备上等着您。
话虽如此，不同的云提供商是不可互换的。他们每个人都有自己的优点和缺点。这(Which)就是我们比较Dropbox与Google Drive的原因，这两个是大多数用户最受欢迎的选择。
Dropbox 与 Google Drive：免费获得的东西(Dropbox Vs Google Drive: What You Get For Free)
这两种服务都可以让您免费使用它们，但如果您不花钱，它们提供的(t offer)存储量或功能(storage or features)就不会完全相同。Dropbox Basic为您提供 2GB 的空间。在这个时代(day and age)，这是一个相当小的空间，但如果你只需要保留一些小文件和中等质量的照片，它就可以了。
Dropbox Basic用户总共也只能使用三台设备。例如，笔记本电脑、平板电脑和智能手机(tablet and smartphone)。Dropbox还提供Dropbox Paper，这是一种基于云的协作工具(collaboration tool)，可让您处理文档并与团队成员交流。还有用于Microsoft Word等应用程序的DropBox 集成(DropBox integration)，这有助于跟踪通过Dropbox存储和共享的办公文件的文档版本。
Google Drive的免费版本目前提供 17GB 的空间分配。这对于一般用途来说要合理得多。如果您只存储一些工作文档和照片，那么这块存储空间很可能会为您服务很长时间。当然，您还可以获得Gmail 帐户(Gmail account)、访问完整的Google Drive 套件(Google Drive suite)以及很可能是当今任何云软件服务(cloud software service today)中最好的在线协作和共享工具(collaboration and sharing tools)集。
因此，如果您主要希望将云存储作为与他人无缝协作的一种方式，那么Google Drive已经是这里更强大的竞争者。
最后，DropBox Basic 产品完全(DropBox Basic offering)缺乏(sheer lack)存储空间(storage space)，这使得它只不过是换了个名字的试用而已。因此，如果您根本不想花钱，我们很难推荐它。
谷歌云端硬盘的最佳之处(The Best Things About Google Drive)
Google Drive不仅仅是一个云存储解决方案(storage solution)。Drive本身是将所有各种(Drive)Google服务联系在一起的统一中心。您的Gmail 地址(Gmail address)是这一切的关键，当然，您的所有邮件都会占用您驱动器中的一部分存储空间。
Drive 也是谷歌云应用套件的支柱。Google Docs、Google Sheets和Google Slides是三个重要的，但提供了相当多的选择。当您使用这些应用程序之一创建新文档时，它会存储在您的Google Drive中。
过去，离线使用和集成(offline use and integration)一直是Google Drive的一个显着弱点，但由于浏览器扩展和出色的备份和同步(Backup and Sync)应用程序，我们认为这些特殊空白已被填补。
Dropbox 最棒的地方(The Best Things About Dropbox)
Dropbox 的最大优势之一是其简单性。如果您在台式计算机(desktop computer)上安装Dropbox 应用程序(Dropbox application)，它会充当一个简单的系统文件夹(system folder)。将文件移入和移出云与使用本地文件传输(file transfer)没有什么不同。获取可共享链接并准确查看哪些文件已同步也很容易。
总而言之，Dropbox可以正常工作，这是它的一大优势(plus point)。然而，谷歌云端硬盘(Google Drive)在过去几年已经赶上了。Backup and Sync 应用程序(Backup and Sync application)使其具有与 Dropbox 相同的形式和(Dropbox)功能(form and function)。
然而，我们确实认为Dropbox移动应用程序比Google Drive更加用户友好且易于导航。部分原因是Dropbox在同一空间内挤进了一组小得多的功能。然而， Dropbox Rewind(Dropbox Rewind)给我们留下了深刻的印象，这是一种强大而直观的方式来回滚意外或(accident or thanks)恶意行为者 对Dropbox所做的更改。
Google Drive还允许您恢复文件版本并从垃圾箱(Trash)中恢复已删除的项目，但在撰写本文时它还没有这方面的优势。
Dropbox 与 Google Drive 定价比较(Dropbox Vs Google Drive Pricing Compared)
虽然这两种服务都提供免费套餐供您试用，这很好，但您需要花一点钱才能充分利用它们。我们在这里只关注消费级或个人选项，而不是商业或企业产品(business or enterprise products)。
从Dropbox开始，这些是与普通用户最相关的计划：
- Dropbox Plus 2TB 每月 9.99 美元（按年计费）或按月计费 12.99 美元。
- Dropbox Professional 3TB每月 16.58 美元（按年计费）或每月 19.99 美元。
Dropbox(Dropbox doesn)不仅在这两层之间提供不同的存储大小。还有其他功能差异。例如，Professional 选项(Professional option)提供 180 天的倒带，而不是像Plus那样的 30 天。
在Google 方面(Google side)，存储服务(storage service)称为Google One，定价如下：
- 每月 2.99 美元：200 GB
- 每月 9.99 美元：2 TB
- 每月 99.99 美元：10 TB
- 每月 199.99 美元：20 TB
