Box is an evolved, mature player in the business cloud storage and file-sharing arena. The platform deftly supports small teams with its large storage capacities and low-cost e-signature tool, but expands to suit the needs of mid-tier and enterprise-class businesses with its strong compliance, regulatory, and workflow automation features. However, Box ranks behind our feature-rich Editors' Choice winners, Egnyte and Microsoft OneDrive for Business, due to a few quirks and limited document editing and viewing options.
Box's entry-level business tier is Business Starter ($5 per user per month, with a minimum of three users). It includes 100GB of cloud storage, a 5GB maximum file upload size, and e-signatures (10 documents per user per month). This might seem like a relatively bare-bones package, but it's one of the most affordable options for document e-signature access. For example, if you wanted to use e-signatures with Google Drive for Business, you'd have to skip Google Workspace's ground-floor Business Starter plan and sign up for the Business Standard plan, which $12 per user per month, albeit with more features like video conferencing.
Moving up the ladder are more robust, SMB-friendly tiers: Business ($15 per user per month), Business Plus ($25 per user per month), Enterprise ($35 per user per month), and Enterprise Plus ($50 per user per month) plans. The prices reflect the monthly cost of an annual subscription, saving you 25% per month. Still, that is pricier than what Microsoft OneDrive for Business offers. Like Egnyte, Box has data governance tools, but they cost an additional $10 per user per month.
The plans have unlimited cloud storage, the Canvas whiteboarding tool, notes, e-signatures, and more than 1,500 integrations with third-party apps like Microsoft Office and Slack. However, they differ in maximum file size, security offerings, and other aspects. The Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus plans have unlimited external collaborator support.
The Enterprise tiers also include Hubs, which are content portals for specific teams (human resources or IT, for example). Enterprise Plus has Box AI (a content creation and work assistance tool) and enhanced 24-hour customer support.
Canceling a subscription is done from your dashboard's Account & Billing section. Box uses the cancellation process to gain insights from users, such as why they decided to leave. Box tries to keep existing subscribers by offering discounts on their way out, which could make a difference if price is a major blocker. Other cloud storage companies can gain from Box's clever customer retention strategies.
Box has a two-week free trial, so you can try before you buy.
Signing up for Box is simple. You provide contact details, key in billing information, and confirm your email. However, you must enter your credit card info to start the trial period. After your initial login, you're greeted with a features walkthrough.
Next, you go through a guided setup, starting with branding, where you can add your company logo and select a color scheme. From there, it's onto the ins and outs of creating folders and files, adding users individually or in bulk, and creating user groups. Here, you can download Box Sync, a desktop app that lets you sync files on your PC with files in the browser-based Box. If you're concerned about ransomware, check out Egnyte, a cloud storage and file-sharing service with ransomware protection.
The Admin Console gives account managers insights into all active users and the currently used storage. This dashboard provides a granular breakdown of the top file types, third-party applications, and hourly activity charts. It also lets you explore Users & Groups, Reports, Governance, Account & Billing, and Enterprise Settings. It's where you activate offline file access.
Besides the Admin Console, the dashboard menu allows you to check out many areas, including files synced to the desktop, messages, and collaborators. Click a file or folder to view details, such as edits, downloads, and comments. You can also create or upload Google or Microsoft Office files, folders, and notes.
The Files section is where you'll spend most of your time. It has a conveniently located search bar and quick access to the folder structure, which makes it easy to look for nested folders and files. We found the search bar the quickest way to search for files, with its Content Filter and Metadata options helping speed up queries.
Box lets you mark up and add comments to, say, a W-9 form, but requires the integrated Adobe Acrobat to edit fields. You don't need an Adobe Acrobat subscription to do so (or download files). However, you'll need a subscription to export or convert files to PDFs. This is a disappointing oversight since Dropbox Business lets you edit documents, photos, and videos without an extra subscription.
Despite the clean and intuitive interface, moving across different Box sections sometimes feels sluggish. This is especially true when using the Canvas whiteboarding tool. This is a common issue with some software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps, but we wish navigating Box was a bit snappier.
Box leverages Microsoft Word (either in the browser or on the desktop) for document editing and collaboration. Oddly, Box didn't detect a compatible program when we tried to open a Microsoft Word file on the desktop, even though we had Microsoft Office on our PC. In addition, you can lock a file, upload a new version, or move or copy it.
Like Google Drive, Box lets you share folders and documents via a link. It goes the extra mile by letting you create a custom URL, set a password, add a link expiration date, and allow/block file downloading. You can also share via email, share directly from the document, or even get the code to embed the link into your website.
When you share documents or folders, the invitee must sign up for a Box account if they don't already have one. This is common practice for many cloud storage and file-sharing software. However, Google Drive for Business and Microsoft OneDrive don't have this requirement.
The Box Sync desktop app makes it easy to sync large file totals. Even so, the sync client occasionally stopped working during testing. Box recommends that you limit transfers to roughly 100,000 files. This is an unlikely scenario for most businesses, but it could be problematic when migrating from another cloud storage platform.
You can create Box Notes and share them with other Box users, who can edit them and leave comments. You can also insert checklists and images into Box Notes, a feature unavailable for external users. Box Notes lacks offline support.
When viewing a document or Box Note, you'll see a comment box. Previously, you had to toggle between commenting or adding a task; now, you view both options on the same screen, which is far more intuitive. To assign a task, simply tick a box, add a description, choose assignees, and input an optional due date. Tagging other collaborators in the description is an easy way for them to track the task.
Box has mobile apps for Android and iOS. The mobile version is easy to use, and features most functions you would need for file sharing on the go. The mobile app also has useful document capture and OCR functionality to turn files into searchable PDFs.
Box is heavily integrated with the cloud application ecosystem, which includes Adobe, MobileIron, Slack, Splunk, and Webex. In addition, an organization's internal developers can use a user-accessible application programming interface (API) to create custom apps that can access Box data securely and reliably -- if they adhere to Box's best development practices.
The service utilizes SSL tech for safeguarding data transmissions. Data is encrypted at rest using 256-bit AES encryption which means data is secured even in an inactive state. It also meets ISO 27001, ISO 27018, SOC1, PCI DSS, and FedRAMP requirements. Box has complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) since April 2013.
Customer-managed encryption keys have recently become an option, which is a huge bonus in the privacy arena. This Enterprise Key Management (EKM) solution is impressive, but it does not guarantee privacy. It does, however, ensure that you have a full audit log of when and where your data is accessed and assurance that your data won't be accessed without your knowledge. Box also supports native Microsoft Active Directory (AD) integration through an installable app. There's a growing list of third-party options available, too.
Should you need help, Box has active support forums and a searchable library of how-to articles and feature walkthroughs. The Box community is quite active, with many SMBs interacting on usage and features. If you can't find what you need online, you can get help by phone, chat, and email (though the latter two options are unavailable during your free trial).
The business-centric Box is a compelling cloud storage and file-sharing service with deep collaboration chops, high storage capacities, and integration with popular tools like Adobe Acrobat, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Office 365. It's a noteworthy option for small businesses needing cloud storage and a few productivity tools. However, it lags a few steps behind Editors' Choice winners Egnye and Microsoft OneDrive due to the former's ransomware protection and the latter's lower cost.