Sharepoint vs Onedrive: Which is Better?
The choice between SharePoint and OneDrive depends heavily on your intended use:
OneDrive:
- Purpose: Primarily for personal cloud storage. It’s designed for individual users to store, sync, and share their own work files, notes, presentations, and photos. Think of it as your personal online file cabinet.
- Sharing: Files are private by default and are shared manually by you with specific individuals or teams. Sharing is often link-based with view or edit permissions.
- Collaboration: Offers basic real-time co-authoring on Microsoft Office documents.
- File Management: Uses a folder-based system for organization.
- Access: Designed for you to access your files from any device.
- Ownership: Files are owned by the individual user. If you leave the organization, these files may be deleted (in a work/school context).
- Use Cases:
- Drafting documents and working on individual files.
- Storing personal work files and photos.
- Securely accessing your files from anywhere.
- Sharing files with a small number of collaborators for review or co-editing.
SharePoint:
- Purpose: A comprehensive platform for team collaboration, content management, and building intranets/extranets. It’s designed for groups of people working together. Think of it as a shared online workspace or filing cabinet for a team or organization.
- Sharing: Files added or created within a SharePoint site are generally accessible to all members of that site, depending on the permissions set by the site owner. Sharing with external users is also possible with specific permissions.
- Collaboration: Offers advanced collaboration features like document libraries with version control, workflows, task management, shared calendars, and discussion boards.
- File Management: Uses document libraries that can be organized with folders and, more powerfully, with metadata for better search and organization.
- Access: Designed for teams and organizations to access and collaborate on shared resources.
- Ownership: Files are owned by the SharePoint site (the team or organization) rather than an individual. This ensures files remain accessible even if team members leave.
- Use Cases:
- Storing and managing final versions of documents for team access.
- Collaborating on projects and sharing resources with teams and departments.
- Creating team sites for specific projects or groups.
- Building an internal company intranet or communication portal.
- Managing official documents and ensuring compliance.
Key Differences Summarized:
| Feature | OneDrive | SharePoint |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Use | Personal cloud storage | Team collaboration & content management |
| Sharing Focus | Individual sharing | Team and organizational sharing |
| Collaboration | Basic co-authoring | Advanced collaboration features & workflows |
| File Ownership | Individual | Team/Organizational |
| Organization | Folders | Document Libraries with Metadata |
| Scalability | Designed for individuals | Designed for teams and organizations |
In Simple Terms:
- OneDrive is for “me” and occasional sharing.
- SharePoint is for “us” and structured collaboration.
Many organizations use both OneDrive and SharePoint: individuals use OneDrive for their personal work files and drafts, and teams use SharePoint for shared projects and official documents. You can even create shortcuts to your SharePoint files within your OneDrive for easier access. Sources and related content