You open Google Drive for the approved hero image, find "hero_final_v3" next to "hero_FINAL," can't tell which one shipped, and ping a designer on Slack to wait. Storing the file this way was never the hard part of digital asset management, but finding the approved version and reusing it is.

Services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive all store and sync files well, so starting there is reasonable. But the best cloud storage for digital asset management is the tool that can run as your team's asset system, and for a growing visual library that means moving past a drive.

An asset system does a few things a plain drive doesn't: find a file by what's in it, show which version is approved, keep feedback on the asset, share with control, and reuse approved work instead of rebuilding it. For the longer breakdown of this comparison, see our guide to cloud storage versus DAM.

Below are six leading options, a note on how AI is now built into drives, and a simple way to tell when it's time to move past a drive.

*G2 rating is for Google Workspace overall, not Drive on its own.

Air is a DAM with AI that goes further than a traditional DAM: it does the storage and sharing jobs a drive does, then acts on the library: understanding, organizing, and scaling work your team has already made.

It covers the drive basics too: Air Flow adds desktop sync, selective sync, and offline access (on Mac, with Windows in beta); share links can add passcodes and expiration dates, depending on your plan; Content Collection gives freelancers an upload link with no account needed; and one-time importers copy files in from Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and SharePoint for migration.

Standout features

• Understand: Air picks up your brand's fonts, colors, logos, and rules from the context sources your team sets up, so every edit starts on brand.

• Organize: Find assets by what's in them with AI-powered search and Smart Tags, approve on the asset with visual annotation and timestamped comments, and keep every iteration in one version stack.

• Scale: Adapt approved work into channel formats with Canvas and Skills, like save a "remove background, resize for TikTok" Skill and run it across a batch of product shots via AI design and editing.

• AI tools: Claude and similar assistants can work from your library through Air's MCP server on eligible Business and Enterprise workspaces.

Strengths

• Findability runs on what's inside the file, so "blue background" returns the right assets without manual tagging.

• Approvals and versions live on the asset, so the approved cut is obvious and feedback never drifts into Slack.

• External sharing stays controlled through password-protected, expiring links instead of duplicated "Agency X" folders.

• Approved work is reusable, so teams adapt existing creative for new channels rather than recreating it from scratch.

Limitations

• Air's importers make a one-time copy, not a two-way sync, so you migrate the library once and then work in Air.

• Air Flow desktop sync is built for Mac, with Windows still in beta.

• Granular, access-controlled Libraries and proxy video are Enterprise-plan features.

• Canvas adapts approved work, so from-scratch design still happens in tools like Figma or Adobe, and folder-tree teams need a short adjustment to Air's library-and-board model.

Best for

Brands, retailers, media companies, and nonprofits (roughly 10–500 employees) whose creative and marketing teams have outgrown a drive.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

From a G2 review:

“I have been using Air for almost 6 months and I find it essential for storing and sharing files from my work.”

Pricing

Air starts with a free plan, then moves to credit-based plans with unlimited seats. See Air's pricing for details.

Image source: Google

Google Drive is the default storage layer inside Google Workspace, and your team probably already uses it. For day-to-day document work like briefs, copy decks, timelines, it's hard to beat. It can store and share a creative library too, but it strains once visual volume grows and you need it to run as the asset system.

Standout features

• Real-time co-editing for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which is handy for briefs and copy reviews.

• Low-friction link sharing inside Workspace with configurable permissions and no portal logins.

Strengths

• Near-universal familiarity means zero ramp-up for new hires and collaborators.

• Gemini in Drive now finds and summarizes files on most Business plans, while Business Starter gets only limited Gemini, but Drive's AI still doesn't attach approvals, versions, or brand rules to the asset.

Limitations

• Folder sprawl at scale means shared drives become a maze without enforced naming conventions.

• Structured labels exist, but only admins can create them, so brand-level tagging depends on IT rather than the creative team.

• No formal approval workflow or pinpoint annotation for creative review.

• Previews are limited, and feedback scatters across comments and Slack rather than staying on the asset.

Best for

Small teams (under 20) that mainly need document collaboration and basic storage.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

From a G2 review:

“The ability to collaborate live, leave comments, and maintain version history makes teamwork efficient and organized.” (Note: G2 reviews cover Google Workspace broadly, not Drive as a standalone product.)

Pricing

Included with Google Workspace business plans on per-user pricing, with Gemini depth varying by plan. See Google Workspace pricing.

Compare Air vs Google Drive to see the difference in practice.

Image source: Egnyte

Egnyte sits between cloud storage and on-premise file servers, built for organizations that need to govern and classify sensitive content. Though it governs hybrid cloud and on-premises files well, it isn't built to run as a visual creative workspace.

Standout features

• Hybrid deployment bridging local file servers with cloud storage across teams.

• Governance controls and reporting for compliance and security best practices.

Strengths

• Strong fit for orgs running on-premise NAS drives and cloud storage together.

• Policy-driven permission levels for organizing employee access to folders.