- 每月 299.99 美元：30 TB
只有 200GB 和 2TB 计划有年度选项，基本上一年中有两个月是免费的。谷歌(Google)在各个层面都提供了更好的交易，遗憾的是Dropbox没有更小的计划。我们必须在这里把奖赏给谷歌(Google)，Dropbox在纯粹的美元方面没有竞争力。
Dropbox 与 Google Drive：哪个适合你？(Dropbox Vs Google Drive: Which Is For You?)
如果您正在寻找一种简单、直接的云存储解决方案(cloud storage solution)，只需充当云中的硬盘，Dropbox可能是您的最佳选择。导航和管理文件更简单，并且可以轻松同步设备上的文件。
一个相当大的问题是缺乏家庭计划(family plan)。Google Drive、OneDrive和Apple iCloud 都提供了在一群人（例如家庭）之间共享云存储池的选项。对于云存储的定价方式，这通常是最有效和最经济的。在Dropbox的情况下，您必须为每个人购买单独的计划。这意味着，除非您只是在寻找个人计划，否则Dropbox很快就会变得过于昂贵。
然而，很难否认谷歌缓慢但肯定地以(Google)谷歌云端硬盘(Google Drive)的形式整合了最通用的通用云解决方案之一。他们在很大程度上解决了离线使用和自动文件同步的问题。今天的Google Drive也比以往更加精简。一旦您熟悉了Google Drive 领域(Google Drive land)的工作方式，它很快就会成为第二天性。
除非您绝对需要 Dropbox 最高级的倒带功能(rewind feature)和其他更多面向业务的方面，否则我们可以很自在地说，对于大多数人来说，大多数时候，Google Drive是更好的整体选择。
Dropbox Vs Google Drive: How To Choose The One For You
Cloud storage has changed the world of computing in ways no one could have imagined. For the regular user, it’s almost entirely killed the idea of using portable media to move data between devices. Now you can put down one device, move over to another, and thanks to cloud storage your data is already waiting for you on everything you own.
That being said, different cloud providers aren’t interchangeable. They each have their own pros and cons. Which is why we’re comparing Dropbox vs Google Drive, two of the most popular choices for the majority of users.
Dropbox Vs Google Drive: What You Get For Free
Both of these services let you use them for free, but they don’t offer exactly the same amount of storage or features if you put no money down. Dropbox Basic offers you 2GB of space. This is a rather small amount of space in this day and age, but if you only need to keep a few small documents and moderate quality photos, it will do in a pinch.
Dropbox Basic users are also limited to three devices in total. For example, a laptop, tablet and smartphone. Dropbox also offers Dropbox Paper, a cloud-based collaboration tool that lets you work on documents and communicate with team members. There’s also DropBox integration for applications like Microsoft Word, which helps keep track of document versions for office files stored and shared through your Dropbox.
The free version of Google Drive currently offers a 17GB allocation of space. That’s far more reasonable for general use. If you’re only storing a few work documents and photos, then it’s likely this chunk of storage will serve you for a long time. Of course, you also get a Gmail account, access to the full Google Drive suite and quite possibly the best set of online collaboration and sharing tools of any cloud software service today.
