Box Cloud Storage Review

Box Notes

Box’s native apps, fortunately, come with every account. One such app is the note-taking app. Similar to Dropbox Paper, Box Notes lets you create, edit and share documents in a web browser. Default templates include support for agendas, calendars, project plans and newsletters.

The project-centric templates must be more robust before they can replace dedicated apps like MS Project. However, the templates function well enough and satisfy a need. You can also create and save custom templates. Our Box Notes review covers this in more detail.

Box Sign

Box Sign accomplishes what other apps like DocuSign or Adobe Sign do: it enables you to send or receive requests for digital document signatures. Ironically, both DocuSign and Adobe Sign are embedded apps upon account creation.

It’s worth noting that, although the website indicates that every plan has access to Box Sign, the Business Starter plan doesn’t have access to it. However, the free individual plan did.

Any files you send for a requested signature or any signature requests you get all appear in the “sign” tab. It’s a simple but effective digital signing app.

Box Drive

Once you download the desktop app, you’ll automatically gain access to Box Drive. It functions like an external hard disk, complete with the option to sync (or not sync) folders or take folders and files offline. The desktop app is also how you enable Box sync, or selective sync (covered below).

Box Drive does a good job of freeing up disk space. Additionally, you can work on files within the drive app, and if synced with your cloud account, it will update the changes and versions you make.

Task Manager

While not as prominent on the main page — or even available with the desktop or mobile app — in the upper right of the page is the task icon. Any tasks assigned to you appear here in what looks and functions more like an email inbox than a dedicated task manager, such as Trello.

Creating tasks takes place from a file preview. Once you preview a file, you’ll see an option that says “add task.” This lets you create general or approval tasks. The task manager only works with other Box accounts.

Once you select the recipient(s), you can add a due date. Tasks appear in the activity feed on the file preview page and look like comments from a Google Doc. Additionally, you can add a comment within the activity feed as well.

File Previews

Box has a robust file preview feature. In some ways, it functions more like a collaboration tool than a file previewer. Box supports multiple file types, including programming files such as HTML. Each file can be shared, downloaded or opened on your computer. As mentioned above, an activity feed on the right side displays tasks and comments.

Depending on the third-party app integrations you choose for your account, you’ll see a vertical list of interactions. For example, you can optionally send a file with an email client (like Gmail or Outlook), launch a Zoom meeting or share via Slack. Sharing a file directly through a link or with an email is also an option.

Third-Party Apps

Box truly shines with its third-party app integrations, and it’s in this area that many businesses will find the most value. Many popular apps come embedded with an account upon creation. These apps include Office 365, Google Workspace and Apple apps if you’re on a Mac.

The dedicated app store boasts over 1,500 options. Category choices include productivity, collaboration or official Box apps. If you have an app integrated with your account, a small green check mark appears in the lower right corner.

File Versioning and Bandwidth

Versioning and bandwidth limits vary depending on which plan you subscribe to. On the free Individual plan, versioning isn’t available. With Box’s paid plans, there’s a max limit to the number of file versions available. However, if you want fewer versions held, you can lower the number in the admin console under enterprise settings.

For example, if you have the Business Plus plan, the maximum number of file versions is 50. If you only want to keep 30 versions, you can make that change. Additionally, there’s no time limit on how long Box holds file versions. Once you exceed the allotted number, Box deletes the oldest version.

The most premium plan — Enterprise Plus — has unlimited file versioning, which effectively means you can preserve the entire history of a file forever. Check out the best cloud storage for versioning if you need more customization.

Bandwidth limitations tie directly to your purchased plan, and unlike file versioning, bandwidth limitations are not adjustable. Both uploads and downloads contribute to an account’s bandwidth limits.

A free account gets 10GB of downloads from shared links each month, while the paid plans get 2TB. All accounts, regardless of plan, get 1TB of bandwidth for files uploaded or downloaded.

Pricing

A free Box account, called the Individual plan, comes with 10GB of storage. The Personal Pro plan upgrades the storage to 100GB and costs $10 monthly when paying annually. Otherwise, it’s $14 per month.

The first business plan is called the Business Starter, which offers 100GB for at least three users and up to 10 users. It costs $5 per month per user when paid annually, or $7 per month per user.

Box Business Plan Pricing

Box’s dedicated business plans have the features and functionality that companies most likely need. All of Box’s business plans — minus the Business Starter plan — don’t limit the amount of storage or number of users. As a rule, the higher the plan price, the more features you get.

The Business plan costs $15 per user per month when paid annually or $20 monthly. Business Plus increases to $25 per month per user on an annual plan or $33 per month. Box’s Enterprise plan runs $35 per user per month, paid annually, or $47 per month. The Enterprise Plus plan requires contacting a sales representative for pricing, as it is customizable.

None of the above prices include paid add-ons, such as Box KeySafe or Box Shield. Adding these options increases the prices. However, you’ll need to have a conversation with Box to get the additional costs.

For comparison, both Dropbox and Tresorit have similar plans. Dropbox’s business Standard plan costs $15 per month per user annually and comes with 5TB. Tresorit’s Business Plus plan costs $19 per month per user for 2TB of storage.

Box does offer a 14-day free trial, so you can also test out a plan with more features than the free version.

Ease of Use

As soon as you add folders and files to your account, the Box web interface home page comes alive with information. At first, it may seem overwhelming, even if you’re familiar with the somewhat standard layout of a left side menu bar and your content in the middle.

Box employs a combination of icons and dropdown menus for you to interact with your files. Hovering over a folder or file displays several choices, which include creating a shared link, direct sharing via email, a dropdown menu for more options and a checkbox. Clicking the checkbox pulls up granular information on the right side panel and additional icons along the upper right of the page.

Box lets you create favorites for your data. Any folders or files you designate as a favorite appear in the “my collections” part of the left sidebar. You aren’t limited to just a favorites collection either, as Box lets you create custom collections.

This is a handy feature to help keep project documents organized. You can add any folder or file to a collection by clicking the checkbox and selecting “collections” from the dropdown menu.

Box manages to fit a lot of information on your screen without it feeling cluttered. However, until you get acclimated to Box’s workflow, it can look very overwhelming (we have a full guide on how to use Box). Compared to Box’s applications, using an internet browser provides the most functionality within an account.