There are numerous business cloud storage options on the market, which can make it difficult to choose the right one. And it’s extremely important to spend some time researching the different options, because choosing the best cloud storage will help you streamline daily business processes by enabling secure data storage via the cloud.
Three popular business cloud storage options are Livedrive for Business, Egnyte Business, and Box for Business. Here, we compare the features, performance, support, prices, and other aspects of these providers to help you determine which, if any, are the best choice for your business.
Features
Livedrive, Egnyte, and Box all come with a suite of business-specific features designed to streamline workflows and optimize cloud storage efficiency. These include expected features such as straightforward file storage and backup, along with more specialized functionalities targeted at specific use cases.
Livedrive is available across various operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. It includes numerous collaboration tools so you can share files with colleagues and other interested parties, and there are no size limits on large files. On top of this, it enables you to access files from any device, restore important data if your device crashes, and more.
Like Livedrive, Box enables you to collaborate with colleagues, share your files with any relevant interested parties, and more. One standout feature is its ability to integrate with thousands of third-party apps, including Slack, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and many others. Basically, these integrations are designed to help you streamline everyday processes, allowing you to access and share relevant files from within the third-party app.
Finally, Egnyte provides enterprise-level cloud storage solutions targeted at medium to large businesses. It uses a proprietary content intelligence engine to ensure all files are backed up and stored effectively, helping you keep up with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements—something that it does much better than either Livedrive or Box.
Egnyte’s main features are really targeted at larger businesses. Its user access tools are designed for teams of hundreds or even thousands of employees. It also comes with various file life cycle management tools, integrations with third-party apps, and API support so you can connect to custom platforms.
All things considered, Livedrive, Egnyte, and Box all provide excellent cloud storage features. Box and Livedrive target their services to smaller businesses, while Egnyte appears to be the better option for larger companies due to its enterprise-level features and functionality.
As three of the world’s most popular business cloud storage service providers, Livedrive, Box, and Egnyte naturally implement various security features to help protect your data.
Box excels at security. It uses powerful administrator controls, and all files are protected with industry-standard 256-bit AES encryption. Watermarking, two-factor authentication (2FA), and many other tools are also supported.
Like Box, Egnyte is strong on the security front. It provides the option for powerful end-to-end encryption, enables you to store your encryption keys anywhere you want, and even supports remote wiping of data from computers and mobile devices.
On the other hand, we did have a few small concerns with Livedrive’s security. Although it uses 256-bit AES encryption, like Box, this only comes into play while your files are stored on its servers. There isn’t any end-to-end encryption available, which could leave your valuable data vulnerable. What’s more, 2FA isn’t available either.
Performance
To compare Livedrive, Egnyte, and Box in terms of performance, we took a close look at their user interfaces, ease of use, and any other important factors that could impact long-term useability.
Box for Business has a neat user interface on all operating systems. The Windows and Mac apps are tidy and work quietly in the background without interrupting other processes. Similarly, the Android and iOS apps are easy to use, relatively minimalistic, and easy to integrate with various third-party platforms.
Livedrive is also excellent when it comes to performance, with some of the best upload speeds in the cloud storage industry. The web interface provides access to both the Livedrive Briefcase tool and the standard backup area, and it’s possible to have both running at once. The main issue here was that backups weren’t live, but instead occurred at one-hour intervals.
Finally, we looked at Egnyte, which had arguably the tidiest user interface of the three. Everything is smooth, sharing documents and folders is extremely straightforward, and there are excellent reporting and management tools available.
At the end of the day, Egnyte just takes the points for performance, although Box wasn’t too far behind.
Support
Livedrive support is quite limited. Live support is only available from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, UK time (so 4am to 1pm EST). What’s more, its knowledge base and self-help resources could certainly be better.
At the other end of the spectrum, Egnyte provides excellent support services. Its knowledge base is packed full of countless guides, articles, and how-to documents. On top of this, 24/7 support is available through various channels, depending on the plan you’re using.
Box is similar to Egnyte, although its live support options are limited to online ticketing. Its self-help resources are excellent and include a suite of demo videos, guides, and white papers. Egnyte once again takes the points here, but again, Box isn’t too far behind.
Pricing and plans
Livedrive offers two plans, with the Business Express plan costing $50 a month and the Business Standard plan costing $160 a month. These both support up to three users and 2TB or 10TB of storage respectively, although more storage and support for more users can be added for an extra fee.
Egnyte plans offer even better value, with a Business plan (10 to 100 employees) costing $20 per user a month. Custom Enterprise solutions are also available for larger businesses, with a focus on data governance and compliance with local regulations.
Box for Business comes in four variations, with prices ranging from $7 to $47 per user a month. The Business Plus plan ($33 per user a month) stands out for excellent value, with unlimited storage, a 5GB file upload size limit, and unlimited external collaborators.
Once again, Egnyte stands out here, offering excellent value and affordable plans for businesses of all sizes.
Livedrive for Business vs Egnyte Business vs Box for Business: Verdict
Although Livedrive, Box, and Egnyte are all highly rated business cloud storage service providers, Egnyte clearly stands out above the others in most areas. Livedrive and Box appear to offer slightly better small business features, while Egnyte seems to be targeted at larger companies.
However, Egnyte clearly has a better user interface, more robust security integrations, better support services and self-help resources, and more competitive prices than either Box or Livedrive.
Ultimately, we’d recommend Egnyte as the best overall cloud storage service provider for businesses. There’s certainly nothing wrong with Box or Livedrive - they just don’t seem quite as competitive. Learn more about all three providers in our Livedrive review, our Egnyte review, and our Box for Business review.
