Overview

Dropbox Paper is a shared document workspace that adds assigned to-dos, tables, and project timelines to team writing. It is best suited to Dropbox users who want plans and meeting notes to lead directly into owned tasks. The trade-off is a web-centered workflow, with timelines that cannot be edited on mobile.

Key features

Paper’s to-dos can be assigned to people and given due dates, while a Things to do sidebar gathers them for follow-up. That connection makes shared plans more actionable than notes alone, particularly for teams coordinating work inside documents. Real-time collaboration and track changes support joint editing.

Timelines combine deadlines, files, and to-dos, with week, month, quarter, and year views. The range works for both near-term scheduling and longer planning, but mobile timelines are read-only, making Paper a poor fit for teams that need to maintain schedules from phones.

Some users can connect Paper to Google or Outlook calendars to link documents with events and create meeting notes. Its Slack integration can search for and create Paper documents and preview links, but commands and previews do not work with the new Paper release, limiting the value for Slack-led workflows.

A Dropbox account and sign-in are required to create or access documents. There is no cap on the number of Paper documents, and each uses less than 100 bytes of Dropbox storage. Documents are encrypted at rest with 256-bit AES and in transit with SSL/TLS; Paper has the same security level as Dropbox, with a few exceptions for Dropbox teams.

Pricing

Paper itself is free. Dropbox’s freemium plans matter if you also need storage or team capacity:

Basic: 0.00 USD per free, with 2 GB storage. It is the straightforward choice for individuals who need Paper and modest Dropbox storage.
Basic Extra: 0.99 USD per month (billed yearly), with 50 GB storage and 3 devices. It adds storage and device coverage, but does not change Paper’s free status.
Plus: custom pricing, with 2 TB storage and 50 GB transfers, for users with larger storage needs.
Standard: 15.00 USD per month (billed monthly), for 1 or more users, with 3 TB starting team storage and 100 GB transfers. It suits teams needing shared capacity.
Advanced: custom pricing, for 3 or more users, with 15 TB starting team storage and 100 GB transfers, aimed at larger teams.
Enterprise: custom pricing, with online documents and note taking, enterprise-grade security, custom storage, and dedicated live support.

These Dropbox plans package storage and team provisions; Paper documents themselves remain free and have no document-count cap.

Platforms

Paper is available on Android, iOS, and the web, as well as through an API. The Dropbox Paper mobile app was discontinued on October 9, 2025, while Paper remains available on the web. On the Dropbox desktop app, Paper documents are web-based and open only on dropbox.com unless exported as PDF, DOCX, or Markdown. Offline editing is supported, but there is no desktop app, so users seeking a native desktop document workflow should look elsewhere.

Who it's for

Paper fits teams that already rely on Dropbox and want shared documents to carry task ownership, due dates, and timeline context without a document-count limit. It is less suitable for mobile-first schedule management, users who expect documents to open directly in a desktop app, or teams depending on working Slack commands and previews.

Pros and cons

Pro: Assignable, dated to-dos and the Things to do sidebar connect planning documents to follow-up work.
Pro: Unlimited Paper documents, each using less than 100 bytes of Dropbox storage, leave room to create documents without a Paper-specific quota.
Pro: Timeline views span week through year, useful for shifting between short- and long-range planning.
Con: Mobile timelines are read-only, restricting schedule updates away from a computer.
Con: Desktop-app documents open on the web unless exported, which interrupts a native desktop workflow.
Con: Slack commands and previews do not work with the new Paper release, so Slack integration is incomplete.

Alternatives

For another cross-platform collaboration option, consider Lark: its Starter plan supports 20 users, 100 GB storage, 18 months of message history, and 1,000 automations per month.

Superhuman Docs is another freemium document option; its free plan limits shared docs to 50 objects and 1,000 table rows per document, while personal docs have no size or object limits.

Consider AppFlowy for a freemium option presented for individuals, teams, and enterprises.

ContactOffice has a free plan with 500 MB each for mailbox and documents, 200 address book entries, and no monthly SMS allowance; it is an alternative when those bundled limits suit your needs.

Craft offers a free plan with 1,500 blocks, 1 GB storage, a 25 MB media upload limit, seven days of version history, and 15 AI assistant credits; its caps make it worth considering when those allowances fit your work.

Nuclino has a free plan capped at 50 items, three canvases, and 2 GB total storage.

ONLYOFFICE Docs offers a free Docs Community plan for up to 20 recommended users under GNU AGPL v.3, with community support.

WPS Docs has a free Standard plan with 1 GB cloud space, limited template downloads, basic PDF features, 47 file formats, and 46 languages.

Browse Collaborative Document Software, Word Processing Software, Document Collaboration Software, or Note-taking apps for broader choices.

Verdict

Choose Dropbox Paper if your team already uses Dropbox and wants shared writing to turn into assigned, dated work without a Paper document cap. Look elsewhere if editing timelines on mobile or opening documents in a desktop app is central to your workflow.

	Dropbox Paper	Synology Active Backup for SaaS
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	$0.99/mo	Free
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Web	self-hosted
Free plan	Yes	Yes

Dropbox Paper vs Synology Active Backup for SaaS

Dropbox Paper

Synology Active Backup for SaaS