Limitations

• Egnyte's AI searches and summarizes documents, but the full set—AI Assistant, AI Search, and AI Workflow, sits on higher-tier Elite plans, and it doesn't do AI-driven visual search.

• Workflow tools target document approval chains, not video feedback or visual annotation, so marketing teams often keep a separate tool for campaign assets.

Best for

Organizations with hybrid cloud/on-prem needs or heavy IT governance, especially in architecture, engineering, and construction.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

From a G2 review:

“It’s simple to find the right file fast, share it securely with the right people, and control access so we’re not worried about the wrong version floating around.”

Pricing

Per-user plans billed annually, with AI on every plan and advanced AI and governance on higher tiers. See Egnyte pricing for details.

Image source: Dropbox

Dropbox syncs and shares files well, but it isn't built to run search, versions, approvals, and reuse for a visual library. It built its reputation on effortless file sync. It has expanded beyond storage, but its core strength remains moving files between people and devices with minimal friction.

Standout features

• Reliable sync that mirrors folders between local machines and the cloud.

• File requests and shared links that let partners upload or download without an account.

• Dropbox now sells Dash, an AI search and assistant, as a separate Dash for Teams or Dash for Business plan on top of its team plans

Strengths

• Handles large files well, so transfer links work smoothly even for video.

• Zero-friction onboarding for freelancers and agencies who need no accounts.

Limitations

• Discoverability breaks down in nested folder trees with hundreds of subfolders.

• Multiple "final" files shared via separate links create version confusion.

• Video commenting is included, but creative review and approvals in Dropbox Replay are capped at four file uploads on these plans.

• Dropbox Dash finds and summarizes content across apps, but it doesn't add approval statuses or creative metadata.

Best for

Teams that need quick file transfers and basic collaboration without strict brand governance—a handoff tool, not a home base for managing assets.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

From a G2 review:

“The best part about Dropbox, I think, is that it has smart sync. You can just select a folder, and it automatically syncs your files and stores them in the cloud.”

Pricing

Free tier, then per-user team plans (Advanced needs at least three users); Dash is billed separately. See Dropbox plans for details.

Compare Air vs Dropbox for a side-by-side look.

Image source: Microsoft

If your org runs on Microsoft 365, OneDrive and SharePoint are already in the stack: OneDrive for personal storage, SharePoint for team sites and document libraries. SharePoint can be configured into an asset library, but it takes admin effort, and creative teams rarely adopt it.

Standout features

• Deep Microsoft integration means you can edit Office files from SharePoint inside Teams.

• SharePoint site structure with department permissions, inheriting existing admin controls.

Strengths

• Centralized IT controls managed from the Microsoft 365 admin center.

• Microsoft Entra ID handles user provisioning across the Microsoft stack.

Limitations

• SharePoint's flexibility becomes a liability without intentional information architecture design.

• No timestamped video commenting or visual annotation for creative review.

• Finding specific campaign assets across SharePoint sites becomes a scavenger hunt without deliberate taxonomy.

• Copilot in OneDrive and SharePoint finds, summarizes, and answers questions about files; it's built into the Business Standard and Premium plans, while Business Basic needs a Copilot add-on.

Best for

Mid-market organizations (200+ employees) on Microsoft 365 that prioritize IT control over creative review speed.

G2 Rating: 4.3/5

From a G2 review:

“Real-time collaboration with colleagues is easy, and version control ensures that the latest file is always available.”

Pricing

Per-user Microsoft 365 business plans, with Copilot as an add-on or bundled tier. See Microsoft 365 pricing. If you're consolidating, Air's SharePoint importer can copy files over in a one-time migration.

Image source: Box

Box is enterprise cloud content management with a security-first posture, built for organizations where compliance, audit trails, and admin control outrank creative workflow speed. It governs files well, but it isn't designed as a visual creative workspace.

Standout features

• Advanced governance gives you watermarking, classification labels, audit logs, and retention controls at higher tiers.

• External collaboration controls offer download restrictions, password protection, and link expiration.

Strengths

• Compliance certifications (HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2) and audit trails suit regulated industries.

• More granular external sharing policies than Google Drive or Dropbox.

Limitations

• Secure storage isn't a creative-ready DAM, so no in-context review or approval routing for marketing content.

• Metadata templates exist but require manual setup and enforcement.

• Image and video review lacks the visual-first feedback tools creative teams expect.

• Box AI summarizes, answers questions about, and extracts data from files on Business and higher plans, though not on Business Starter.

Best for

Security-first organizations that need controlled sharing, audit trails, and compliance over creative review speed.

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

From a G2 review:

“Box is most helpful because it simplifies secure collaboration and content management while offering advanced AI-powered workflows and integrations.”

Pricing

Per-user business plans with a three-user minimum. Unlimited storage and Box AI start at the Business plan. The team Starter plan includes 100 GB but no Box AI. See Box pricing.

Compare Air vs Box to weigh governance against creative workflow.

Every drive in this roundup now sells an AI layer: Gemini in Drive, Dropbox Dash, Copilot in OneDrive and SharePoint, Box AI, and Egnyte AI. The catch is that entry plans often leave it out; Box Business Starter, for example, doesn't include Box AI.

