Sources checked Sep 22, 2026 – Sep 23, 2026
Dropbox Family vs Microsoft 365 Family: one 2 TB pool or 1 TB each?
Both plans cover up to six people and keep each person’s files private. The difference is how the space is split: Dropbox Family shares one 2 TB pool, so one person can use most of it, while Microsoft 365 Family gives each person their own 1 TB, up to 6 TB in total. Start with whether anyone needs more than 1 TB.
PUBLISHED PLAN DETAILS
Free storage, plan sizes, and US prices
US-dollar prices before tax, from each provider’s own page. Dropbox’s pricing pages showed us euros, not US dollars, so we do not print a Dropbox price.
Scroll sideways to see all columns →
| What to compare | Dropbox Family | Microsoft 365 Family |
|---|---|---|
| Free storage | Dropbox Basic: 2 GB for one person. | 5 GB of cloud storage, plus 15 GB of mailbox storage for Outlook.com. |
| Family plan | 2 TB shared by up to 6 members. Price: check price. Dropbox’s pricing pages showed us euros only. | 1 TB per person for 1 to 6 people, up to 6 TB in total. $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year. |
| One-person plans | Dropbox Plus: 2 TB for one person. Price: check price, for the same reason. | Microsoft 365 Basic, 100 GB: $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year. Microsoft 365 Personal, 1 TB: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. |
| Room to grow | Plus and Family both stop at 2 TB. Dropbox’s team plans start at 3 TB for the team; they are not compared here. | Microsoft’s plan table lists storage expandable up to 10 TB for Personal and Family. Check the add-on price at checkout. |
| What else the plan includes | Family adds a Family Room folder that every member can open. | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote desktop apps for each person. |
SHARING AND STORAGE RULES
Family sharing, what uses the space, and what happens at the limit
From Dropbox’s and Microsoft’s help pages and plan tables.
Scroll sideways to see all columns →
| What to compare | Dropbox Family | Microsoft 365 Family |
|---|---|---|
| Who can join | Up to 6 members, aged 13 or older in the United States and 16 or older elsewhere. One Family manager handles billing and membership. | Only the subscription holder can share, and only with members of their Microsoft family group. |
| How the space is split | One 2 TB pool. Each file counts once toward the family total. | 1 TB for each person. Microsoft’s table lists the limit as 1 TB per user. |
| Whose files others can see | Each member has their own private account and sees only the files others choose to share. Everything in the Family Room is shared with the whole family. | Microsoft says personal files, emails, appointments, contacts, photos, and notebooks do not appear in the shared Family locations. |
| What counts against storage | Every file and folder in a member’s Dropbox counts toward the family’s 2 TB, once. | Cloud storage covers OneDrive files and photos and Outlook.com email attachments. Emails, contacts, and calendar items use the separate mailbox storage. |
| Platform fit | Desktop apps for Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or later, and Ubuntu or Fedora Linux. Mobile apps for Android 10 or later and iOS 17 or later. | Microsoft lists PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. |
| Photos from a phone | Camera uploads can upload photos and videos from an iPhone or Android phone. | OneDrive’s Camera Upload on iPhone copies one way: deleting a photo from the phone does not remove the OneDrive copy. |
| If you go over | Dropbox documents this for Basic accounts: you may not be able to sync, upload, share, move, or preview files. If the account stays over, Dropbox may delete your least recently modified files after email warnings; deleted files stay in Deleted files for 30 days. | You cannot upload, edit, or sync new files, or send and receive Outlook.com email. After 3 months over, the OneDrive account is frozen; after 6 months, Microsoft might delete it, and the files cannot be recovered. |
| If you leave or stop paying | A member who leaves Family is moved to the free Basic plan and keeps their files. Anyone left with more than 2 GB is then over the Basic limit, and the rules above apply. | A person who loses access to the subscription loses the 1 TB OneDrive benefit, and their storage goes back to its previous size. Anyone over that is then subject to the rules above. |
A family of four storing about 2.5 TB
2.5 TB is 2,500 GB. Dropbox Plus and Family both hold 2 TB, so no Dropbox Plus or Family plan holds it. The family would need to store 500 GB less, or look at Dropbox’s team plans, which we have not compared.
Microsoft 365 Family gives the four people 1 TB each, 4 TB in total: $129.99 a year (about $10.83 a month), or 12 × $12.99 = $155.88 billed monthly.
That works only if no one person needs more than 1 TB. Split evenly, each person stores 625 GB and everyone fits. Split 1,200 / 600 / 400 / 300 GB, the person with 1,200 GB does not fit their own allowance, even though the family total does.
This is a price and capacity calculation, not a verdict about either app.
To try your own total and number of people, use the cloud storage cost calculator. It runs the same plan match across iCloud+, Google One, Microsoft 365, and Dropbox.
CONSIDER DROPBOX FAMILY IF
One person stores much more than the others
The 2 TB pool lets one member use most of it, and the Family Room gives the household one shared folder. Check the price in your currency first; we could not read a US-dollar price.
CONSIDER MICROSOFT 365 FAMILY IF
Everyone needs a similar amount, or the Office apps
Each person gets their own 1 TB, up to 6 TB in total, with the desktop Office apps. It fits badly when one person needs more than 1 TB.
Moving your photos
Both services can upload photos from a phone. If you are moving a library between Google Photos and iCloud Photos rather than into Dropbox or OneDrive, use the official copy routes and keep the original until you have checked the copy.
The Google Photos and iCloud Photos transfer guide walks through each route and what does not come across.
Check this before you switch
- Ask each person how much they store, and look for anyone over 1 TB.
- Check ages: Dropbox Family members must be 13 or older in the United States.
- Decide who pays and manages the plan; both give one person control of membership.
- Before anyone leaves the plan, check they are under the free allowance they will fall back to.
Try a small sample of files before moving a full library.
Moving off Dropbox rather than comparing? The Dropbox exit guide covers download limits, folders other people own, and what Dropbox Basic’s 2 GB means for the files you leave behind. Read the leaving Dropbox guide.
Moving off OneDrive instead? The OneDrive exit guide covers online-only files, the Desktop and Documents backup, and the frozen-account rules over the free 5 GB. Read the leaving OneDrive guide.
CHECK THE PROVIDERS
Confirm the price in your country.
These links go directly to the providers. Neither is an affiliate link.