Box Review

Box_logo_125x1253.5/5
★★★★
PRICING & PLANS
★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩
3.0/10
EASE OF USE
★★★★★★★★✩✩
7.5/10
FILE SYNCING
★★★★★★✩✩✩✩
6.0/10
FILE SHARING
★★★★★★★★✩✩
7.5/10
RETRIEVING FILES
★★★★★★★✩✩✩
7.0/10
SECURITY
★★★★★★✩✩✩✩
6.0/10
SUPPORT
★★★★★★★★★★
10.0/10
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
★★★★★★★★★✩
8.5/10

PROS

  • Free 10 GB storage
  • Integration with Office, Google Docs, etc.
  • Great 3rd party programs

CONS

  • No file versioning in the free plan
  • 250 MB file limit in the free plan
  • No client-side encryption
  • Very limited pricing options

Box Cloud Storage Review

Box cloud storage review in a few words: “This is perfect cloud storage for users that need up to 10 GB of storage.” Box is a cloud storage, known more in the business world. While uncompetitive in prices, when talking about personal usage, it offers a lot of features that you can benefit from. It also provides a free 10 GB storage for anyone who decides to join. The overall quality of the service is very good. The integration between various other programs like Office, Google Documents, etc. is excellent. There are no backup features included.

Read the full Box cloud storage review down below.


Box Alternatives

pcloud_logo_125x125pCloud
4.6/5
★★★★★
5-10 000 GB
10 GB Free

❌Sync Folder
✔️Selective Sync
✔️Link Sharing
✔️Zero Knowledge


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Sync.com_logo_125x125Sync.com
4.6/5
★★★★★
5-6000 GB
5 GB Free

✔️Sync Folder
✔️Selective Sync
✔️Link Sharing
✔️Zero Knowledge


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Icedrive_logo_125x125Icedrive
4.5/5
★★★★★
10-10 000 GB
10 GB Free

✔️Sync Folder
❌Selective Sync
✔️Link Sharing
✔️Zero Knowledge


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Cubbit_logo_125x125Cubbit
4.5/5
★★★★★
1-8000 GB
1 GB Free

✔️Sync Folder
✔️Selective Sync
✔️Link Sharing
✔️Zero Knowledge


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Mega_logo_125x125Mega
4.2/5
★★★★✩
15-16000 GB
15 GB Free

✔️Sync Folder
✔️Selective Sync
✔️Link Sharing
✔️Zero Knowledge


Read Review

Jump to:

Pricing & Plans
Who is it for?
Ease of use
File syncing
File sharing
Retrieving files
Security
Online support
Additional features
Conclusion


Box Features

Pricing & Plans
Free storage 10 GB
Free trial
Lifetime plans
Payment methodsCredit card
Ease of use
Open in-browser Office, PDF, Music, Images
Edit in-browser Google Integration
Mobile apps Android, iOS
WebDAV
File syncing
Supported systems Windows, macOS
Imaginary drive 
An imaginary drive allows you to access all of the files that are in the cloud directly from your desktop via an application without taking up local storage space.
Sync folder 
A sync folder allows you to access all of the files that are in the cloud directly from your desktop via an application. Since it synchronises the files to the device, it takes up local storage space.
Block-level file sync
Selective sync 
Selective sync allows you to choose which folders that are located in the cloud should and shouldn't be synchronised to your device.
Sync any folder 
The sync any folder feature allows you to choose any local folder and synchronise it to the cloud without any further actions.
File sharing
Share download links
Link password protection
Link expiration dates
Link branding
Link download limits
Link stats
Share upload links
Share folders
Set folder permissions
Retrieving files
File versioning system
Trash bin
Rewind feature 
The rewind feature allows you to go back in time and inspect your cloud storage as it was in that moment. This enables easy retrieval of files in various scenarios such as malware infection.
Security
Server location US
HIPAA Compliance
Encryption protocol 256-bit AES
At-rest encryption
In-transit encryption
Client-side encryption
Zero-knowledge privacy
Two-factor authentication
Online support
FAQ base
Forums
E-mail support
Live chat support
Phone support

Pricing & Plans

I think it’s best if I say it right from the start. Box, as a cloud service is meant more for business companies, but you can sign up as a personal user as well. You can still get that free 10 GB and if that’s enough for you, great! When compared to other services Box doesn’t match them. Their personal plans seem a bit out of date and rather expensive. Here’s the chart.

