Backblaze vs Dropbox

Backblaze is a publicly traded storage company from San Mateo, California, founded in 2007, that runs its own data centers and sells two products. Computer Backup continuously backs up an entire Mac or Windows PC, including attached external drives, for a flat monthly price with no data cap. B2 Cloud Storage is S3-compatible object storage priced per terabyte, positioned as a much cheaper alternative to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Azure Blob Storage.

Computer Backup offers version history, restores through the web and the app, and the option to have data shipped on a USB drive. B2 includes free egress up to three times the data stored each month, free transfer through partners such as Cloudflare, object lock for immutable, ransomware-resistant backups, and integrations with tools like Veeam, Synology, QNAP, rclone and media asset managers. The first 10 GB of B2 storage is free, and billing beyond that is simple and predictable.

Backblaze suits individuals and creatives who want set-and-forget workstation backup, and developers or IT teams storing backups, media archives and app uploads cheaply. It is not a sync or collaboration tool like Dropbox, it offers far fewer regions and services than AWS, and very large Computer Backup restores can be slow. Against Wasabi it competes on egress terms and ecosystem, and against IDrive on simplicity. The company is also known for publishing quarterly hard drive reliability statistics from its own fleet.

Dropbox is the cloud storage company founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi in San Francisco and publicly listed since 2018. It popularized simple file sync across computers and remains known for fast, reliable desktop sync, especially with large files and big folders.

Core features include sync with selective and online-only files, sharing links with passwords and expiry dates, file requests for collecting files from others, Dropbox Transfer for sending large files, version history, file recovery and remote device wipe. The company has built and bought adjacent products: Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) for e-signatures, DocSend for tracked document sharing, Replay for video review and Dash, an AI-powered search across connected work apps. A free Basic plan offers limited storage; Plus serves individuals, while Standard and Advanced are priced per user with team storage, admin controls and advanced security.

Dropbox fits creative teams, agencies and freelancers who move large files and need sync that rarely breaks, and companies that want storage independent of Google or Microsoft. For organizations already paying for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, Google Drive and OneDrive come bundled and are usually enough. Box is stronger for enterprise content governance, pCloud and Proton Drive appeal to privacy-focused users, and the free 2 GB plan is too small for most people beyond trying the service.