Dropbox has announced a significant change to its Advanced plan, moving away from offering unlimited cloud storage due to misuse by certain users. The company’s official blog post revealed that starting from November 1, 2023, the Advanced plan will transition to a metered storage policy.
The decision to implement this change stems from several factors, including the misuse of the Advanced plan by certain individuals and groups. Dropbox cited cryptocurrency and Chia miners’ reliance on the plan, as well as strangers sharing storage for personal use and resellers, as reasons for the shift in policy.
Under the new policy, existing customers who are using the Advanced plan fairly will still have access to their existing storage and more for up to five years at no additional charge. However, this offer is limited to customers using less than 35TB per license. These customers will also receive an additional 5TB credit of pooled storage.
Customers who genuinely need to exceed the 35TB allowance due to legitimate business reasons will also have access to their storage and the extra credit. Dropbox plans to reach out to these customers in the coming weeks to discuss various options.
Dropbox highlighted that the decision was not solely based on the number of users misusing the Advanced subscription but also on the excessive storage capacity being misused. The company mentioned that some users were consuming thousands of times more storage than genuine business customers, which posed a risk of an unreliable experience for all users.
The company clarified that its policy for the Advanced plan was always meant to provide sufficient storage for legitimate businesses and organizations, rather than offering unlimited storage for any use case.
Starting from September 18, new and existing customers seeking additional storage for their teams can still obtain it, but at a cost. Each additional terabyte of storage will be available for $10 per month or $8 annually.
This change reflects Dropbox’s efforts to address misuse and ensure a reliable experience for all users while still offering tailored solutions for legitimate business needs.
