Dropbox has quietly started to apply limits to the number of devices that could be connected to a basic account to encourage upgrades to the paid version, with users of the free tier now only able to access the cloud storage service on a maximum of three devices.
Dropbox has not previously applied a limitation to devices allowed per free account, but the change now means users will have to take care to link only the devices they want to use the service through. While this may seem fine for users who have only one Mac, iPad, and iPhone to add all of their personal hardware, the change mostly affects those who have more elaborate computing needs.
Spotted by Liliputing, the change to the support page advises "Basic users have a three device limit as of March 2019," whereas Plus and Professional users can link unlimited devices. Business users can also link unlimited devices, but Advanced and Enterprise Dropbox Business administrators can limit the number of devices for a team if required.
For users who already have more than three devices linked to an account before the change in policy Dropbox advises the hardware will still be linked to the account, but additional devices cannot be added until a free slot is opened up by removing existing listings.
Paid accounts for Dropbox start from $10 per month for Plus, which provides 1 terabyte of capacity, or $20 for the 2-terabyte Professional version which also includes Smart Sync, Showcase, and priority chat support.
20 Comments
So free isn’t really free? Wow! Now let's hear all the outrage about free not being free and how Dropbox will fail and how dare they treat their free parasites this way.
Guess I'll be moving all my various sync data to iCloud Drive. I have at least 6 devices synced at any one time. I hope Apple finally got their s/*t together with all that.
I have never paid for my personal account, but I am directly responsible for quite a few business accounts. Think I might look more closely into Google's offerings now.
Vivat iCloud and MegaSync now.
I wonder how this affects apps that directly access Dropbox. I've got three computers linked to my account that stay synced, but I also use Dropbox within specific apps on my iPhone and iPad (like Readdle Documents and 1Password). Will those count against me as well?