Dropbox Vs. Paperless Pipeline: Which Is The Best Real Estate File Management Software?

When it comes to managing files and transactions in the real estate industry, efficiency, organization, and compliance are critical.

Over four million homes were sold last year, each of which was a transaction that included endless files.

With countless documents like contracts, disclosures, and property listings to handle, choosing the right file management software can make or break your workflow.

Two popular solutions that real estate brokerages use include Dropbox and Paperless Pipeline.

There are over 700 million registered users of Dropbox, and nearly 100,000 real estate professionals trust Paperless Pipeline.

In this article, we’ll discuss the capabilities of each solution, comparing their features, pricing, and suitability for real estate file management.

What Is Dropbox?

Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage, sharing, and collaboration platform designed to help individuals and organizations securely store, access, share files, and collaborate in real-time.

They have over 18 million paying users and employ more than 2,000 people.

The Main Features of Dropbox

Let’s look at some of the main features that this cloud storage service offers to real estate professionals:

Cloud storage

Dropbox allows you to store files, documents, photos, videos, and other data in the cloud. This means your files are hosted on Dropbox’s servers and can be accessed via the Internet, eliminating the need for physical storage.

File syncing

This data storage app synchronizes files across devices (computers, smartphones, and tablets) connected to the account. Changes made to a file on one device automatically update on others in real-time.

Files can also be selectively synced via the app’s Smart Sync feature, allowing you to store some files in the cloud and not locally on devices to save on cloud storage space.

Secure file sharing

You can share files and folders with others using this cloud storage solution. You can send a link for a file to be accessed, even if the recipient doesn’t have a Dropbox account.

Dropbox provides you with permissions such as “view only” or “edit access,” ensuring secure collaboration.

Collaboration tools

Dropbox Paper is a collaborative workspace, similar to Google Workspace, where teams can create, edit, and share documents in real-time. It also integrates with other tools like Slack and Trello.

Users can also leave comments on specific files or sections of a document to facilitate feedback.

Additionally, Dropbox has an e-sign feature through HelloSign, allowing users to sign documents electronically.

Integration with other apps

Dropbox integrates with numerous third-party apps, including Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Zoom, and Adobe Acrobat. This enables users to edit files directly within the Dropbox platform.

Version history

Dropbox stores previous versions of files for a set period—up to 180 days for paid plans—and allows you to recover deleted or older versions of files.

Security

Dropbox uses encrypted storage and two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure that stored data is safe. Admin controls for business accounts allow organizations to monitor and manage user activity and access.

Offline access

Files can be made available offline, allowing you to access them even without an internet connection.

Dropbox Pricing

Dropbox offers four pricing plans, which can be billed both monthly or annually:

• Plus: This plan is for personal use and allows access for one user with two terabytes of storage. The plan costs $11.99 per month.
• Essentials: This plan is for professional use and allows access for one user with three terabytes of storage. The plan is $19.99 per month.
• Business: This plan is for teams and allows access for three users at $18 per user per month. It includes nine terabytes of storage for your team.
• Business Plus: This plan is for businesses and allows access for over three users at $30 per user per month. It starts at 15 terabytes of cloud storage.

Dropbox’s Essentials, Business, and Business Plus plans all come with a free trial. There are currently 575,000 paying Dropbox Business teams.

Dropbox Ratings

Dropbox has a rating of 1.3 stars on Trustpilot and a 4.4-star rating on G2.

What Is Paperless Pipeline?

Paperless Pipeline is a purpose-built transaction management platform for real estate professionals.

It simplifies the entire process of managing real estate transactions by offering tools that improve document organization, compliance, and team collaboration while reducing administrative hassles.

The Main Features of Paperless Pipeline

Now that you know what Paperless Pipeline is, let’s look at some of our platform’s key features:

Transaction management

Our software allows you to organize all transaction-related documents and information in a central location. You can create a pipeline of transactions with a clear status for each deal, like active, pending, or closed.

You can also assign specific roles for agents, admins, and brokers for efficient collaboration.

