Business model
Dropbox uses a freemium business model, where users are offered a free account with a set storage size, with paid subscriptions available that offer more capacity and additional features.[68] Accordingly, Dropbox's revenue is a product of how many users they can convert to their paid services.[69]
Dropbox Basic users are given two gigabytes of free storage space.[70] This can be expanded through referrals; users recommend the service to other people, and if those people start using the service, the user is awarded additional 500 megabytes of storage space. Dropbox Basic users can earn up to 16 gigabytes through the referral program.[71]
The Dropbox Plus subscription (named Dropbox Pro prior to March 2017[72]) gives users 2 terabytes of storage space, as well as additional features, including:
In November 2013, Dropbox announced changes to "Dropbox for Business" that would enable users to connect both their personal Dropbox and their business Dropbox to the same device, with each of the folders being "properly labeled for personal or work, and come with its own password, contacts, settings, and files". Furthermore, Dropbox announced shared audit logs, remote wipe for business administrators, and account transfers, as new features of its Business offering.[76][77] In January 2017, Dropbox introduced "Smart Sync" for Business and Enterprise customers, a feature that lets Windows and macOS users see all files in the Dropbox folder, but only download specific files on-demand.[78][79]
Similar to Dropbox Basic, Dropbox Plus users can also earn extra space through referrals. Plus users earn 1 gigabyte per referral, up to 32 gigabytes.[71]
Dropbox Business is Dropbox's application for corporations, adding more business-centered functionality for teams, including collaboration tools, advanced security and control, unlimited file recovery, user management and granular permissions, and options for unlimited storage.[80] For large organizations, Dropbox offers Dropbox Enterprise, the "highest tier" of its product offerings, adding domain management tools, an assigned Dropbox customer support member, and help from "expert advisors" on deployment and user training.[81]
In July 2016, Dropbox announced a new "AdminX" administrator dashboard for Business customers, offering improved control of company files and users.[82][83] In June 2017, the AdminX dashboard was given a redesign and additional administrator functions, such as log-in durations, custom password strength parameters, and setting specific subdomain verifications for individual teams.[84][85]
- Advanced sharing controls: When sharing a link to a file or folder, users can set passwords and expiration limits.[73]
- Remote wipe: If a device is stolen or lost, users can remotely wipe the Dropbox folder from the device the next time it comes online.[74]
- "Extended Version History": An available add-on, it makes Dropbox keep deleted and previous versions of files for one year, a significant extension of the default 30-day recovery time.[75]
Company partnerships
In September 2012, Facebook and Dropbox integrated to allow users in Facebook Groups to share files using Dropbox.[86][87] In 2013, Samsung pre-loaded the Dropbox mobile application on its Android devices and Dropbox provided extra space for users owning Samsung's devices.[88] In November 2014, Dropbox announced a partnership with Microsoft to integrate Dropbox and Microsoft Office applications on iOS, Android and the applications on the web.[89][90]