PlanPricingStorageDetails
Box PersonalFree10 GBBox Personal is free to use for an unlimited time. It comes with almost all the features that are available in the Box.
Box Personal Pro$11.50 / month100 GBComes with additional features like increased storage, file limit and file versioning.

Here’re some of the features comparisons between the two plans. There are some other minor differences to it as well.

  • Max file size
    • Personal – 250 MB
    • Personal Pro – 5 GB
  • Version history
    • Personal – 1 version
    • Personal Pro – 10 versions
  • Download bandwidth limit for shared links
    • Personal – 10 GB per month
    • Personal Pro – 2 TB per month

Box doesn’t offer any lifetime cloud storage plans nor would we go for their monthly paid plans. There are much better and cheaper cloud storage providers out there.


Who is it for?

This service is more suitable for business owners, but can be used for personal use as well. If you want to have a lot of features at your disposal, quality cloud storage to which you can store your files, ability to share your files and sync them across all your devices, then this is for you. Keep in mind that you can get up to 100 GB only by upgrading to the Pro plan.


Ease of use

The registration procedure is simple (you can also use Google to sign up).

Box is rather easy to use if you want to upload your files and keep them there. There are a lot of additional features that need to be examined more thoroughly before using them. The interface itself looks modern and easy to navigate through. There are some other options under some small buttons, which you have to find once and then you know they’re there. Apart from that it just looks nice and gives you a feeling that you’re using a professional cloud service. It’s simple and straightforward.

You can also check your connection to Box through their diagnostic program. When I ran the program, I achieved nearly the maximum speeds that my provider offers, which is good.

Box Cloud Storage Review Interface

File previews & edits

You can preview Office and PDF documents directly in the browser. You can also edit them with the help of Google Docs integration.

Box also allows you to listen to music and preview images but doesn’t allow you to watch movies.


File syncing

Box Sync is a desktop version of Box and is available on Windows and macOS. It allows you to have a virtual drive right in your library. Once you install it, it’s easy to use. It becomes just another drive to which you can store your files. You can also install Box Drive which is the new version of Box Sync. It allows you to save more space by not saving files directly on your hard drive. That’s not entirely true though as it caches quite a lot of your files (up to 25GB) before it starts deleting them.

Box Cloud Storage Review Sync

There are no transfer speed limits with Box Drive. Box is quite limited when it comes to file sizes though:

  • Free personal max file size: 250 MB
  • Personal pro max file size: 5 GB

Using the Box Sync you can do selective sync on your computer. The problem is that using both Box Sync and Box Drive won’t work correctly. That means you can’t do selective sync and save local storage at the same time. Box offers no block-level file sync either. It’s important to also note that Box doesn’t offer any cloud backup features present in cloud backup providers.


File sharing

While in Box Sync (desktop application) – If you need to share any of the files you just right-click on them and select the “copy link” or “e-mail link”. If you choose the first, it copies the sharing link of that file to your clipboard.

You can also invite other people and give them access to your folders and files with different permissions.

Box Cloud Storage Review share perms

If you’re using browser version, you just click on the “share” button. It brings up some additional options, but what it essentially does is, it provides you with a link that you can then share forward.

You can make the download links view only. In the pro version, you can also assign passwords and set link expiration dates.

Download Bandwidth for Shared Links 

The following limitations apply:

  • Individual free account: 10 GB per month
  • Personal Pro and Box Business Accounts: 2 TB per month, per user

Files uploaded and downloaded

The following limitations apply to the user who uploads and/or downloads the file:

  • 1TB per user per month for all plans
Box Cloud Storage Review Share

Retrieving files

You can recover your deleted files within 30 days of deletion. After that, they’re permanently removed. Moderators can only change this in business and enterprise plans.

