I really like checking Cloudbackuping’s web site statistics on a weekly basis. Every Thursday I go through my visitors’ stats, where they came from and what they did on this website. The goal of this process is to improve the overall experience a user sees and interacts with my website. Last week I saw a lot of people looking for the phrase “justcloud vs dropbox” and I realized I have no such article that would provide an insight into comparing both services.
The reason why I haven’t come up with such as comparison is that those services are different in their purpose for the user. In this post, I’ll show you how to compare those two services and what service you should choose.
JustCloud vs Dropbox – an unfair battle?
Before getting into the question of this post – if it’s a clash of the Titan or rather an unfair batte – let me quickly summarize what those services are for:
JustCloud
JustCloud’s main purpose is to provide unlimited online backup for your files. I’ve been testing this service for a couple of months now and they’ve improved tremendously compared to their first beta. That’s why it is one of the winners of this month’s backup services.
JustCloud also offers file sync and file sharing BUT this is sort of a byproduct of their service and it certainly does not belong to its core features and shouldn’t be seen that way. They do backup, and they do it well. There is always room to improve: they could compress files for faster backups or provide continuous backup but I am sure this is just a matter of time as competition is quite stiff in this sector.
That being said if your sole purpose is to sync your files across multiple devices JustCloud is probably not the best choice for your needs. If you are looking for unlimited online backup I can recommend this service as I am using it myself.
Get a free JustCloud trial
Activate OfferDropbox
Dropbox’s purpose, on the other hand, is file sync. That’s what made them big and why they are so successful. The service works almost flawlessly and is so easy to use that even my grandma is using it (only the free 2GB version, though).
Providing excellent file sync is expensive, that’s why Dropbox has some steep price point starting with $9.99/mo for 50GB, so far away of being unlimited. Yes you can backup your files with Dropbox, but I say you shouldn’t.
Another problem security concerned people might have with Dropbox is that your files are not encrypted with a private access key. So everybody who has your account password could access your data. Yes, you can use additional tools such as Boxcryptor but this is an extra step many consumers are not willing to make.
Free 2Gb file sync
Activate OfferComparing apples and oranges?
It is close. As I said before both services satisfy different needs, while JustCloud is for backup, Dropbox is for sync. You have to gauge for yourself what you need. But nevertheless let’s dive a little deeper into a comparison of JustCloud and Dropbox:
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Let me get into this table a little deeper and explain the comparison:
The Price
The price refers to the month-to-month plans. This can be useful if you don’t want to commit yourself for a longer period and just want to give the service a test. Both Dropbox and JustCloud offer annual plans where you can save money: Dropbox costs $99,99 per year and JustCloud $71,40. So the longer you commit yourself the more you can save. You can even purchase JustCloud for y biannual period for $118,80 which would come down to only $4,95 per month.
Maximum Online Storage
I’ve looked at the maximum storage that both services offer: JustCloud is an unlimited online backup service, so there is technically no limit to the amount of files that you upload. That’s why there is no change in pricing. However, almost all unlimited online backup services mention that they *might* cap the upload speed or storage. JustCloud is no exception here. I’ve stored more than 500GB with them and not run into trouble, I think this might be in their TOS to protect themselves for massive overuse. Though I think it wouldn’t be necessary.
Dropbox personal plans end at 100GB and pricing increases to $199,99 per year or 19,99$ per month. For me, this isn’t enough space for backup that’s why I chose JustCloud.
File Sharing
Both services allow you to share your files and folders with friends and family. I find both services to work very reliably in that regard. File sharing is crucial when you often find yourself sending large email attachments or other large files over the Internet. Just select the files that you’ve uploaded to the services’ servers and send your partner the link to access them.
Free file sync
Obviously, Dropbox is the king of file sync tools. They offer a 2GB free syncing space which is plenty for the average user. JustCloud gives us a merely 1GB of free syncing space but you can update it at additional cost. If you like to stick to one service only then this might be an option. However, Dropbox has been more reliable in my testing with regards to file sync.
