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Dropbox Bids Goodbye to Unlimited Storage Plan Due to Abusive Usage
Popular online storage company Dropbox has decided to discontinue its unlimited storage service, citing a surge in abusive resource-intensive activities like crypto mining and reselling storage. This strategic decision, announced via a blog post on August 24th, aims to address reliability concerns and ensure a level playing field for all users.
According to the announcement, a metered storage model will replace the cherished “all the space you need” unlimited Advanced plan. New users will now enjoy a generous allocation of 15 terabytes of storage and ample space to accommodate around 100 million documents.
Dropbox Blames Crypto and Chia Miners for Its Decision
The rationale behind this shift is rooted in Dropbox’s determination to thwart resource abuse that has increasingly compromised the service’s reliability.
While the company initially intended to offer unlimited storage to business users, certain users have exploited the offering for activities such as crypto and chia mining. Dropbox also cited unrelated individuals pooling storage for personal use cases or even instances of reselling storage, leading to a highly skewed consumption pattern that undermined the experience for others.
Due to these reasons, the company is terminating its unlimited storage policy and moving to a more restricted model.
“While we prohibit abusive behavior, maintaining long lists of ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ use cases for Advanced would not be a sustainable solution, and these policies would be difficult to enforce at scale. As a result, we’re sunsetting the ‘as much space as you need’ policy and transitioning to a metered model,” the company said.
The latest developments come as other major key players in the industry, like Microsoft and Google, have also reassessed their unlimited storage plans in recent months due to similar issues.
Identifying and enforcing acceptable use cases proved to be a complex challenge for Dropbox, leading to the transition to a metered storage model. This strategic shift is designed to promote fair usage and deliver a consistent service to all users.
Dropbox to Migrate Users to Other Plans Starting November
Starting November 1st, users will gradually migrate to the new policy with a 30-day notice period. For existing users, the transition will be carefully managed. According to the company’s blog post, users consuming less than 35 terabytes will be offered five terabytes of pooled storage for five years without incurring additional costs.
Those exceeding the 35 terabyte mark will have personalized discussions with Dropbox to explore suitable solutions within the framework of the new policy.
However, the changes extend beyond storage caps. Dropbox is also revamping its pricing structure to offer greater flexibility. Starting September 18th, the platform will introduce storage add-ons for new users, priced at $10 per month for one terabyte on a month-to-month basis or a reduced rate of $8 per month for annual subscribers.
The company noted that while the end of the “all the space you need” era may evoke disappointment, it is committed to providing seamless customer service.
“We recognize that changing an “all the space you need” policy will be disappointing for some customers. And while we cannot offer this option from now on, our goal is to ensure that the vast majority of teams on our Advanced plan experience no disruption,” said the company.
Dropbox Bids Goodbye to Unlimited Storage Plan Due to Abusive Usage
