Good DropBox alternative?

The latest L1T episode convinced me to clean out my DropBox, but is there any good/free alternative that you know of? Preferably with file history and a good web interface? Thanks!

Yes. Mega.nz they are based in New Zealand.

Making your own with owncloud ?

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There is also box.com

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What’s the problem with Dropbox?

I like Mega, but nothing beats hosting your own ftp server.

Was wondering the same thing myself.

Obviously it isn’t secure without end-to-end encryption, but it’s fine for what it is.

If you like dropbox’s infrastructure, an option you might want to look into is using things like cryptomator or boxcryptor.

Now these require you to use something other than the dropbox client and you are likely to look the ability to use the online-side of things for dropbox, but it gives you the “privacy” in a sense that you would probably want.


Overall, you might be more secure with using encryption software because you hold onto the keys, not Dropbox or Mega.

@Eden I think the problem with ‘Dropbox’ is that you are essentially trusting the providers with the “security & privacy” over your files. It becomes a trust issue, my problem with this argument is I can apply it to any other service if it isn’t explicitly explained in their privacy policy.

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Sure, I use rclone to encrypt Google Drive myself. But the OP wants file history and a web UI, so neither rclone nor any of your solutions would work. In fact Spideroak won’t work either, because you have to give them your password to decrypt your files in the web UI.

If you need end-to-end encryption and a web UI, the only solution is to roll your own.

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Thanks to all you you - you’ve been amazingly helpful. The problem with DropBox, as mentioned on the last episode of L1T, is that they might be legally forced to weaken their security, which coincides with their IPO on the stock exchange (hence more money-grabbing incentives), so I thought it was high time to look for an alternative. I’ll test these suggestions, as well as some local options (lesser-know sites from small EU countries). In the end, home FTP might be the solution, after all.

I mean if you are willing to put in the work, Nextcloud is a great alternative.
Seafile might also work, but I haven’t invested too much time into learning about that one yet.

Why does anyone use Dropbox over Google Drive for a free service? inb4 Google mines your data. Dropbox definitely mines your data as well.

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Google Drive used to work really poorly, failing to sync, locking up all the time. These days they’re basically the same thing.

Dropbox basic is 5.5GB for free. Google Drive is 15GB. In my opinion that’s a no-brainer.

Mega is 50GB for free, it is no-brainer indeed.

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I was not discounting Mega. I was simply stating that some people will continue to use Dropbox when Google Drive is a better option. The only reason I don’t use Mega is because I use Google Apps heavily, and Google Drive integrates so well. I have no use for more than 15GB anyways since most of my media use comes from YouTube or Steam.

The real question is why does anyone use Dropbox period when there are much better options available.

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I use OneDrive due to the simplicity of syncing protects between my systems. Don’t have to worry about moving shit across and it syncs in real time.

Have you tried pCloud?
swiss based (like protonmail), possible to have encrypted folder, mounts as a drive in filemanager / winexplorer. Linux, macOS and windows client.

edit: with link https://www.pcloud.com

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If you’re concerned about a lack of security, and you’re using it as a backup, you could use 7zip to create an AES256 encrypted .zip/.7z of everything, and uploading that. Makes the upload process a lot faster, too, as your computer doesn’t have to do a lot of small reads.


ProtonMail are in the process of setting up ProtonDrive, but don’t expect to see it any time soon, and it probably wouldn’t be cheap.

PCloud seems to be the best web-interface alternative so far. I like the audio streaming features - you can listen to your music directly from your phone, as if listening to a podcast. Nice one.