For your real estate team, this means you can track multiple deals simultaneously, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. It also streamlines your workflow from listing to closing.

Document storage and organization

Paperless Pipeline allows you to upload, store, and manage documents like purchase agreements, inspection reports, and disclosures.

You can use our customizable checklists feature—which we will discuss in more detail shortly—to ensure all required documents are submitted for each transaction.

We also support drag-and-drop file uploads for quick additions to transactions.

Our software keeps all your critical documents organized and accessible in secure storage, reducing the time you need to spend searching for files. 

It also ensures compliance with local and federal regulations by tracking document requirements and paper trails.

Compliance and audit features

You can set up document review workflows to ensure all paperwork meets legal and brokerage standards.

We offer built-in auditing tools to allow brokers to monitor all transactions for compliance and spot missing or incomplete documents.

Additionally, you can create activity logs to track who accessed or modified files, ensuring accountability and compliance.

These features reduce the risk of non-compliance and penalties and speed up the auditing process, making it easier for brokers to review transactions.

Agent and team collaboration

With our software, you can assign tasks, share updates, and communicate directly within the platform.

Agents can view transaction status, upload files, and manage deals without relying on third-party tools.

You can also set up notifications to alert team members of pending or missing documents, ensuring you never miss a critical due date or milestone.

This facilitates better communication between agents, brokers, admins, and transaction coordinators, ensuring smooth operations. It also keeps everyone informed and aligned without endless email threads.

Customizable checklists and templates

You can create customized transaction templates based on different types of deals, like residential, commercial, or rentals.

Our customizable checklists can also be used to outline all required steps, documents, and deadlines for each transaction.

This standardizes your workflows, ensuring all your team members follow consistent processes. Additionally, it saves time by reducing repetitive administrative work.

Reporting and analytics

You can generate detailed reports on transactions, agent performance, and team productivity with Paperless Pipeline.

You can also monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like deal volume, average closing time, and agent contributions.

This gives brokers insights into team performance and transaction trends. It also helps you identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows.

Secure document sharing

Our software allows you to share documents with clients, attorneys, and lenders using secure links. You can also set permissions to control who can view or edit documents.

This makes it easy to share contracts or disclosures securely and eliminates the need for email attachments, which aren’t always secure.

e-Signature integration

Paperless Pipeline integrates with over 3,000 of your favorite real estate apps, including popular e-signature platforms like DocuSign. 

This allows you to send contracts for signature directly from our platform, speeding up the signing process and making it easier to finalize deals quickly.

It also reduces the need for in-person meetings to get signatures for important documents.

Mobile accessibility

You can access Paperless Pipeline from multiple devices, including smartphones and tablets. This means that agents can upload documents, check transaction status, or complete tasks while on the go.

This helps to ensure agents can stay productive during property showings, open houses, or client meetings. It also eliminates the need for office-based workflows.

Paperless Pipeline Pricing

Our pricing is designed to accommodate your needs by charging based on the number of transactions per month rather than the number of users.

This structure makes our platform flexible and cost-effective, especially for brokerages with varying transaction volumes or growing teams.

Unlike other platforms, we allow for unlimited users within your brokerage at no additional cost.

Our pricing plans start at just $60 for five transactions and range up to $460 for 250 transactions. 

If you need more than 250 new transactions each month, you can try our unlimited plan, which includes 450 new transactions per month for $630 monthly. Each new transaction after 450 is just $1.40.

We offer a 14-day full-feature free trial so that you can test out our solution before committing to signing up—no credit card required.

Paperless Pipeline Ratings

We have a 4.8-star rating on G2 and a 4.8-star rating on Capterra.

How Paperless Pipeline Helps with Real Estate File Management 

Let’s take a closer look at how our solution helps with real estate file management and online storage:

1. Centralized file storage: All documents for transactions are stored in one place, making it easier to organize, retrieve, and manage critical files.

2. Improved compliance: Customizable checklists and document review workflows ensure every transaction meets regulatory requirements.

