Honest cloud storage cost comparison for teams. Current consumer and business prices, storage rules and the cost of the capabilities your team actually needs.
Checked September 30, 2026 against official US vendor pages. Prices are USD before tax. The business tables use per-user monthly-equivalent prices on annual commitments, without introductory offers. Monthly subscriptions cost more where separately listed. No platform wins solely from its cheapest headline.
| Product | Annual billing price | Separate monthly subscription | Storage and audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox Plus | $9.99/month; $119.88/year | $11.99/month | 2 TB for one person |
| Dropbox Standard | $15/user/month; $180/user/year | $18/user/month | Starts at 3 TB for the team; one or more users |
| Dropbox Advanced | $24/user/month; $288/user/year | $30/user/month | Starts at 15 TB for the team; at least three users |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | $99.99/year | $9.99/month | 1 TB for one person, plus Office apps |
| Google One 2 TB | Annual checkout price depends on the displayed offer; not assumed here | $9.99/month | 2 TB shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams | $7/user/month; $84/user/year | Use Microsoft's monthly checkout quote | 1 TB OneDrive per user, plus business email/web apps |
| Google Workspace Starter | $7/user/month; $84/user/year | Flexible billing is a separate price | 30 GB pooled storage per user, plus business email/apps |
Sources: Dropbox annual plans, Dropbox monthly plans, Microsoft consumer storage plans, Google One, Microsoft commercial prices and Google Workspace.
For one person's files, compare actual capacity and included applications. Dropbox Plus supplies 2 TB; Microsoft 365 Personal supplies 1 TB with desktop Office apps. Google One storage covers Gmail and Photos as well as Drive, so an occupied mailbox reduces the remaining shared allowance. None is a managed business tenant simply because a freelancer uses it.
| Consumer plan | Annual charge | Monthly option | Included storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox Basic | Free | Free | 2 GB |
| Dropbox Plus | $119.88 (12 × $9.99 annual-billing equivalent) | $11.99/month | 2 TB |
| Microsoft free account | Free | Free | 5 GB OneDrive |
| Microsoft 365 Basic | $19.99/year | $1.99/month | 100 GB |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | $99.99/year | $9.99/month | 1 TB |
| Microsoft 365 Family | $129.99/year | $12.99/month | Up to six separate 1 TB allocations |
| Google free account | Free | Free | 15 GB across Drive, Gmail and Photos |
| Google One 2 TB | $119.88 for twelve $9.99 monthly payments, not an annual-plan quote | $9.99/month | 2 TB across the Google storage services |
Microsoft Family is not a single account with 6 TB. AI features are for the subscription owner, not automatically everyone in the family. Microsoft also lists consumer Premium separately; do not confuse it with Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
At annual billing, Dropbox Plus costs $19.89 more per year than Microsoft Personal ($119.88 minus $99.99), but has twice the stated storage and a different bundle. That difference is not a saving on equivalent products. A per-GB ratio alone ignores Office apps, file sharing and how much capacity you will use.
| Business plan | Annual USD/user/month | Storage model | Purchase boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox Standard | $15 | 3 TB for first member, plus 1 TB per additional actively-used license | No minimum users on current Standard |
| Dropbox Advanced | $24 | Starts at 15 TB shared for the team | Three users minimum |
| Dropbox Enterprise | Custom quote | Contract-specific | Confirm capacity and controls in quote |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams | $7 | 1 TB OneDrive/user | Web/mobile Office, business email; up to 300 users |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Teams | $14 | 1 TB OneDrive/user | Adds desktop Office; up to 300 users |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Teams | $22 | 1 TB OneDrive/user | Additional security/device controls; up to 300 users |
| Google Workspace Starter | $7 | 30 GB/user pooled | Business email and browser apps; up to 300 users |
| Google Workspace Standard | $14 | 2 TB/user pooled | Expanded collaboration and Gemini features; up to 300 users |
| Google Workspace Plus | $22 | 5 TB/user pooled | Additional retention/governance; up to 300 users |
Microsoft Standard with Copilot is a separate $23.50/user/month bundle paid yearly; Premium with Copilot is $32. The base plans above are not those bundles. Microsoft's no-Teams Basic, Standard and Premium annual prices are $5.40, $10.79 and $18.79. Do not use the cheaper no-Teams price while describing Teams as included.
Dropbox does not replace the entire Microsoft or Google productivity suite merely by offering file collaboration. Conversely, an Office subscription does not necessarily meet a team's Dropbox-specific transfer or sharing needs. Avoid counting a genuinely distinct workflow as duplicate spend.
Historical packaging: Dropbox distinguishes Standard from Standard Classic. Most customers who bought Standard before June 30, 2026 keep Classic features: 5 TB shared storage and a minimum of three members. Current Standard starts at 3 TB, adds capacity for actively-used licenses, and has no minimum user requirement. Brazil and Japan remain on Classic. Check the account's actual plan; do not rewrite an existing Classic contract as a new Standard offer.
The former Business/Business Plus labels and unlimited-storage claims in this guide are not the current public purchase ladder. Professional or other legacy subscriptions require the customer's actual renewal quote; they are not used as new-purchase prices here.
