Box vs Filen
Box
box.com
Filen
filen.ioSide by side
| Figure | Box | Filen |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5/mo | €1.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 6 |
| Spec score · Cloud storage | 9.5 (#1) | 9.1 (#13) |
| Spec score · Cloud Storage Services | 9.4 (#2) | 9.3 (#4) |
| Collaboration | Box supports sharing, editing, commenting and co-creation of content across internal and external collaborators. | Filen offers encrypted notes with rich text, code, Markdown, and checklist options, plus end-to-end encrypted chats. |
| Device platforms | windows,macos,ios,android | Windows,macOS,Linux,iOS,Android |
| File versioning | Yes | Filen supports reverting files to previous versions. |
| Founded | 2005 | 2021 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, California, United States | Recklinghausen, Germany |
| Integrations | Box lists more than 1,500 integrations, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Teams, Zoom, Salesforce and Adobe Express. | The CLI and desktop client can run local WebDAV and S3-compatible mirror servers. |
| Rating on Apple App Store | 4.8 out of 5 from 191K ratings | 3.8 out of 5 from 123 ratings |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.4 out of 5 from 5,654 reviews | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review |
| Rating on Google Play | 4.4 out of 5 from 207K reviews | 3.3 out of 5 from 1.48K reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 1.2 out of 5 from 297 reviews | 3.8 out of 5 from 112 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. | The documentation recommends a TypeScript SDK and also lists a work-in-progress Go SDK. |
| Storage limit | 100 | 200 |
| 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. | The download documentation specifies 64-bit Intel/AMD and ARM desktop packages rather than a minimum operating-system version. |
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
Filen
- Pro I€1.99 a month
- Pro II€3.99 a month
- Pro III€8.99 a month
- Pro X€39.99 a month
- FreeFree
- Free accountFree
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.
Filen
Filen is a cloud storage service that encrypts data on the client before storage, using zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption. It supports syncing, network-drive access with Smart Sync and five sync modes across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the web. Mobile apps include encrypted camera uploads, offline files, notes, chats and notifications. Encrypted notes support rich text, code, Markdown and checklists, while chats are end-to-end encrypted. Developers can use the documented API, command-line interface and TypeScript, Rust and Go SDKs. The desktop client and CLI can run local WebDAV and S3-compatible mirror servers. Filen says its apps are open source under AGPL v3 and that its headquarters and servers are in Germany. The free account includes 10GB storage. Paid monthly plans start with Pro I at €1.99 a month for 200 GiB; higher tiers offer 500 GiB, 2 TiB or 10 TiB. Filen says data in free accounts is deleted after three months of inactivity, with reminder emails beforehand.