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Paper - Dropbox Review

Depends

Should I use Paper - Dropbox?

Dropbox Paper is a new type of document designed for creative work. Collaborate in real time, assign tasks, make to-do lists and much more. Start today! - paper.dropbox.com

· 1 month ago

Buy only if your team already pays for Dropbox and needs lightweight co-edited docs with tasks. Everyone else should pick Google Docs or Notion — Paper's own mobile and desktop apps were just retired.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources; verbatim user quotes were scarce.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Paper

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Dropbox BusinessPaid (per Dropbox plans)

Best for

  • Teams already paying for Dropbox
  • Design and marketing co-editing
  • Media and publishing workflows
  • Light project briefs with tasks

Not for

  • Anyone wanting a standalone docs tool — Paper is Dropbox-locked
  • Mobile-first teams — dedicated apps are discontinued
  • Heavy writers needing Grammarly or rich integrations
  • Security teams wanting dedicated docs controls and a security page

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Paper apps hit end of life in 2025; everything runs in-browser only.

medium

Legacy Paper docs required migration to the new release — verify old docs convert cleanly.

medium

Users questioned URL-based access: anyone holding the link could open docs.

medium

Phishers abuse.com links to look legitimate — warn your team.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free with any Dropbox account — no separate subscription.
  • Real-time co-editing with task assignments and to-do lists built in.
  • Proven in media and publishing co-editing workflows.
  • Positioned as a co-editing hub for design and marketing teams.

Cons

  • Dedicated mobile and desktop apps retired; web-only now.
  • No Grammarly integration.
  • No dedicated security page for the product.
  • Community reports long-standing feature requests going nowhere.
  • Users report being phished via .paper links.

Sources & method

- 11 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; one 2019 report of viewer details exposed on publicly shared docs, phishing abuse of .paper links, and no dedicated Paper security page.

official x3review x3security x2news x3
  • Viewer details exposed on public docs (2019), Reports said Dropbox exposed personal details of viewers of publicly shared Paper docs.
  • No dedicated security page, A crawl of.com/security found no security page.
  • Phishing via .paper links, A sysadmin reported a user phished through Dropbox's new .paper link format.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Free with Dropbox; nothing extra to pay
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Real-time co-editing; 4.42/5 across 242 Capterra reviews
  • Feature depth: 2/5. Docs plus tasks; apps and integrations cut
  • Support quality. No support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture: 2/5. No Paper security page; 2019 viewer-data exposure report
  • 4.42/5 Capterra rating 242 reviews
  • $0 Starting price Free with any Dropbox account
  • Yes Free tier Bundled with Dropbox
  • $600M Maker funding Raised by Dropbox

Pricing

Paper

Free

  • Included with any Dropbox account
  • Real-time co-editing, tasks, to-dos

Dropbox Business

Paid (per Dropbox plans)

  • Paper included in Business plans
  • Admin controls covered in admin FAQs

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; one 2019 report of viewer details exposed on publicly shared docs, phishing abuse of .paper links, and no dedicated Paper security page.

  • Viewer details exposed on public docs (2019)Reports said Dropbox exposed personal details of viewers of publicly shared Paper docs.⁵
  • No dedicated security pageA crawl of.com/security found no security page.
  • Phishing via .paper linksA sysadmin reported a user phished through Dropbox's new .paper link format.⁶

What users say

Users pit Paper against Google Docs in nearly every thread, praise the co-editing, and gripe about the app shutdown and weak integrations.

“User got phished today from dropbox's new .paper link.”
Reddit, r/sysadmin
“How can I get the Paper desktop app?”
Dropbox Community forum

Alternatives

Compare Paper - Dropbox with each alternative.

  • Google Docs

    Free, better-maintained collaborative docs; the default comparison in every thread.

  • Notion

    Docs plus tasks and wikis; deeper than Paper.

    Paper - Dropbox vs Notion

  • Miro

    Visual whiteboards for teams that brainstorm more than write.

Companies that use it

  • Les Lunes10
  • Westchester Publishing Services⁹
  • InVision
  • Cal State Fullerton
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources; verbatim user quotes were scarce.

Free docs bundled with Dropbox — fine if you already pay; apps retired and web-only, so choose Google Docs otherwise.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources; verbatim user quotes were scarce.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Paper — Dropbox official pagedropbox.com
    official
  2. End of life for Dropbox Paper appsdirectionforward.com
    news
  3. Kanbanchi vs Dropbox: Paper apps retiredkanbanchi.com
    news
  4. Team admins: FAQs on the new release of Paperhelp.dropbox.com
    official
  5. Dropbox exposes personal details of viewers of public docsnews.ycombinator.com
    security
  6. User phished via .paper linkreddit.com
    security
  7. Miro vs Dropbox Paper — Capterra comparisoncapterra.com
    review
  8. Dropbox Paper vs Google Docs — Redditreddit.com
    review
  9. Westchester Publishing Services case studycasestudies.com
    review
  10. Les Lunes design and marketing with Paperblog.dropbox.com
    official
  11. Dropbox fundingseedtable.com
    news

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