Cloud storage
Thaw vs Dropbox
People whose scanner already saves to Dropbox and whose "filing" is a folder called Documents.
Dropbox is where a lot of scanned paper already lands, which makes it a good inbox for Thaw rather than a competitor. On its own it stores and syncs; it does not read, link, remind or check.
Side by side
| Thaw | Dropbox | |
|---|---|---|
| How paper gets in | Email-in address per family or business, scanner-to-email, browser upload, folder import, Evernote and paperless-ngx imports. Dropbox and Drive folder watch next. Dropbox folder watch is the first cloud connector on the roadmap. | Desktop sync, mobile scan (Dropbox Scan), ScanSnap Cloud delivery. |
| Filing and understanding | Every document is read once: category, type, title, facts with roles, the people & things it concerns, every date. Uncertain reads are flagged, never queued. | Folders and file names. Full-text search on paid plans. |
| Dates, checkup | Every renewal, expiry, due date and notice period becomes an item with what happens if missed and what to do, from the document itself. Resolved by the next document. Knows what a person, vehicle, property, pet or business should have on file; lists what is missing, lapsed, expired or duplicated, worst first, with where to get it. | None. |
| Ownership | Originals in a folder tree named the way Thaw names them, plus facts as CSV and JSON. Continuous mirror to your own cloud folder on the roadmap. | Your files, synced everywhere. Simple and durable. |
| Security | Per-document keys wrapped by per-account keys wrapped by a KMS master key. Identifiers encrypted with a blind index and redacted from the search index. Hash-chained audit log. Crypto-shred on delete. | Provider-managed encryption; no per-user key model for standard accounts. |
Stay with Dropbox if
- You only need the files to be somewhere safe and synced.
Move to Thaw if
- You want the documents understood and the dates handled.
- Someone else in the household needs to find things without knowing your folder scheme.
Moving over
Nothing to migrate. Keep the Dropbox folder as the scanner target; Thaw will watch it and file what lands.
Point it at the pile and walk away.
Early access is open to a small group of households and owner-run businesses. Tell us a little about your paper and we will send an invitation.