Mobile Access
Both services offer mobile access to your files. While Dropbox has a native App to access all your files JustCloud gives you a mobile ready web client that you can access from your smart phone’s browser. I like native apps better and would certainly wish JustCloud comes up with one, too.
Encryption
Both services lack encryption of your files with a private encryption key. Yes, they do use server side encryption (AES-256) and an SSL to send your data over but everyone who gets a hand on your account password could see and use your data.
Bottom line
At the beginning of this post I asked the question: Clash of the Titans or unfair battle? While it is true that Dropbox is a Titan, JustCloud is still quite small. I’ve been testing this provider for a couple of months now and must say I am quite happy.
Both services meet different needs, so it’s hard to compare the two. If file sync is your priority and you don’t need much space, go for Dropbox. If you have huge quantities of data to back up, pick JustCloud instead or another unlimited online backup service.
Here’s my recommendation: why not combine both services? Perhaps 2GB syncing space is enough for you and Dropbox gives that for free, then you could sign up for JustCloud that takes care of your backups. I have this strategy in place right now and it works great.
JustCloud and Dropbox Reviews
I’ve written extensive reviews on both services. Also, you can find video tutorials on how to use the services. That’ll help get to know each service and make a better decision for your data.
- Read my JustCloud Review
- Read my Dropbox Review
Let me know your choice and why!
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you have your information wrong. Dropbox does use encryption. It is stated here:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/27
They use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for transporting files over the Internet and a AES-256 bit encryption for files on the server.
The problem, and this is true of both JustCloud and Dropbox, is they hold they encryption key and you cannot use a private encryption key.
The other problem is JustCloud is not really offering an unlimited backup service. Unlike other services like Backblaze or Crashplan JustCloud has a fair use policy that states:
“Your consumption of JC Products or Services may be deemed excessive if, within any month, your usage greatly exceeds the average level of monthly usage of JC’s customers, generally. ”
So if you actually uploaded more than the average of all the other JustCloud customers you are probably going to have to pay more or have your account cancelled. That is not unlimited, that is a limited account with no advertised limit.
I should know they cancelled my account for it!
Hey Dan!
Thank you very much for your comment and correcting my mistake. Indeed you’re right both services use the AES-256 encryption as both are hosted on Amazon S3 servers. As for the fair use policy: I am sorry to hear that they cancelled your account, how many GB did you store?
I am at more than 500 GB and have not had any problems yet.
-Mauricio
A very interesting writeup on these two competitors.
I have been using Dropbox for some time, am happy with it, but am bumping into the capacity I am willing to pay for.
I have a large number of photos, which I do NOT send to Dropbox, but would like to have them somewhere in the cloud.
Does the JustCloud coexist peaceful with Dropbox on the same computer? I would like to just JustCloud strictly for backup, am not concerned about syncing.
I gather you do something like that, right?
Thanks for your advice.
Frank V
Hi Frank!
I appreciate your question! I am using JustCloud together with Dropbox on my iMac with OSX Lion installed and it runs perfectly, in fact, I’ve also installed other backup software and experienced no problem whatsoever.
I would recommend downloading the free trial of JustCloud and see if you have any issues (which I don’t think you’ll have) just to be safe.
Kind regards,
Mauricio
Mauricio,
I decided to try Just Cloud for one of my office computers. I have a 6GB HDD with about 20 GB of data on it. I decided to go with the “limited” plan which I believe is limited to 250GB of data. If I ever come near that maximum, it means business was great and I won’t mind spending the extra bucks to upgrade to unliimited. Two things I wanted to mention:
1. When paying for “JustCloud” with paypal, it tells me that I am actually paying a company called “mypcbackup”. I thought that was interesting, that it is the same company.
2. After signing up for the “free trial” and then the software backed it up in about 2 minutes, I got the emails you warned about. So I clicked on upgrade now, and was offered 20% discount. I selected a plan and then at the next screen, I went to exit (“x” out), and I was offered 35%. I did the same thing again and the offer went to 50%. I figured what the heck, and tried again, and the discount went to 70%. I just purchased at that point. I thing if I tried again, they might start paying me to use their off site backup. So basically I paid $45 for 2 years of backup (250 GB max). It would have cost me only $63 for unlimited, but as I explained, I don’t need it.
