Box or Google shared drives for an outside agency

If the agency needs access to one defined project, choose a Box project folder when folder-level collaboration matches your intended boundary. Choose a Google shared drive when everyone you add as a member can see the drive’s project files. If the drive also holds other work, test folder sharing with the agency before committing to it.

Decision point	Box	Google shared drives
Agency’s access boundary	A collaborator gets ongoing access to the folder they join. Box collaboration	Members generally see all files in a shared drive. Google shared drives
Access to less than a whole drive	Check that the proposed project folder contains only material the agency should reach.	Individual folders can be shared with non-members, and limited-access folders can narrow visibility. Google shared drives
Organizational controls	Admins and folder owners can restrict external invitations and links. Box folder settings	Shared-drive restrictions override file-level external sharing. Google shared drives
First check	Invite a test agency account and inspect what it can reach.	Confirm external access is allowed, then test the account’s view as a member or folder guest.

For a new, self-contained project, I would start by comparing a dedicated Box folder with a dedicated Google shared drive. That keeps the choice tied to the agency’s actual scope. A shared drive that also contains internal work needs more care: membership generally exposes the drive’s files, while sharing an individual folder with a non-member may fit a narrower assignment. Google shared drives Treat limited-access folders as a configuration to verify with the agency account, not as an assumption about every existing folder.

Before moving files, map the project’s parent folders and identify any drafts, budgets, or client records that should stay internal. A realistic failure is placing one internal document inside the agency’s project space because its parent folder looked convenient. The trial should show whether the outside account can open that document and whether a link or invitation could widen access. Box provides controls over external invitations and links, but the settings your organization and folder owner actually use matter. Box folder settings In Google, a file-level external share cannot bypass a shared-drive restriction, so test the intended share under the drive’s real settings. Google shared drives

Plan the end of the engagement as part of the same decision. Identify who will remove agency access, who will keep the project files, and what the team needs to retain. The supplied sources do not establish what happens to copies an agency has already saved; settle that through your agreement and closeout process rather than assuming access removal retrieves them.

Run a pilot with a real agency-style account and a small project tree containing an approved file, a nested approved file, and an internal-only file. Try the invitation and link path you expect staff to use. Choose the setup only if the account can complete the intended work, cannot open the internal-only file, and loses access to the shared project after the agreed closeout step.