License-only models, not customer results. Formula: paid users × annual-billing monthly-equivalent price × 12. Every row uses the same seat count, but the products still differ in storage and functionality. Taxes, add-ons, migration and contract discounts are excluded.
| Paid users | Dropbox Standard at $15 | Microsoft Basic with Teams at $7 | Google Workspace Starter at $7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180 | $84 | $84 |
| 5 | $900 | $420 | $420 |
| 10 | $1,800 | $840 | $840 |
| 25 | $4,500 | $2,100 | $2,100 |
| 50 | $9,000 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| 100 | $18,000 | $8,400 | $8,400 |
For 10 users, Standard is $1,800/year and either entry suite is $840/year: a $960 license-price difference, not a guaranteed $960 saving after matching requirements. Current Standard provides 12 TB shared if all ten licenses are actively used (3 + 9 × 1 TB). Microsoft Basic gives each user 1 TB; Workspace Starter contributes 300 GB to its pool.
| 10-seat alternative | Annual base-license charge | Reason to examine it |
|---|---|---|
| Dropbox Advanced | $2,880 | Starts at 15 TB shared and adds advanced controls |
| Microsoft Business Standard with Teams | $1,680 | Desktop Office plus OneDrive per user |
| Google Workspace Standard | $1,680 | 20 TB pooled contribution and browser collaboration |
| Microsoft Business Standard with Copilot | $2,820 | Explicit paid-yearly AI/productivity bundle |
A three-seat Advanced minimum costs $864/year ($24 × 3 × 12), even if a buyer only has one operator. That minimum does not apply to the current Standard plan. There is no unlimited-storage assumption in these models.
Dropbox centers on file synchronization, external sharing and file delivery. Google Workspace centers on browser-native documents and a managed shared collaboration environment. OneDrive integrates with Office files and the Microsoft tenant. Pilot the same real files and external-recipient workflow before choosing.
| Requirement | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Recovery and version history | Dropbox lists 30 days for Plus, 180 days for Standard and one year for Advanced. Check retention policies separately from file versions. |
| Sharing and governance | Which plan supports expiry, passwords, external guests, offboarding and audit controls your organization needs? |
| Large delivery | Dropbox Transfer's published allowance is separate from a stored-file upload limit; Plus lists transfers up to 50 GB and Standard/Advanced up to 100 GB. Do not call this a maximum file-storage size. |
| Office and browser collaboration | Do you need desktop Office compatibility or browser-native co-editing? Test complex files instead of assuming every format behaves identically. |
| Operating systems | Verify official desktop-client support for your devices. Do not promise native Linux Drive/OneDrive clients from third-party utilities. |
| AI features | Check exact plan, applications, usage limits and account eligibility. Consumer AI access is not the same as business governance. |
We do not rank independent sync performance or security certifications without a reproducible test. Published features are not hands-on performance measurements.
Dropbox: evaluate it when dedicated file sharing, external delivery and its management/recovery features justify a separate tool. Standard now serves solo professionals too; Advanced adds a three-seat floor and different controls.
OneDrive/Microsoft 365: evaluate it when Office files and the Microsoft tenant are already central. Existing licensed OneDrive can reduce the need for another subscription, but verify storage and external collaboration before cancelling one.
Google Drive/Workspace: evaluate it when browser collaboration, Google identity and pooled storage match the workflow. Consumer Google One and business Workspace solve different purchasing needs.
Choose the lowest-cost configuration that satisfies the required controls and workflow, not an unconditional cheapest platform. For suite-level buying decisions use the Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace owner.
US Dropbox Plus is $9.99/month on yearly billing or $11.99 on monthly billing. Standard is $15/user/month billed yearly or $18 monthly. Advanced is $24/user/month billed yearly or $30 monthly. Enterprise is quoted. These are distinct personal and team plans.
The current Standard plan has no minimum user requirement. It starts at 3 TB shared storage for the first member and adds 1 TB for each additional actively-used license. Standard Classic retains 5 TB shared storage and a three-member minimum; most pre-June 30, 2026 Standard customers remain on Classic. Advanced requires three or more people.
Microsoft 365 Basic is $19.99/year or $1.99/month for 100 GB. Personal is $99.99/year or $9.99/month for 1 TB. Family is $129.99/year or $12.99/month for up to six people, each with 1 TB. Family storage is not one pooled 6 TB allowance.
Google Workspace Starter, Standard and Plus provide 30 GB, 2 TB and 5 TB per user respectively as pooled storage. Microsoft 365 Business plans provide 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user. Both use different collaboration and administration models; pooled capacity is not the same as individual storage.
Not automatically. Personal storage prices do not buy the same tenant administration, company identity, offboarding, security and retention controls as business subscriptions. Evaluate those requirements before comparing costs.
On the stated US annual basis, Microsoft Business Basic with Teams and Google Workspace Starter are each $7/user/month; Dropbox Standard is $15. That is a license-price comparison, not a claim of equivalent storage or features. Standard gives more starting storage than either entry suite, while the suites also bundle email and productivity applications.
Check your actual renewal quote against the dated prices above and the current vendor pages. PricePulse is a pricing reference, not a guarantee of real-time change alerts.
View current pricing →Use dated historical baselines and your own renewal quote to model a possible price change.
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