File versioning, on the other hand, isn’t available to all users. This feature is very limited for free users – 1 version only. With the pro version, it automatically saves up to 10 previous version of the file you’re editing. This can prove to be very useful, especially if you’re a baboon like me and are likely to mess something up.

Box Cloud Storage Review File Retrieving

Security

Box has their servers all over the world though it mainly uploads data of personal users to the U.S. servers. You can read all about Box compliances here. They mainly focus on HIPAA, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 compliance for businesses. They’re also GDPR compliant.

Box doesn’t offer specific zero-knowledge privacy or client-side encryption which is in huge demand nowadays. You can opt-in for two-factor verification though.

Redundancy: Files are backed up daily to additional facilities. All files uploaded to Box are encrypted at rest using 256-bit AES encryption. For files in transit, they use TLS 1.1 or TLS 1.2 encryption. While this is good, the lack of client-side encryption makes Box questionable which is why we advise you take a look at our “Most secure cloud storage” list for a better alternative.


Online support

Now, this is a topic that I’ve been looking forward to. I believe Box as cloud storage has one of the biggest forum communities. There’s usually a couple of hundred of people online at all times, and the forums itself are filled with all the information you need.

If only that wouldn’t be enough. They provide live chat support during their working hours. You just send a message and a staff member comes by in a few minutes, and from that point forward you just continue the discussion about the problem. If you send a message while non-working hours they reply the next day through e-mail.

When I contacted them, they had the answers to almost all of the questions.

Box Cloud Storage Review support forums

Additional features


Numerous applications

Box has created a unique environment for all developers. It has a lot of his official apps that you can use, and it has a lot of 3rd party programs that you can integrate with Box. The integration that it has with other “giants” is just unbelievable. Here’s an example of it:

Box Cloud Storage Review features

You can create a Word or any other document directly through Box on the website itself. How awesome is that? Then you just save it to any folder and continue next time, wherever you are.

There are a lot of 3rd party programs as well, made by various companies, which you can use.

Box Cloud Storage Review word feature

To see the full scale of these applications and to see if you would be interested in any of them click here.


Mobile Applications

Box offers its official app both for iOS and Android. It enables you to manage your files wherever you are. You can also access them offline if you save them manually. Despite some negative reviews on the app store, I haven’t run into any troubles so far. The application feels very responsive and straightforward to use. Here’s how it looks.

Box Cloud Storage Review Iphone app
Box Cloud Storage Review Iphone app
Box Cloud Storage Review Iphone app

Conclusion

Box is one of those “get what you pay for” services. Despite its uncompetitive prices (Personal Pro plan), there are so many features that come with it. If you’re looking for business storage, though, this is one of the better options to pick from. I will be doing a separate review on Box Business service since there’s a lot to cover.

Hopefully, we’ve gone through everything in this Box cloud storage review. If you’re looking for a cloud storage with some serious capacity and decent privacy & security you should check our Best Cloud Storage Providers list.



Hopefully, we’ve gone through everything that you wanted to know about Box within this Box cloud storage review. If you have any unanswered questions feel free to ask them in the comments section down below and I’ll answer them shortly!

6 thoughts on “Box Review”

  1. I have always been afraid to use cloud storage because I was afraid that it would be a public source that other people could access. So I stick to my flash drives, but after reading this I see that it is safe and secure. Do you recommend the pro account for someone that takes a lot of pictures on their phone and has them automatically synced?

    1. Dejan Administrator

      Hello Guy,

      Thank you for stopping by. Box is one of those cloud storages that would be so much better if they focused on making their service more approachable to personal users. However, they decided to make their service more suitable for companies. If you’re a personal user I would advise you to look at some cheaper and better alternatives such as pCloud.

      Deja

  2. Very clear review – thank you for all the screen grabs, made it much clearer. I like your recommendation of the online support forums (often missing in these deals). Great food for thought!

  3. I have been looking more and more into this cloud storage stuff as it seems to be getting more popular. I had not thought of a lot of the benefits you explained here, especially syncing with various devices. Up until this point I had just been using and carrying a flash drive with me. This seems like it would do just fine to replace that ain’t?

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