Compare · Dropbox
Dropbox keeps every file. Peak keeps the photographs.
Dropbox is storage for anything, synced to every computer and phone you own, with 2 TB on Plus. Peak is narrower and costs more per gigabyte: a library made for photographs, rooms where clients choose, and transfers for the finals.
A folder, or a library
Dropbox keeps files in folders and keeps them in step across your devices. It previews over 35 image types on the web, raws like CR2 and DNG included, backs up a phone's camera roll, and lets you tag photos with hashtags to find them.
Peak keeps photographs and videos, uploaded from the browser and stored untouched, EXIF included. Each frame gets stars, a pick or a reject from the keyboard, and goes into collections you put in your own order. You find a frame by its colours, or by opening one and seeing the frames that look like it, with nothing to tag first. A file the library already holds is not uploaded twice.
Sharing a shoot with a client
A Dropbox shared link opens without an account, to view and preview. Passwords, expiry dates and turning downloads off come with Standard and the other business plans, not with Basic or Plus. Viewer info, also not on Plus, names your team and the people you invited; anyone who came by the link shows as a Guest. Approvals live in Replay: 4 files on the paid plans, more as an add-on.
A Peak room can be made from a collection or a selection in the library, so nothing is uploaded again. The client signs in with an email address and a code, then picks, gives 0 to 5 stars and comments on each frame, and sends you the selection. You choose whether they can download nothing, frame by frame, or the whole room as one zip, and the room closes on the date you set.
- An activity view: who came, what they chose, the frames chosen most
- An email when a client arrives, writes or sends their selection
- A client's picks filed into a collection in your library
- The GPS location removed from the room's copies, without re-encoding
Sending the finals
Dropbox Transfer sends up to 2 GB on Basic, 50 GB on Plus and 100 GB on Standard and Advanced, to people who need no account. A transfer expires after 7 or 30 days depending on the plan, up to a year where custom dates are allowed. Download notifications are there, off by default.
A Peak transfer sends any file, from your computer, the library or a collection. On Free, your live transfers hold 10 GB at once, each for up to 7 days; on Pro, 250 GB for up to 90 days. The person opening it signs in with a code, which is what lets Peak show you, for each of them, whether they opened it and whether they downloaded.
What it costs
Peak's library holds 5 GB on Free, 400 GB on Pro at $24 a month and 2 TB on Max at $49. Pro takes 250 GB more for $8 a month, and Max 1 TB more for $10. Rooms and transfers are counted apart from the library.
Dropbox's pricing page lists Plus at €11.99 a month billed monthly, or €9.99 a month billed yearly, for 2 TB; Standard at €14.50 or €12 per user a month, from 3 TB for the team. By the gigabyte, Dropbox is cheaper.
Where Dropbox is the better choice
For everything that is not a finished photograph: Lightroom catalogues, PSDs, contracts and the rest, synced to every machine and opened offline. For backing up your phone's camera roll, which Peak does not do. For clients sending files to you, through a file request they need no account for; Peak has no way for a client to upload. For a link that asks nothing of the person opening it, for a team sharing folders, and for restoring a deleted file or an older version.
Using both
The two fit together: the working files stay where you edit, the finished work goes where clients see it. Peak takes the exported JPEGs, the raws you want to keep, and the videos; the room and the transfer go out from there.
| Peak | Dropbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Photographs and video | Any file, synced across devices |
| Free storage | 5 GB | 2 GB |
| Finding a frame | Colour, visual resemblance, stars, picks | Folders, hashtags, search |
| Client choosing | Picks, 0–5 stars, comments, a sent selection | Comments; approvals in Replay (4 files, then an add-on) |
| To open a share | An email address and a code | Nothing |
| Who opened it | Each person, by name | Team and invited people, not on Basic or Plus; others as Guest |
| Location in shared files | Removed on request, without re-encoding | Not documented |
| Sync, phone backup, file requests | No | Yes |
Compared in November 2026 — if something has changed, tell us: contact@sorbey.co
Questions
- Is Peak cheaper than Dropbox?
- Not by the gigabyte. Dropbox Plus is 2 TB for €11.99 a month billed monthly on its pricing page; Peak Pro is $24 a month for a 400 GB library. What Peak's price adds is what Dropbox does not do for a photographer: culling, colour and visual search, client rooms with picks and stars, and transfers that tell you who downloaded.
- Can I share photos with a client from Dropbox?
- Yes. A Dropbox shared link opens without an account, and from Standard it can carry a password, an expiry date and no downloads. What it does not have is a way for the client to choose: no picks or stars, only comments, with approvals in Replay, 4 files on the paid plans and an add-on beyond. A Peak room is built for that choice.
- Does Peak sync folders like Dropbox?
- No. Peak is a web app with no desktop sync and no phone backup: photographs and videos are uploaded from the browser into the library. It keeps them untouched, at full resolution with their EXIF, and opens the same library on any device you sign in from.
- Can my clients upload files to Peak?
- No. Peak has no file request: rooms and transfers go from you to the client. Dropbox file requests let anyone send you files without an account, on every plan, up to 2 GB a file on Basic and Plus.