Thanks for your information. It was helpful, which is why I took the time to make this comment.
Mike
Correction to my previous comment: My HDD is 600 GB (not 6). Sorry for any confusion.
Mike
I do have a question. You mentioned a couple of settings to adjust on the sofware.
1. I set the maximum file size to the highest setting (5 GB)
2. I wasn’t clear what the other setting you referred to. Please shoot me an email with that setting. Was it Http Vs Https???
Thanks,
Mike
You are probably not surprised, but I have another question. I have an additional computer or two that I would like to back up. “Just Cloud” offers unlimited backup of a second computer for $25/year. Is that the way to go, or do you recommend making a separate account?
Mike
Hey Mike,
Great comment, and great questions that I’m happy to answer. If I forget anything or you have additional questions don’t hesitate to make another comment.
1) JustCloud offers unlimited backup, so if you sign up you’ll always get the unlimited plan as far as I know unless they changed something in their pricing structure. But I’ll investigate that. They changed a couple of things lately (to the better) so I don’t know if that is one of the things. But I’ll come up with an update.
2) JustCloud knows that competition in this sector is very stiff, so they try a lot of things to retain or obtain customers. Sometimes they do this wisely, sometimes a little too aggressively. Of course it is nice to get discounts (who doesn’t want to pay less?) but in other cases they used this to upsell other services such as syncing but due to my feedback they did away with this practice. I knew of the 35% discount but obviously 70% or more can’t hurt.
3) Yes, it is important to set the max. file size to 5GB to be sure to grab all the files you can to backup. Also set it to HTTPS to use the server side encryption. If you are security concerned you might want to consider encrypting your data before uploading it to JustCloud as it is only the connection that is encrypted. This is pretty secure but it can’t hurt to get an additional layer of security.
4) If you need an additional license the way you described is the way to go.
Hope that helps!
-Mauricio
First I would like to thank you for your response to my questions. It is really appreciated.
Regarding file selection, “JustCloud” has a default list of file extensions that will be “excluded” from the backups. Why wouldn’t I want to back up all of the files on my computer? Do you recommend deleting the entire list of excluded files? Here is the default list of excluded files. That means all of the following file types WILL NOT be backed up to the cloud.
LNK,WAB~,VMC,VHD,VO1,VO2,VSV,VUD,VMDK,VMSN,VMSD,HDD,VDI,VMWAREVM,
MP3,MP4,WMV,MOV,AVI,AAC,NVRAM,VMX,VMEM,ISO,DMG,SPARSEIMAGE,SYS,CAB,
EXE,MSI,DLL,DL_,WIM,O,QTCH,LOG
Another question:
I have a 600 GB HDD which explorer shows still has 560 GB of space. To me this means that I have about 40 GB of data. After the full back up is complete by JustCloud, the dashboard of JustCloud tells me that I have used about 3 GB of my 250 GB maximum. Can you explain this?
Thanks,
Michael
Hey Mike,
It is quite common practice among online backup services not to backup some files, for example system files or program files because those can be reinstalled easily.
Regarding your 40 GB of space: are you sure you selected all the files you want to backup? Go into Settings -> Selection -> Manual Backup -> Edit selection and select the files and folders you want to backup.
Hope that helps,
Mauricio
I hope you don’t find me too annoying, but maybe other people have these same questions too…
I have a 600 GB HDD which explorer shows still has 560 GB of space. To me this means that I have about 40 GB of data. After the full back up is complete by JustCloud, the dashboard of JustCloud tells me that I have used about 3 GB of my 250 GB maximum. Can you explain this?
Thanks,
Michael
Hi,
I find it interesting that you use both JustCloud and Dropbox as this is where I ended up going. I found JustCloud’s sync didn’t work very well but I didn’t get it for that, I got it for backups.
I hope JustCloud don’t quibble over me using up to 1TB as I have a lot of photos, music and camcorder videos. I’m still waiting for everything to backup yet, it’s going to take some time initially.
Thanks
Vinny