Dryad
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Researchers who must publish open, non-sensitive data under a journal or funder mandate get a curated, citable home for it.
New check
Comparison
Dryad vs Figshare
Dryad and Figshare both land on Depends.
Figshare
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Universities, libraries, and researchers publishing citable, DOI-backed outputs buy.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Researchers publishing open datasets | Universities and libraries |
| Who it's not for | PHI, sensitive, or identifiable human data | Businesses wanting general data storage |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Helpdesk email plus curator review process | No support-quality evidence found |
| Public sentiment | University library guides widely recommend Dryad for open-data mandates but flag its size-based fees and sensitive-data exclusions.⁶ | Institutional adopters report successful rollouts, while some individual researchers complain about unexplained takedowns. |
| Biggest gotcha | Data Publishing Charge may be billed to the unsponsored author if no institutional coverage | Takedown allegations exist; don't treat it as sole storage for irreplaceable data. |
Pick Dryad when
- Researchers publishing open datasets
- Journals requiring data availability statements
- De-identified, non-sensitive research data
- Dataset sizes under 5 GB
When Dryad is not a fit
- PHI, sensitive, or identifiable human data
- Businesses storing private or commercial data
- Very large datasets on a tight budget
- Anyone wanting free unlimited hosting
Pick Figshare when
- Universities and libraries
- Researchers needing citable DOIs
- Publishers and funders
- FAIR data compliance
When Figshare is not a fit
- Businesses wanting general data storage
- Sensitive or human-subjects data
- Buyers wanting self-serve transparent pricing
- Solo researchers content with free Zenodo
Sources
- Dryad | Publish and preserve your datadatadryad.orgofficial
- Submission costsdatadryad.orgofficial
review
- Dryad Data Repository | Managing Data (NCSU)lib.ncsu.edureview
- What is the Dryad Data Repository? (UCSF)libraryhelp.ucsf.edureview
- Dryad at MIT | Data managementlibraries.mit.edureview
- Make My Data Open (UMD)lib.umd.edureview
- Private for Peer Reviewdatadryad.orgofficial
- Dryad | File requirementsdatadryad.orgofficial
- Dryad (repository) . Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Trends in open infrastructure performance and adoptioninvestinopen.orgnews
- figshare - credit for all your researchfigshare.comofficial
- figshare Pricing & Reviewstechjockey.comreview
- The best free Research Data Repositoryevodify.comreview
- Generalist Repositories - UT Austinguides.lib.utexas.edureview
- figshare | Data Management - Harvard Medical Schooldatamanagement.hms.harvard.edureview