Figshare
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Universities, libraries, and researchers publishing citable, DOI-backed outputs should buy . proven at Springer Nature, PLOS, and University of Malta.
New check
Comparison
Figshare vs Dryad
Figshare and Dryad both land on Depends.
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.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Universities and libraries | Researchers publishing open datasets |
| Who it's not for | Businesses wanting general data storage | PHI, sensitive, or identifiable human data |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.13 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | No support-quality evidence found | Helpdesk email plus curator review process |
| Public sentiment | Institutional adopters report successful rollouts, while some individual researchers complain about unexplained takedowns.12 | University library guides widely recommend Dryad for open-data mandates but flag its size-based fees and sensitive-data exclusions. |
| Biggest gotcha | Takedown allegations exist; don't treat it as sole storage for irreplaceable data.12 | Data Publishing Charge may be billed to the unsponsored author if no institutional coverage |
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
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
Sources
- 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
- Sharing Your Poster on Figsharefocalplane.biologists.comreview
- Figshare Integration offers enhanced discoverabilitydimensions.ainews
- Qatar's Research Reach Grows with Figshare Repositorydigital-science.comnews
- University of Malta case studyinfo.figshare.comofficial
- Bath Spa University Hidden REF case studydigitalscience.figshare.comofficial
review
- Figshare takedown complaint (Quora)quora.comreview
security
- Dryad | Publish and preserve your datadatadryad.orgofficial
- Submission costsdatadryad.orgofficial
review