OneDrive vs SP Online

You can store, sync, and share files with both OneDrive and SharePoint. This table explains some of the similarities and differences of these components of Office 365.

OneDrive for Business	SharePoint Online
Included in Office 365 Business plans	Included in Office 365 Business plans
Available as a stand-alone service, and there is a similarly-named consumer version	Available as a stand-alone service, but no consumer-facing version exists
Evolved from a service called SharePoint Workspace 2010, and before that Groove 2007	Cloud-based version of the SharePoint service that dates back to Office XP
Core architecture built on (or “powered behind the scenes” by) SharePoint	Core architecture built on (or “powered behind the scenes” by) SharePoint
Often considered or called a “storage location”	Often considered or called a “team site”
Could be thought of as the cloud version of the My Documents folder on your work computer	Could be thought of as an internal website and/or file server alternative
Manage files/data with metadata and versioning	Manage files/data with metadata and versioning
Accessed from browser or local folder or app depending on user preference	Usually accessed from a browser to use all features, but files can be accessed from local folder
OneDrive for Business sync app is used to sync OneDrive for Business files to a folder on local computer	OneDrive for Business sync app is used to sync SharePoint files to a folder on local computer (separate from OneDrive for Business folder)
All uploads default as private until you decide to share	Uploads default to inherit permissions from the directory/folder in which they are uploaded
Users sign in to their own OneDrive for Business accounts, with no shared interface	Users can access SharePoint as a branded company page, managed by an admin, that acts as a dashboard with news, calendar, etc.
Best place to upload private work documents that only you intend to see, or a document that has a limited scope or lifecycle (for example, a doc you only share once)	Best place to upload team files and/or documents that are intended to be collaborative and/or use check-in workflows and permissioning

So, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online: not exactly the same, yet not entirely different.

The real, noticeable differences will come with the way your workplace or department decides to use SharePoint. Organizations use SharePoint for project-based management sites, human resources portals, and more. OneDrive for Business uses SharePoint technology, but is better suited for storage and one-off sharing. Both of these components live in the cloud (it is Office 365, after all) and can sync files to your device so you can work anywhere.