Dropbox Inc. To Kill Unlimited Storage Option
Dropbox Inc. have advised it will be removing the unlimited storage option following some customers using huge amounts of resources that could degrade the service for others.
The highest tier, which offers “all the space you need,” will now top out at 5TB per user for new customers, which was claimed to equal enough space for around 33 million documents.
Initially, the plan was designed for businesses, however it was noted that some clients were using it for cryptocurrency mining, re-selling the service, or pooling storage with strangers. Dropbox claimed these users “frequently consume thousands of times more storage than our genuine business customers, which risks creating an unreliable experience for all of our customers.”
With currently over 18 million paying users, Dropbox is one of the top cloud storage companies and reported $2.5 billion in annual recurring revenue during its Q2 earnings. The company has also worked on document management services and video specific tools.
This decision appears to be following Google removing “as much storage as you need” from its highest tier Workspace plan back in May. Customers have claimed they were told they had exceeded storage limits and were required to pay for additional capacity.
A Google spokesperson said the company started rolling out “pooled storage” for customers last year, and customers utilising over 80% of their plan’s limit will be notified.
Storage policies weren’t changed in May, however language was updated to “clarify that customers on these plans receive 5TB of Drive Secure cloud storage per user with the ability to request more,” continued the spokesperson.
Dropbox claimed to see a rise of unintended uses during the last few months “in the wake of other services making similar policy changes.” It was also claimed the server capacity saw increased pressure recently.
Under the new plan, each added TB will cost $8 a month, compared to the previous plan at $24 a month. Current users with under 35TB will be keeping their current storage at the same price for five years. Those exceeding will be contacted “to discuss a range of options.”
Industry analyst IDC claimed spending on cloud storage is expected to jump 25% this year to $59.9 billion, and hit $127.8 billion in 2027.
Google increased cloud storage costs last year, and Apple also recently raised prices for UK customers. Amazon once offered an unlimited plan, before it was killed in 2017. Microsoft also tried something similar in 2015. Box Inc. still advertises “unlimited storage” for enterprise plans.
Dropbox continued, “We recognize that changing an ‘all the space you need’ policy will be disappointing for some customers. While we‘re unable to offer this option going forward, our goal is to ensure that the vast majority of teams on our Advanced plan experience no disruption.”