The file synchronization service Dropbox is loved by many even though it is not the cheapest when you compare the price to Gigabyte ratio that you get when you sign up for a Pro account.
This has become apparent especially recently when providers such as Google or Microsoft slashed prices or increased the available storage for accounts dramatically.
The Google Drive 1 Terabyte plan for instance is available for $9.99 per month, exactly the price that Dropbox Pro users paid for 100 Gigabyte of storage.
And Microsoft is offering a Office 365 subscription with 1 Terabyte storage for $9.99 as well.
Dropbox announced today that it has increased the storage for Pro accounts to 1 Terabyte without changing prices. This means that all existing Pro users and prospective new users get 1 Terabyte of storage for $9.99 per month.
In addition, it is the new unified Pro account that the company will offer from this point onwards to simplify things for users.
Existing Pro users will be upgraded to the new plan in the coming days while new ones can sign up right on the Pro page directly.
Note: $9.99 is the price when you sign up for a Pro account in the United States. If you sign up from another location you may pay more. In most European countries for example, you pay €9.99 instead. Yes, it seems possible to change your location to pay less.
Dropbox has launched several new features that are only to Pro users:
- Remote wipe to delete data on devices that you lost control over. If your device was stolen for example, you can use Dropbox's web interface to to do. All you need to do is select Setttings > Security, and there the option to unlink the computer. Here you need to select "delete files from this computer the next time it comes online".
- Shared Links Passwords. You can now add a new layer of security to links you share by setting a password that users who access the links need to enter before they can access the contents.
- Shared Links Expiration. Share links only for a set period of time.
- Read-only permissions. Shared folders can be set to read-only so that recipients cannot modify files.
Conclusion
It was clear that Dropbox had to do something to stay competitive and upgrading storage for Pro accounts or reducing the price of the subscription has definitely been on the wishlist of many users of the service.
Pro users get up to ten times the storage for the same price and regular users who need more storage are now more likely to consider Dropbox when it comes to subscribing to a plan.
What is your take on this? Step in the right direction or too late?
I use the free dropbox account occasionally but its not my main, and it works okay, more functionality would be good, I like the idea of a remote wipe and password security but I won't be going pro until I upgrade my old bought and paid for iphone, which handles most other apps but not dropbox (incompatible with the IOS version)... so do check if that applie to yours before spending your pennies.
The features playing field will level out as the other big names catch up. Dropbox needs to get its name right out there, google did it with the "unlimited storage" offer on their gmail. Dropbox should do more to encourage first time users.
No it is not too late, but what is problematic is that it is the only service of this quality to not allow for editing Office documents, and it is a real handicap.
Are they still offering 2 GB for free? When other providers offer 15 to 50 GB free. Joke's on Dropbox.