One Year In
In early January, my Dropbox plus subscription is up for renewal. Overall, I’ve been happy(ish) with the service and will be renewing. This post is a quick look at what we get for just less than a hundred pounds per year and whether it’s worth the money.
Price
So, how much exactly does Dropbox plus cost? £95.88 if you pay in one go, which works out at £7.99 per month. For that you get:
- 2TB of storage
- File transfers up to 50GB
- 30 day file restore
For me, the main reason for upgrading was the storage space. Nothing more.
What I like
In the year I’ve had my subscription, nothing has gone wrong (that I know of). Uploading files is easy. I like that they have a partnership with Microsoft to edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint files directly from their site which is handy.
File transfers work well. You get emails when links are clicked, files downloaded.
Dropbox Paper is interesting. I’ve only used it a few times, but it could be useful for notes, presentations, that sort of thing. How committed Dropbox are to keeping it around long term is uncertain.
I use their website when I’m on desktop and the Android app on my phone. Both are well designed, fast and intuitive. When they make significant changes to the interface, you always know as they have popups telling you what’s new.
What I Don’t Like
What I dislike the most is how they’re always trying to get me to upgrade. Random popups appear. On one of the nav bars this monstosity is trying to get your attention, all the time:
There’s a link to a feature called Send and track. Try to Track file and you get this:
I find that very annoying. You get that a lot. It’s almost like they’re trying to make you feel guilty for not giving them more money.
If you create a tranfer and want to set an expiration or add a password:
No thanks.
Another thing that’s annoying is (as many people have pointed out) that they’re missing a Dropbox Lite plan. Google and Microsoft both have 100GB plans. For many people that’d be sufficient. I pay both the aforementioned companies for that service (~£20 per year).
Conclusion
For less than a hundred quid a year, you have 2TB of storage accessible through pretty much any device. I don’t use any sync functionality, but it’s there if needed. Overall, after nearly one year of use, I’d rate the service as:
7 out of 10.
