Skip to content
Start here
CLOUD STORAGE · MIGRATION GUIDE

Switching from Dropbox Business to Box

Box has no Dropbox importer. Files are downloaded from Dropbox and uploaded into Box; permissions and sharing links are rebuilt by hand.

Bill Belcamino
Bottom line up frontby Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
Editorial assessment

Bottom line up front: Can a small team cut its storage bill by moving from Dropbox Business to Box?

Usually, with 3 to 10 users: Box Business Starter is $5/user/mo against $15 for Dropbox Business Standard, both annual, and it bundles Box Sign and workflow tools.

Check storage before price, though. Dropbox gives the team 3 TB pooled from the first user, while Box Starter pools 100 GB per user, so a small team with a heavy archive can hit the ceiling, and Box has no Dropbox importer. Treat the move as a cleanup. Most shared drives are full of duplicates, old versions and folders nobody has opened in years, so archive the dead ones to a cold backup, rebuild permissions as groups instead of person by person, and move only working files. If you'll pass 10 users soon, price Box Business at $15/user first, because that's where the savings disappear.

My read of the verified data on this page, checked against vendor sources on September 23, 2026. Disagree or spot an error? Tell Bill

Estimate · your inputs

Switching Cost & Friction Estimator

Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.

25,000
10

Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.

Estimated Migration Time —
Data Friction Rating —
Total Hidden Switching Cost $0

    Why teams move from Dropbox Business to Box

    Lower per-seat price

    $5 against $15 for Dropbox Business Standard.

    E-signature included

    Box Sign is bundled into Starter.

    Workflow automation

    Content workflow tools included.

    How the migration actually works

    Box Starter requires 3–10 users — outside that range, you’ll need Box’s higher Business tier at $15/user, the same price as Dropbox.

    StepWhat you do
    1Map your folder structureList top-level folders, who owns each, and which are shared externally.
    2Set up the new accountCreate your Box Business account, add your 3–10 users, and set up folder structure and permission groups.
    3Move your filesDownload the working folder tree from the old provider’s desktop app or web export, then upload it into the new tool’s desktop sync folder or web interface. For large libraries, a third-party cloud-to-cloud transfer tool can move files directly without a local download step.
    4Rebuild sharing links and permissionsRecreate external share links and collaborator access; none of this carries over automatically.
    5Point your team’s desktop sync at the new toolInstall the new sync client on each machine and confirm files are syncing before removing the old one.
    6Cancel the old planOnce every team member confirms their files are in the new tool, cancel the old subscription.

    What this path doesn’t do for you:

    Dropbox’s 3 TB pooled storage from a single user has no equivalent at Box Starter, which pools a smaller 100 GB per user and requires at least 3 users to sign up at all.

    Pricing side by side

    PlanDropbox BusinessBox
    Pricing basisPer user, no minimumPer user (3–10 on Starter)
    Entry priceStandard $15/user/mo (annual)Business Starter $5/user/mo (annual)
    Storage3 TB pooled team-wide100 GB pooled per user
    E-signatureSold separatelyBox Sign included
    Email/office appsNot includedNot included

    Business-plan prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 23, 2026.

    Feature parity check

    CapabilityDropbox BusinessBox
    Seat minimumNone3, capped at 10 on Starter
    Storage3 TB pooled team-wide100 GB pooled/user
    E-signatureSold separatelyBox Sign included
    Price$15/user/mo$5/user/mo

    Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?

    Read the Box vs Dropbox Business comparison Switching from Box to Dropbox Business instead?
    Verified data

    Security & access: what changes when you switch

    Security, offline and access rules that differ between Dropbox Business and Box. Rows where both tools are the same (6) are left out; the full side-by-side is on each tool’s page: Dropbox Business, Box.

    What changesDropbox Business (today)Box (after)
    Other certificationsISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, ISO/IEC 27701, ISO 22301, CSA STAR Level 2, SOC 3, ISMAPsourceISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, ISO/IEC 27701, FedRAMP High, DoD IL4, C5, IRAP, ISMAP, HDS, PCI DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, SOC 3, FIPS 140-2source
    HIPAA (BAA)BAA availableStandardsourceBAA availableEnterprisesource
    Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)YesAdvancedsourceYesBusinesssource
    SCIM user provisioningYessourceNot published
    Admin audit logYesStandardsourceYessource
    Data residency choicesUS, Australia, EU, Japan, UKStandardsourceAustralia, Canada, EU, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, USEnterprise Plus (add-on)source
    Encryption256-bit AES at rest; SSL/TLS in transitsource256-bit AES at rest (with AES-256 key wrapping); TLS 1.2 in transitsource
    Desktop appsWindows, macOS, LinuxsourceWindows, macOSsource
    Offline limitsWhole-folder offline on mobile requires Plus, Family, Professional, Standard, Advanced or Enterprise; single files can be made offline on any plan.StandardsourceAdmins control Mark for Offline: on for all managed users by default, or limited to select users (up to 100), or disabled.source
    Device & session controlsYesStandardDevice approvals let admins limit how many desktop and mobile devices each member can link (Standard and above); Dropbox help also documents remote wipe of a member's device.sourceYesDevice Trust minimum requirements (OS version, antivirus, firewall, full disk encryption), device pinning, EDR-triggered session termination and device blocking, and EMM/MDM support for the mobile apps.source
    Editorial assessment

    Before you cut over

    • Set up single sign-on in Box on Business before you invite the team, so accounts are created through your identity provider rather than by hand.

    Checked September 24, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site; it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does Box import from Dropbox?

    No. Files and sharing setups are rebuilt by hand.

    Will I save money?

    Usually, for teams of 3–10: $5 a seat against $15 for Dropbox Business Standard.

    What if I have fewer than 3 users?

    Box Business Starter is not available — Dropbox Business Standard has no minimum.

    Do shared links and permissions carry over?

    No. Sharing links, folder permissions and collaborator lists are specific to each platform and are rebuilt by hand as you recreate the folder structure in the new tool.

    Sources

    Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

    Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

    Cite this page: HelpCompare, “Switching from Dropbox Business to Box”, helpcompare.com/dropbox-business-to-box-migration/ (updated ).

    Source links on this site are checked every month; last check . How sources are checked.

    Start with the job

    Guides for the jobs this software does

    Plain-language guides: the steps, what to check before you buy, common mistakes, and every tool it takes with verified prices.

    Need sign-off?

    Turn this into a one-page decision brief

    Verified prices costed for your team size, a check against your must-have requirements, the questions to settle before you sign, and a source for every figure. Print it, or paste it into an email to whoever approves the spend.

    Build a decision brief

    From shortlist to switched

    Built for the leader who owns the selection, answers for the spend, drives the rollout, and lives with the results. HelpCompare covers the whole decision, not just the first step.

    Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
    About the author

    Bill Belcamino

    Founder and author, HelpCompare

    Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent eight and a half years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

    “I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

    Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.