Comparison

Dropbox vs Starchive

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dropbox

Securely store, sync, and share your files and photos across all your devices. Easily upload, access, and send documents, videos, and more from anywhere, even offline. Offers robust backup and recovery features for peace of mind.

Highlights
  • Automatic photo and video upload
  • Offline file access
  • Large file sharing via links
  • Document scanning to PDF
  • Version history and file recovery
  • Cross-device synchronization
Read full description

Dropbox lets you upload, save, and transfer photos and files to the cloud. Backup and sync your pictures, videos, documents, and other files to cloud storage and access them from any device, anywhere. With advanced sharing features, it’s easy to share and send photos or files to family, friends, and co-workers. Features: • Automatically upload videos and photos from your camera roll to cloud photo storage - all in the background - for easy video sharing and photo sharing. • Access any file in your account - even offline - and preview over 175 different file types with no special software required. • Easily send large files by copying and pasting a link you can give to anyone, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account. • Scan documents, receipts, IDs, photos, and more using your mobile device and transform them into high-quality PDFs, so you can view and send anywhere. • Sync folders on your PC or Mac to Dropbox with computer backup, and recover older versions or restore deleted files with version history and file recovery. Sign up now for your free Dropbox Plus trial. You’ll get 2 TB (2,000 GB) of storage space - that’s enough room to save files from all your linked devices. And with Dropbox Rewind, you can roll back any file, folder, or your entire account, up to 30 days. Before starting a trial or completing payment, you’ll see the plan price. This amount will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase and on renewal and will vary by plan and country. Dropbox subscriptions renew monthly or yearly, depending on your plan. Your account will be charged for renewal 24 hours before the end of your current billing period. To avoid auto-renewal, turn it off within at least 24 hours before your subscription renews. You can turn off auto-renewal anytime from your Apple ID account settings. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your account settings on the App Store after purchase. Dropbox is a secure cloud solutions leader trusted by Fortune 500 companies for their most sensitive data. Over 14 million paid users choose Dropbox because they know they can count on a company that’s also dedicated to their security and privacy—no matter what they do or where they are. Let Dropbox be your all-in-one file storage, file organizer, file transfer, and file sharing solution for all your devices. We’d love to hear from you! Join the Dropbox community: https://www.dropboxforum.com Terms of Service: https://www.dropbox.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.dropbox.com/privacy

About

Starchive

This cloud-based digital asset management solution helps businesses and creators preserve, organize, and access their files. It offers instant organization with auto-tags, curated collections, and secure cloud storage.

Highlights
  • Cloud digital asset management
  • Auto-tagging for organization
  • Curated collections
  • Easy file sharing
  • Fast browser uploads
  • Secure cloud storage
Read full description

Starchive is a new digital asset management solution in the cloud, built for the pocket and priced for the everyday business or creator to help them preserve, organize, access, share, and leverage their files in one central place. Way more than an online file storage system, Starchive offers its users instant organization through auto-tags, the ability to curate media into collections without duplicating files, easy sharing functionality, the fastest browser upload in the market, secure cloud storage with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and more.

Screenshots

Dropbox4 screens
Starchive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Starchive at none against Dropbox's 11. Starchive also leads on review sentiment (59% vs 48%) and iOS requirement (14 vs 17.0). Dropbox's advantage is ratings volume (907K vs 167) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Dropbox sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Starchive asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dropbox holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dropbox has 907K ratings behind it against 167, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 48% of Dropbox's written reviews are positive against 59% of Starchive's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dropbox ships an update every 2 weeks, Starchive monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Dropbox versus Starchive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDropboxStarchive
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (907K ratings) — better4.5 (167 ratings)
Positive reviews47.6% of reviews59.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings907K — better167
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.014 — better
Further details — not scored
Size229 MB21 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDropbox, Inc.Digital Relab LLC

Customer experience

Dropbox

All ratings907,159 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews2,060 reviews
Positive47.6%
Neutral6.4%
Negative46.1%

Starchive

All ratings167 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive59.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative36.4%

Bugs and requests

Dropbox

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Freezing on login screen
  • Duplicate file uploads
  • Incorrect file timestamps
  • Incompatibility with iOS updates
  • Disappearing recent files

Requested features

5 requests
  • Select all option for uploads
  • Background upload support
  • Integrated media player
  • Increased free storage
  • Flexible paid plan options

Starchive

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Dropbox

Subscriptions9
  • Dropbox Simple - Monthly1 Month trial$6.991 Month
  • Dropbox Plus - Monthly$11.991 Month
  • Dropbox Plus - Monthly1 Month trial$11.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Dropbox Plus - Monthly14 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • Dropbox Professional - Monthly$19.991 Month
  • Dropbox Professional - Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Dropbox Family - Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Dropbox Plus - Annual2 variants$119.991 Year
  • Dropbox Plus - Annual1 Month trial$119.991 Year
None

Starchive

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dropbox free?
Dropbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Starchive free?
Starchive is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dropbox or Starchive?
Dropbox is rated higher. Dropbox averages 4.8 out of 5 from 907K ratings, while Starchive averages 4.5 from 167 ratings.
Do Dropbox or Starchive have ads?
Neither Dropbox nor Starchive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dropbox or Starchive?
Dropbox ships an update every 2 weeks, and Starchive monthly. Most recently, Dropbox was updated on September 28, 2026 and Starchive on September 25, 2026.

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