3. Seamless collaboration: Your team members can work together efficiently by assigning tasks and sharing updates.

4. Streamlined processes: Transaction templates and e-signature integrations save time by automating repetitive tasks and simplifying document workflows.

5. Mobile productivity: Agents and brokers can access and manage transactions anytime, anywhere, keeping deals moving forward even when out of the office.

Why Paperless Pipeline Is the Ideal Solution for Real Estate Transactions

Dropbox and Paperless Pipeline both offer document storage and sharing capabilities, but our software stands out as a more tailored solution for real estate file management.

While Dropbox is a general-purpose cloud storage and collaboration platform, Paperless Pipeline is specifically designed for the needs of real estate professionals.

Let’s take a closer look at why Paperless Pipeline is the best Dropbox alternative for real estate teams:

Tailored for real estate workflows

Dropbox provides a generic file storage system that requires users to create their own organizational workflows, which may not align with the complexities of real estate transactions.

On the other hand, Paperless Pipeline is built exclusively for real estate professionals, meaning our features are designed to address the specific tasks and pain points agents, brokers, and admins encounter.

Our platform allows users to manage transactions, track progress, and ensure compliance. Its transaction-based structure enables seamless organization of key documents specific to real estate.

Compliance

Dropbox lacks built-in compliance and auditing tools. While you can store and share files securely, the solution doesn’t provide the specialized features needed to verify document completeness or track compliance, making it less efficient for brokerages.

Our software includes document review workflows, customizable checklists, and activity logs to ensure every transaction is compliant and audit-ready.

Streamlined transaction management

While great for storing and syncing files, Dropbox doesn’t offer transaction management tools. Users would need to manually track the progress of deals using external systems, increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.

Paperless Pipeline enables brokers and agents to oversee multiple transactions in one place, with a clear view of each deal’s status. 

Agents can monitor deadlines, submit documents for review, and collaborate on tasks, all within a system designed specifically for real estate workflows.

Checklists and templates

Being a general-purpose platform, Dropbox doesn’t offer checklists or templates specifically designed for real estate. Users would have to rely on external tools or manually track required documents, which could lead to oversights.

As mentioned above, our solution offers customizable checklists tailored to the type of deal. These checklists guide agents and admins through the required documentation, ensuring compliance and completeness.

Real estate team collaboration

While Dropbox does offer file-sharing and commenting features, it lacks the integrated task management and role-specific access controls that make Paperless Pipeline a superior choice for real estate teams.

Our software is designed for seamless collaboration within real estate teams. Brokers, agents, and admins can communicate, assign tasks, and share updates within the platform.

Cost-effectiveness

As you saw above, Dropbox charges per user, which can quickly become expensive for larger real estate teams. Additionally, Dropbox users might need to pay for third-party tools to replicate some of our built-in features, further increasing costs.

Our pricing structure is based on the number of transactions you work with rather than the number of users, which can be more cost-effective for brokerages with large teams.

This structure also allows you to scale your operations without incurring significant additional costs.

Industry-specific support and training

Dropbox doesn’t provide real estate-specific support, which can leave users to figure out how to adapt its features to their needs. This can significantly impact the ease of implementation and day-to-day use for brokerages.

At Paperless Pipeline, we provide training and support specifically tailored to real estate professionals. Our team understands your unique needs and challenges, and we can offer guidance on optimizing workflows within our platform.

Get the Best File Management Solution for Real Estate Professionals

While Dropbox is a good solution for free storage and secure file sharing, it isn’t designed specifically for real estate, so it falls short as a file management solution in the industry.

If you want to level up your file management, close more deals, and keep your team happy, you need a purpose-built solution for real estate transaction management.

Over 90,000 real estate professionals in the U.S. and Canada trust Paperless Pipeline to organize, secure, and share their files to ensure deals close smoothly and that they’re always compliant.

Paperless Pipeline combines cloud storage with many other tools to ensure your transaction management process is automated and streamlined, from listing to closing.

Visit our website to claim your free 14-day Paperless Pipeline trial. We’re excited to show you why we’re the best real estate file management alternative.