These tools are useful, but their AI mostly works over your files: it finds them, summarizes them, and drafts new content from them. Air's AI does that and then works on the approved asset itself, inside the brand rules it has picked up from your library.

Take an actual task as an example of what Air does differently. Ask a drive's AI and it surfaces last spring's campaign deck. In Air, the team finds the approved product shot, then resizes it and swaps the background for four channels in Air Canvas; no new project, no starting over.

Every tool in this roundup handles the basics: store files, sync them, share them with a link. That works, until it doesn't. If the line between a drive and a DAM is still fuzzy, start with what digital asset management is.

But the broader gap comes up with questions like: Is this the approved version? Who signed off? Can our agency see only Q3 assets? What 9:16 cutdowns exist for paid social?

At low volume this barely matters, but issues widen fast as work scales:

• Findability degrades without structured metadata

• Version trust erodes with multiple "final" files circulating

• Approval context gets lost across email and chat

• Partner access means over-sharing or duplicate folders drifting out of sync

• Downloading a 2GB video just to type feedback elsewhere

• Approved assets still need manual resizing and reformatting once channels multiply, work that the right AI DAM tools can automate

These gaps become workarounds; the kind you avoid when evaluating digital asset management for marketing teams.

Not sure where you land? Run a quick self-diagnosis:

1. The drive is working fine. Stay put, and set naming conventions while volume is low.

2. The drive is starting to strain. You see duplicates, you ask "where's the latest?", and approvals live in Slack.

3. The drive is costing you work. Assets get recreated, unapproved files go live, and partners wait on manual sends.

4. The library needs to multiply, not just store. One approved asset now needs dozens of channel variants.

The cost is easy to estimate:

Hours searching each week × hourly rate × team size × working weeks (try it yourself)

If stage three or four fits your team, weigh the best cloud-based DAM software before you commit.

Daily friction points like the above send teams to alternatives and comparisons, but here's how Air addresses each one:

• Findability: AI-powered search, Smart Tags, and filters for file type, color, people, and custom fields like campaign, so the right asset surfaces in seconds.

• Version trust: Version stacking bundles every iteration into one entry, with the latest on top and the approved cut clearly marked.

• Approval context: Visual annotation and timestamped comments pin feedback to the exact frame and version.

• Partner access: Enterprise plans include access-controlled libraries, while other plans rely on share links (with passcodes and expiry dates, depending on your plan), board users, and Content Collection upload links for scoped partner access.

• Scaling approved work: Canvas and Skills turn one approved asset into channel variants, like resize, swap backgrounds, batch-apply a saved edit.

See how Candid made the switch: the team previously worked across Dropbox and Google Drive. After moving to Air, Lead Brand Designer Carly went from spending up to 20% of her week finding assets for people to around 2%, and just over a year in, the team's workspace held 90,000 assets (5.5 TB).

When you're ready, plan a migration path, then book time to see how Air can help your team understand, organize, and scale creative with a personalized walkthrough.

What is the best cloud storage for digital assets?

It's the one that can run as your team's asset system, not just hold files. Drives suit document-heavy, low-volume libraries; but for a growing visual library, Air covers storage and sharing, then acts on the library itself.

When should a marketing team switch from cloud storage to a DAM?

When you're spending more time finding, routing, and confirming asset versions than producing creative work. Once campaign volume increases and stakeholders multiply, a DAM pays for itself in recovered time and reduced rework.

What is the best cloud storage for creatives?

Tools with metadata and search depth, version control, and in-context review features. Creative teams need to find assets by what's in them, keep iterations organized without duplication, and give feedback directly on the asset. For freelancers mainly handing off large files, Dropbox is enough; for in-house creative teams that need approvals and versions on the asset, Air fits better.

What is the best cloud storage for marketing teams?

For marketing teams, the best option gives self-serve access to approved work and fast channel adaptation. Google Drive handles briefs and copy; Air fits when marketers need to find the approved asset and adapt it in Canvas without waiting on a designer.

What is the best cloud storage for media files like video?

For moving large media, Dropbox transfer links handle big video files well. For review, Air plays video in the browser with scrubbable previews and timestamped comments, so feedback stays on the clip. With an Enterprise plan you get proxy video workflows, and video facial recognition is coming soon—see video asset management in Air for more details.

How does facial recognition work in Air?

Facial recognition isn't automatic for everyone. You switch it on with Air's team, and admins confirm the faces before they're used to tag and filter, with video facial recognition still coming soon. Smart Tags, OCR, and transcription index the rest, so files stay searchable by content, not just the filename.

Can agencies keep client assets separate in Air?

Yes. Access-controlled Libraries are an Enterprise feature; on other plans, share links (with passcodes and expiry dates, depending on your plan) and board users give partners scoped access without duplicating files. Annotations and approvals keep feedback centralized either way.

How do I move files from Google Drive or Dropbox into Air?

Air's native importers bring your files over from Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and SharePoint. They're one-time importers, not a live sync, so you move the library once and then work from Air.