# Dropbox 140 Hacker News commenters recommended Dropbox and 166 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 12 years (16 owners). **Verdict:** Long-time users praise it as reliable, cross-platform file syncing that just works, though critics complain about feature bloat, pricing tiers and nags pushing users away. ## Why people recommend it - Reliable file syncing that just works (7 comments): "it's really amazing at... Syncing files. I use it pretty creatively with large numbers of files and large volumes and it just works reliably." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283826)) "they still have the best file sync platform of the big providers, easily beating onedrive and Google drive for reliability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49773404)) "Third-party vendors like DropBox, Box and many others have made products that look like OneDrive but actually work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46527391)) - Simple storage without extra cruft (3 comments): "I've been a paying customer since their early days. Their value, at least in my view, lies precisely in that they are just a file storage SaaS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292770)) "from a user point of view it is really attractive to have storage services that are JUST storage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49269645)) "I dislike the obfuscation so many photo storage solutions use. I want my files and my folders." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48286113)) - Works across all platforms and devices (3 comments): "as a cross platform, standalone file syncing experience I've been a happy paying subscriber for nearly 19 years and counting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283522)) "The value is in the client (DropBox in my case) seamlessly working across all my devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47674070)) "Dropbox helped here. They had a Linux client and a Mac client and kept both in sync." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48284114)) - Years of satisfied paid use (3 comments): "I've been a paying customer since their early days. Their value, at least in my view, lies precisely in that they are just a file storage SaaS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292770)) "as a cross platform, standalone file syncing experience I've been a happy paying subscriber for nearly 19 years and counting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283522)) "As a customer of DropBox since ~2011 I would say they've been an outstanding success." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48293315)) ## What people warn about - Feature churn and bloat (4 comments): "Needing to constantly stay abreast of feature churn to make sure I understand how and where my files are stored is not for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48295205)) "It's now a fundamentally different product than the original, and has re-created exactly the problem the original solved." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47265923)) "Adding more features just to chase new user growth often comes at the expense of confusing the existing user base" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47263920)) - Awkward pricing tiers (2 comments): "I always thought it was a shame that Dropbox never had a tier between its free tier which is not usable and its first paid tier." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48286180)) "A huge unforced error though is that the starting price for individual plans is $20/year versus $10/month for Dropbox and Box" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48285795)) - Security and account access problems (3 comments): "For a couple hours if you typed in any email on the login page, password checking was skipped and you could login to any account." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48362079)) "Dropbox let attackers link unverified Lenovo accounts to unrelated users' Dropbox accounts, without having the user confirm first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49529051)) "Kinda wild that someone scraping google's data would prevent me from getting into my PAID (>90$/yr) Dropbox account." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45896110)) - Not a true backup service (2 comments): "Dropbox did this to me with my actual data. I misunderstood it as a service where I could upload some data, uninstall the client, and expect the data to be there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48659694)) "explaining why Dropbox isn't enough as a backup service and you need Backblaze as an additional layer of protection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47769427)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple iCloud](https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud.md): 144 recommend - [OneDrive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onedrive.md): 86 recommend - [Google Drive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-drive.md): 66 recommend - [rsync.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rsync-net.md): 34 recommend - [Hetzner Storage Box](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hetzner-storage-box.md): 27 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.dropbox.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Dropbox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dropbox/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).