So if you mainly want cloud storage as a way to work seamlessly with others, Google Drive is already the stronger contender here.
In the end, the sheer lack of storage space of the DropBox Basic offering makes it little more than a trial by another name. So if you’re not looking to spend any money at all, we have a hard time recommending it.
The Best Things About Google Drive
Google Drive is so much more than a cloud storage solution. Drive itself is the unifying hub that ties together all the various Google services. Your Gmail address is the key to it all and, of course, all of your mail takes up a part of the storage in your drive.
Drive is also the backbone of Google’s suite of cloud applications. Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides are three important ones, but there’s a sizable selection on offer. When you create a new document with one of these applications, it’s stored in your Google Drive.
In the past, offline use and integration has been a significant point of weakness for Google Drive, but thanks to browser extensions and the excellent Backup and Sync application, we consider those particular gaps filled.
The Best Things About Dropbox
One of Dropbox’s greatest strengths is its simplicity. If you install the Dropbox application on your desktop computer, it acts as a simple system folder. Moving files in and out of the cloud is no different from using local file transfer. It’s also dead easy to get shareable links and see exactly which files have been synced or not.
All in all, Dropbox just works and that’s a big plus point in its favor. However, Google Drive has caught up in the last few years. The Backup and Sync application gives it effectively the same form and function as Dropbox.
We do however think that the Dropbox mobile application is much more user friendly and easy to navigate compared to Google Drive. Partly because Dropbox has a much smaller set of functions squeezed into the same space. We are however very impressed with Dropbox Rewind, which is a powerful and intuitive way to roll back changes to your Dropbox that happen either by accident or thanks to malicious actors.
Google Drive also lets you revert file versions and recover deleted items from the Trash, but it has nothing as good as this at the time of writing.
Dropbox Vs Google Drive Pricing Compared
While it’s nice that both services offer a free tier for you to try, you’ll need to shell out a little cash in order to get the most out of them. We’re only focusing on the consumer-grade or individual options here rather than the business or enterprise products.
Starting with Dropbox, these are the most relevant plans for the average user:
- Dropbox Plus 2TB $9.99 per month (billed annually) or $12.99 billed monthly.
- Dropbox Professional 3TB $16.58 per month (billed annually) or $19.99 per month billed monthly.
Dropbox doesn’t just offer different storage sizes between these two tiers. There are other feature differences as well. For example, the Professional option provides 180 days of rewind rather than 30, as with Plus.
On the Google side, the storage service is called Google One and the pricing breaks down like this:
- $2.99 per month: 200 GB
- $9.99 per month: 2 TB
- $99.99 per month: 10 TB
- $199.99 per month: 20 TB
- $299.99 per month: 30 TB
Only the 200GB and 2TB plans have an annual option, which essentially give you two months out of the year for free. Google offers a better deal on every level and sadly Dropbox does not have smaller plans. We have to give the prize to Google here, Dropbox is just not competitive in pure dollar terms.
Dropbox Vs Google Drive: Which Is For You?
If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward cloud storage solution that simply acts as a hard drive in the cloud, Dropbox is probably the best choice for you. It’s simpler to navigate and manage your files and easy to sync files on your devices.
One rather sizable issue is the lack of a family plan. Google Drive, OneDrive and Apple iCloud all offer options to share a pool of cloud storage among a group of people, such as a household. With the way cloud storage is priced, this is often the most efficient and economical. In the case of Dropbox, you’ll have to buy separate plans for each person. Which means that, unless you’re only looking for an individual plan, Dropbox quickly becomes too expensive.
It’s hard, however, to deny that Google has slowly but surely put together one of the most versatile, general-purpose cloud solutions in the form of Google Drive. They have largely solved the issue of offline use and automatic file syncing. The Google Drive of today is also more streamlined than ever. Once you’re familiar with the way things are done in Google Drive land, it quickly becomes second nature.
Unless you absolutely need Dropbox’s superlative rewind feature and other more business-oriented aspects, we’re comfortable in saying that for most people, most of the time, Google Drive is the better overall option.
