Dropbox Paper vs Google Docs

Dropbox Paper is a collaborative document tool for teams, built around documents with timelines, to-dos, and tables. To-dos can be assigned and given due dates, then viewed in a Things to do sidebar. Timelines collect deadlines, files, and to-dos and can be viewed by week, month, quarter, or year; on mobile, timelines are read-only. Paper is free, and a Dropbox account with sign-in is required to create or access documents. There is no limit on the number of Paper documents in an account, and each uses less than 100 bytes of Dropbox storage. The separate Dropbox Paper mobile app was discontinued on October 9, 2025, while Paper remains available on the web. In the Dropbox desktop app, Paper documents open on dropbox.com unless exported as PDF, DOCX, or Markdown. Paper supports real-time collaboration, track changes, and offline editing. Some users can connect Paper with Google or Outlook calendars to link documents to events and make meeting notes. Documents are encrypted at rest with 256-bit AES and in transit with SSL/TLS.

Google Docs is an online document editor for creating content and collaborating with others. It includes templates, smart canvas building blocks, smart chips, pageless mode, and document tabs. Collaborators can edit and comment together, assign tasks, manage permissions, and restore earlier versions. Gemini in Docs can draft documents using information from Drive, Gmail, and Chat. Docs can create meeting notes from Calendar events and supports electronic signatures and contract templates. Microsoft Word and PDF files can be imported, while Word files can be edited while preserving the original. Documents can be created, accessed, and edited offline. Docs connects with Gmail, Drive, Sheets, Calendar, Chat, and Meet. Anyone with a Google Account can create documents, although some features require a Google Workspace plan. It runs in web browsers and on Android and iOS devices. A free plan and 14-day trial are listed; paid Workspace plans start at 7 USD per user per month with annual billing. Google says data is encrypted by default.