SharePoint vs Shared Drive: 2025 Comparison

• Overviews of SharePoint and Shared Drive
• Key Differences between SharePoint vs Shared Drive
• Pros & Cons of SharePoint vs Shared Drive
• When to Use SharePoint vs Shared Drive
• Bonus Tip: Directly Transfer Files from SharePoint to a Shared Drive via MultCloud
• Conclusion

Overviews of SharePoint and Shared Drive

At the beginning of this post, let’s have a quick overview of SharePoint and Shared Drive, having a basic understanding of these 2 tools.

What is SharePoint?

Microsoft created SharePoint, a web-based platform for collaboration that works with Microsoft 365. Document management, workflow automation, team collaboration, and intranet site creation are just a few of the robust features that SharePoint provides. It facilitates integration with OneDrive, Teams, Outlook, and other Microsoft products. With its cloud-based (SharePoint Online) and on-premises (SharePoint Server) deployment options, SharePoint can be tailored to meet the needs of a variety of businesses, providing flexibility and scalability.

What is Shared Drive?

A shared drive is a cloud-based storage solution that enables several users to store, access, and work together on files in one place. Shared drives, as opposed to personal storage, guarantee that files belong to the group as a whole rather than to a single person, avoiding data loss when team members depart. Well-known examples include Dropbox's Team Folders, Microsoft OneDrive's Shared Libraries, and Google Drive's Shared Drives. By facilitating permission-based access, version control, and real-time collaboration, shared drives enhance teamwork.

Key Differences between SharePoint vs Shared Drive

This part will compare the key differences between Shared Drive vs SharePoint. The following table will show you 10 differences.

What is the Difference between SharePoint and Shared Drive

Feature	SharePoint	Shared Drive (Google Shared Drive for example)
Storage Type	Cloud-based document management system	Cloud-based file storage
Access Method	Web browser, mobile app, OneDrive sync	Google Drive web, mobile app, desktop sync
File Ownership	Organization-controlled, no individual ownership	Team-based, not tied to individual accounts
Collaboration	Advanced collaboration with version history, and co-authoring, workflows	Real-time collaboration with Google Docs, Sheets, etc.
Permission Control	Granular access control at site, library, or file level	Folder-level and file-level sharing permissions
Integration	Deep integration with Microsoft 365 (Teams, Outlook, OneDrive)	Integrated with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Gmail)
Version History	Advanced versioning and approval workflows	Basic version history for tracking changes
Security & Compliance	Enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance controls	Basic security with Google Admin settings
Customization	Custom workflows, automation, metadata tagging	Limited customization options
Best For	Enterprise collaboration, document management, intranet	Team-based file storage and sharing

Pros & Cons of SharePoint vs Shared Drive

After knowing the key differences between SharePoint and shared drives, there is an introduction to the advantages of SharePoint vs shared drives as well as disadvantages.

SharePoint	Pros	Features like metadata, version control, and workflows make it ideal for complex document management.
		Allow organizations to build intranet sites and team portals tailored to their needs.
		Support co-authoring, real-time editing, and advanced collaboration tools.
		Seamlessly integrate with tools like Teams, Outlook, and Power Automate.
	Cons	SharePoint can be complex to set up and use, requiring training for users.
		Require ongoing management and maintenance, especially for on-premises deployments.
		Typically more expensive due to its advanced features and scalability.

Shared Drive	Pros	Shared Drives are user-friendly and easy to set up.
		Generally more cost-effective, especially for small teams or individual users.
		Offer features like co-editing, comments, and version history for straightforward collaboration.
		Managed by the service provider, reducing the need for IT involvement.
	Cons	Lack of advanced document management tools like metadata, workflows, or customizable intranets.
		Offer basic folder-level permissions, which may not suffice for complex access control needs.
		Not ideal for large organizations with complex workflows or high storage demands.

When to Use SharePoint vs Shared Drive

Although you have the comparisons of the key features and pros & cons, you may also find it hard to decide which one to use. Don’t worry! This part will summarize when to use SharePoint and when to use shared drives.

When to Use SharePoint

For teams that need sophisticated collaboration features like version control, co-authoring, and integration with Microsoft 365 applications like Teams and Outlook, SharePoint is perfect. It is appropriate for complicated projects or businesses with organized document management procedures because it also provides powerful search capabilities, metadata tagging, and customizable workflows.

When to Use Shared Drives

For basic file storage and sharing, shared drives—such as Google Drive or network file shares—are more straightforward and appropriate. For small teams or ad hoc collaborations, they are simpler to set up and operate, particularly when the goal is rapid file access without requiring sophisticated features. Users who prefer a conventional folder-based structure are also more accustomed to shared drives.

Bonus Tip: Directly Transfer Files from SharePoint to a Shared Drive via MultCloud

Whether you choose SharePoint or shared drives to use, you may need to move files from the previous cloud. To directly transfer files between clouds without downloading and uploading, MultCloud is what you are looking for.

MultCloud is a web-based cloud file transfer service that supports 30+ cloud drives, such as SharePoint Online, Google Workspace, Google Shared Drive, Dropbox for Business, OneDrive for Business, and NAS. You can use its Cloud Transfer functions to create an automatic transfer task within 3 steps and let it run offline. Besides, Cloud Transfer offers multiple transfer options for you to customize your transfer.

Let’s see the example of transferring SharePoint Online to Google Shared Drive.

Step 1. Go to MultCloud.com and create a free account.

Step 2. Add the clouds to MultCloud by clicking “Add Cloud” and the cloud logos. When you add Google Workspace, you can choose to add the admin account or a subaccount.

Step 3. Select “Cloud Transfer” in the left sidebar and choose SharePoint Online in the FROM box and Google Shared Drive in the TO BOX. Then, tap “Transfer Now” to start transferring.

What's more, if you want to use a shared drive, you can also use MultCloud functions to make it work with Microsoft services like OneDrive, Outlook, and OneDrive for Business. For example, you can utilize Email Migration to batch-save Outlook emails to Google Shared Drive as PDF files.

Conclusion

This post gives a comprehensive comparison between SharePoint vs shared drives. You can see the overviews of SharePoint and shared drives the differences in their key feature, their advantages and disadvantages, and when to use them. After looking through the comparisons, you must know which one to choose.

Moreover, if you want to migrate files from SharePoint to a shared drive or vice versa, MultCloud Cloud Transfer can be a good helper. It can automate the file transfer process and give you several options and tools to make this task smarter. Besides, if you want to make SharePoint and a shared drive work seamlessly, you can use MultCloud Cloud Sync to real-time sync files between them.