

Ask HN: Did you switch from Dropbox to Google Drive? - bslvr

1. Yes or no
2. Do you pay money for this service or are you a free user?
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GameGamer43
I'm a Dropbox user with 5gb of space and while I have installed Google Drive,
I see no real reason to switch from Dropbox. First I can earn more space on
Dropbox if needed with more referrals and second Google doesn't have an iOS
app available at launch (however it's coming soon).

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steventruong
1\. I have both installed. Wanted to check out Google Drive but not
necessarily switch. I rarely use Dropbox as it is.

2\. Between the two, currently Dropbox has more value for me both in terms of
overall storage space and in terms of users I have shared folders with.

3\. Free on both. I haven't had a need to upgrade to the paid version yet due
to limited need to use the service. Possibly later if I ever end up needing
more space.

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jchestang
No. Google Drive never gave me a good reason to switch. Fundamentally, Google
Drive is the same as Dropbox, with the only benefits being increased storage
and integration with Google Docs. To me, it would require a considerably
better feature set for me to switch platforms

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Piskvorrr
1\. No - what with all those folders I'm sharing with other DB users - I'd
have to persuade them to switch too; what am I, Google's marketing team? Not.
2. Free user, about 5GB space in total. Also at Google Drive: iPhone app
"coming soon", Linux app "nowhere in sight".

~~~
bslvr
That's a great point. I was able to switch because I don't have many shared
folders. I am a paid user and the main reason I switched was to get a lower
price.

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Khao
I have a dropbox account but I really rarely use it so no I did not switch or
even try Google Drive since it's not really useful for me. I have a lot of
stuff in Google Docs though, I don't know if it gets automatically sent to my
Drive or something.

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johnmarshall4
I was considering it until I realized how much CPU GDrive was taking on my
Mac: [http://johnmarshall4.tumblr.com/post/21864353801/gdrive-
suck...](http://johnmarshall4.tumblr.com/post/21864353801/gdrive-sucks-cpu-on-
macs)

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GreyTheory
I signed up for Google Drive, but only as a formality - Dropbox serves my
needs well and has a much nicer interface, and doesn't have an awful
privacy/data ownership policy.

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macca321
Oh man I'm thinking about SkyDrive as I have 25GB for free...

I'm switching to the first one to implement webhooks for file updates.

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rmoriz
webhooks/streaming api for changes would be awesome!

skydrive: tried it for 10 minutes, could'nt find versioning/revert support =>
deleted

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estromlund
Why switch? Use both!

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badboy
Nope, no switch. Dropbox free user with 12Gb of space.

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bslvr
Thanks to everybody who answered my question!

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bmelton
I haven't switched, but I am giving it serious thought.

It probably matters that I haven't downloaded the Google Drive client yet, but
on the basis of cost alone, Google Drive is substantially cheaper.

That said, I love Dropbox (which is the reason I haven't switched _yet_ ), but
the features they seem to be rolling out aren't particularly appealing to me.
I just really want somewhere to store my files.

Dropbox also has the advantage of being the client I use to share files with a
variety of people already and I'm honestly not sure if I downgraded to the
free plan, that I could keep up with all those fileshares. I'll have to look
and see where the cap is implemented.

If I have a 2Gb plan, and a paid user shares a 3Gb folder with me, do I have
to upgrade to see/use it?

~~~
Piskvorrr
As far as my experience goes, the answer is "yes" for Dropbox - your account
will show "1 GB over quota" (and syncing will stop) in this case, as shared
folders count toward the quota both for you and the person who shared it with
you. Many moons ago, Dropbox promised this will be changed, but it has been on
hiatus ever since (my guess is on slightly larger profits and drastically
simpler quota accounting).

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biopharma_guy
I did not for following reasons.

1\. I do not want to keep installing software on my system especially on my
office computer.

Why not Google came out with a G Drive similar to Amazon where you do not have
to install anything but still can upload and access all files?

2\. And Google is late to the game. I have already 5 GB from Amazon and 5 GB
from Dropbox and that will be enough for me for a while.

