Box vs Carbone
Box
box.com
Carbone
carbone.ioSide by side
| Figure | Box | Carbone |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 18 |
| Spec score · Docs Automation | 9.4 (#1) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Founded | 2005 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, California, United States | Bellevigny, France |
| Integrations | Box lists more than 1,500 integrations, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Teams, Zoom, Salesforce and Adobe Express. | Official connectors cover Airtable, Bubble, Glide, Make, n8n, Ninox, Retool, Zapier, HubSpot, Odoo, Pipedrive, Salesforce, DocuSign and Subnoto. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.4 out of 5 from 5,654 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 from 14 reviews. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.3 out of 5 from 6,937 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 from 58 reviews. |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 1.2 out of 5 from 297 reviews | 4.7 out of 5 from 49 reviews. |
| SDKs | Box maintains Java, .NET, Python, Node, and iOS SDKs with full API parity; its Android Content SDK is end-of-support and partial. | Official SDK documentation is provided for Node.js, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Go, Java and Rust. |
| System requirements | Box Drive supports the two latest macOS versions and the two latest 64-bit Windows and Windows Server major versions; recommended hardware is a 1.6 GHz dual-core CPU and 4 GB RAM. | Minimum Docker resources are 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB disk for slim, or 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM and 10 GB disk for full converters. |
| What it does | Box presents itself as an intelligent content platform for secure content management, collaboration, workflow automation, e-signature and enterprise AI. | Carbone merges JSON data with user-designed templates to generate PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODS, HTML and other files. |
Plans
Box
- IndividualFree
- Business Starter$5 a month
- Personal Pro$10 a month
- Business$15 a month
- Business Plus$25 a month
- Enterprise$35 a month
- Enterprise Plus$50 a month
- Enterprise AdvancedPriced on request
Carbone
- Cloud FreeFree
- FreeFree
- On-Premise CommunityFree
- On-Premise FreeFree
- Amazon Web Services$0.15, paid once
- Cloud Essential$29 a month
- Essential€29 a month
- Cloud Essential Plus$95 a month
- Essential Plus€95 a month
- Advanced€159 a month
In their own words
Box
Box is a file storage and collaboration service available on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Its listed capabilities include file versioning and business administration controls. Named plans range from Individual, with 10 GB of storage, 250 MB uploads, one file version, and five signature requests per month, to Personal Pro, with 100 GB, 5 GB uploads, 10 versions, and 15 monthly signature requests. Business Starter lists 100 GB, 2 GB uploads, 25 versions, and up to 10 users. Business, Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus offer unlimited storage; their upload limits are 5 GB, 15 GB, 50 GB, and 150 GB, respectively. These business tiers require at least three users and list monthly API call allowances of 50K for the first two and 100K for the Enterprise tiers. Box was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.
Carbone
Carbone merges JSON data into document templates to generate files such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. Templates can use formats including DOCX, ODT, ODS, XLSX, XML, Markdown, and HTML. Its conversion API handles more than 100 formats and supports LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, and Chromium. API access and bulk generation are listed, with Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud, and AWS deployment options. The pricing page lists free Cloud and On-Premise plans, plus a free 30-day trial for self-hosted On-Premise use. Cloud Essential costs $29.00 per month; documents are counted for each 1 MB of injected JSON and images, and additional documents beyond a plan allowance are invoiced separately. Carbone says Cloud stores templates for reuse but does not retain submitted JSON or generated documents beyond what rendering and delivery require. It says it has no access to customer templates, data, or generated documents in on-premise deployments. The service also offers an MCP server and an open-source Carbone Skill for connecting AI assistants and generating templates. Its listed platform options include API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows.