For a long time, Synology was the NAS brand. If someone asked what NAS to buy, you’d say Synology and move on. Their hardware was always decent but DiskStation Manager was genuinely exceptional—nothing else in the consumer space came close to the software experience. You were paying a premium, but it made sense.
However, in 2026, that’s no longer true. The hardware has fallen behind, the competition has caught up on software, and the recent debacle around Synology-branded storage devices has left a bad taste in many users’ mouths. As a result, if you’re shopping for a NAS right now, Synology should not be your default choice.
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Synology’s hardware was never great value. At most price points, it ships aging Intel Celeron or low-end AMD chips, modest RAM, and standard 1GbE networking. Meanwhile, competitors at the same price offer 12th-gen Intel N-series chips, DDR5 memory, and 2.5GbE as a baseline. When you’re spending $500–600 on a NAS, that gap matters—especially when the device is expected to last 7–10 years.
That said, Synology fans were still willing to pay the premium. But the company pushed things too far, announcing that its new Plus-series models would require Synology-branded drives to access key features like health monitoring and deduplication. Third-party drives from brands like Seagate or Western Digital—the drives most people actually use—would lose access to those features. The worst part is that Synology doesn’t even manufacture its own storage devices—it’s essentially rebranding drives from companies like Seagate or Toshiba at higher markups.
Quiz
Interesting and unique NAS use cases
Trivia challenge
Beyond basic backups — how well do you know the surprising things a NAS can do?
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Which popular open-source media server software is commonly self-hosted on a NAS to stream personal video libraries to any device?
Correct! Plex is one of the most popular apps for turning a NAS into a personal Netflix-style streaming server. It organizes your media with artwork and metadata and can transcode video on the fly for different devices and connections.
Not quite — the answer is Plex. While Kodi and VLC are great media players, Plex is specifically designed as a client-server platform that lets you stream your NAS library to phones, smart TVs, and browsers from anywhere in the world.
What is the name of the widely recommended data protection strategy that involves keeping three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy offsite?
Correct! The 3-2-1 backup rule is a cornerstone of data protection strategy. A NAS plays a central role by acting as the second on-site copy, while cloud sync or an offsite drive satisfies the third copy requirement.
Not quite — the answer is the 3-2-1 backup rule. RAID is often mistaken for a backup, but it only protects against drive failure, not accidental deletion or ransomware. The 3-2-1 rule is the gold standard precisely because it covers multiple failure scenarios.
A NAS running a hypervisor or container platform like Docker can host a Pi-hole instance. What does Pi-hole primarily do?
Correct! Pi-hole acts as a DNS sinkhole, blocking known ad-serving and tracking domains before they ever reach your devices. Hosting it on a NAS via Docker means it runs 24/7 without needing a dedicated Raspberry Pi.
Not quite — the answer is that Pi-hole blocks ads at the DNS level. Rather than installing an ad blocker on every single device, Pi-hole protects your entire network, including smart TVs and phones, by intercepting ad domain requests before any data is loaded.
Many NAS manufacturers offer dedicated surveillance software packages. What is the primary function of these applications?
Correct! Synology Surveillance Station and QNAP’s QVR Pro are examples of NAS-based NVR (Network Video Recorder) solutions. They let you manage multiple IP cameras, set motion-triggered recording, and review footage without paying for a cloud subscription.
Not quite — the answer is managing and recording IP camera footage. A NAS can replace a dedicated NVR appliance entirely, storing days or weeks of footage locally. This is a compelling use case since it avoids ongoing cloud storage fees while keeping footage on hardware you control.
Which self-hosted application, commonly run on a NAS, automatically downloads TV show episodes and movies by integrating with torrent or Usenet indexers?
Correct! Radarr handles movies and Sonarr handles TV shows — together they form the backbone of a self-hosted media automation stack. They monitor release groups, grab new episodes automatically, and pass files directly to your Plex or Jellyfin library.
Not quite — the answer is Radarr and Sonarr. While Bazarr handles subtitles and Prowlarr manages indexers, Radarr and Sonarr are the core apps for automating movie and TV downloads respectively. They integrate with your NAS download client and media server for a seamless pipeline.
A NAS can be configured as a VPN server so that remote users can securely access the local network. Which VPN protocol, known for being modern and extremely fast, is supported by newer NAS operating systems like Synology DSM?
Correct! WireGuard is a modern VPN protocol praised for its lean codebase, high speeds, and strong encryption. Synology added WireGuard support to DSM, making it easier than ever to securely tunnel into your home network from anywhere without exposing your NAS directly to the internet.
Not quite — the answer is WireGuard. PPTP is outdated and considered insecure, while OpenVPN and L2TP/IPSec are reliable but more resource-intensive. WireGuard achieves better throughput with less overhead, which matters on the modest CPUs found in many NAS devices.
Nextcloud is a self-hosted platform frequently deployed on a NAS. Which major commercial cloud service does it most directly aim to replace?
Correct! Nextcloud provides file sync, document editing, calendar, contacts, and video calls — a direct alternative to Google Drive and Google Workspace. Running it on a NAS means your data never leaves your own hardware, which is a major privacy and cost advantage.
Not quite — the answer is Google Drive and Google Workspace. Nextcloud replicates the full productivity suite experience: shared folders, collaborative document editing, and mobile sync. When paired with a NAS, it becomes a powerful private cloud that rivals Google’s offering without any subscription fees.
Some photographers and videographers use a NAS as the central hub for a collaborative editing workflow. Which protocol, natively supported on macOS and optimized for high-bandwidth file access, makes a NAS behave like a fast local drive for video editing?
Correct! For video editing workflows, SMB Multichannel (or historically AFP on older Macs) allows a NAS to deliver the kind of sustained throughput needed to scrub through high-bitrate footage without copying files locally first. Pair this with a 2.5GbE or 10GbE network and a NAS can rival a dedicated SAN for small creative teams.
Not quite — the answer is SMB with Multichannel (or AFP on legacy Macs). FTP and WebDAV are too slow and latency-prone for real-time editing. SMB Multichannel bonds multiple network connections to boost throughput, which is why NAS vendors like Synology specifically market this feature to creative professionals editing 4K and 6K footage.
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The backlash was fast and loud. Synology eventually backtracked with DSM 7.3, adding broader drive compatibility, but the damage was already done. For many users, it was a wake-up call. After years of defaulting to Synology, people started seriously considering alternatives—and those alternatives suddenly looked very appealing.
The competition offers better value for the money
The NAS market finally has real competition
Ugreen entered the NAS space a couple of years ago with its NASync line and immediately made Synology’s hardware a tougher sell. For comparison, consider the DXP4800 Plus from Ugreen and the DS423+ from Synology. Both are 4-bay units priced around $600–620. At first glance, they look similar—but in practice, they’re not.
The DXP4800 Plus ships with a 5-core Intel Pentium Gold 8505, 8GB of DDR5 memory, a built-in 10GbE port, and 4K HDMI output. The DS423+ runs a quad-core Intel Celeron processor, paired with just 2 GB of RAM and 1GbE LAN ports. For roughly the same price, Ugreen offers more cores, faster memory, and significantly better networking.
And it’s not just Ugreen. QNAP has long been a strong, hardware-focused alternative to Synology, typically offering better specs at comparable prices. The NAS market has real options now, and the hardware tier Synology occupies no longer justifies its brand premium. The key point is that NAS hardware determines how useful the device will be five years from now. Faster networking, a capable processor, and expandable memory are features you want built in from the start.
DSM isn’t special enough to justify the premium
Open-source NAS OSes are now good enough to replace DSM
Synology’s real advantage was always DSM (DiskStation Manager). It’s polished, reliable, easy to set up for non-technical users, and its app ecosystem is genuinely useful. You could justify the mediocre hardware because DSM made the overall experience smooth.
However, as of today, open-source NAS operating systems like TrueNAS SCALE and Unraid have closed the gap significantly—and both are free.
Unraid is incredibly flexible. It lets you mix drive sizes without traditional RAID constraints, handles Docker containers well, and has been the homelab community’s go-to for years for good reason. Sure, it’s not as plug-and-play as DSM, but it’s not difficult to set up either—and it gives you far more control.
Then there’s TrueNAS SCALE, a more robust and enterprise-leaning alternative. It uses the ZFS file system, which guarantees strong data integrity. You can also expect mature support for virtual machines and containers.
However, the biggest advantage is that both of these OSes run on standard x86 hardware. Your Ugreen NAS, your QNAP, an old PC, or a mini server—it doesn’t matter—these NAS operating systems will run on all of them. At this point, the NAS OS is effectively a commodity. It makes no sense to factor “staying inside DSM” into your purchase decision—especially when you’re paying a premium.
Here’s Why I Built My Own NAS With Unraid and an eBay Server Instead of Buying a Synology
What homelab is complete without some retired enterprise gear?
If you want the best value, build your own
An old PC and a free NAS OS are all you actually need
A NAS doesn’t need to be that powerful. So, the most cost-efficient NAS you can have is one you build yourself using hardware you already own or can buy secondhand. This way you control every component—RAM, networking, storage bays, and CPU—and nothing is soldered down or vendor-locked. Even the software experience is entirely under your control. You can install a specialized NAS OS like the ones discussed above, or go with a full-blown desktop OS like Ubuntu and repurpose it for your NAS needs.
I built my own DIY NAS by repurposing an 8-year-old machine with a Ryzen 3 2200G, 16GB of RAM, and 8TB of storage. For the OS, I installed ZimaOS—it’s intuitive and offers a polished, modern interface. It handles file serving across the network without issues, runs Jellyfin as a media server, and hosts a Linux Mint VM, so the machine doubles as a spare computer when needed. The best part is that the entire setup cost me nothing extra because the hardware was already sitting around.
Yes, setting up a DIY NAS does require some comfort with basic networking, drive configuration, and OS installation—but it’s not rocket science. If you’ve ever built a PC yourself and installed Linux on it, this is going to feel very familiar.
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So, where does that leave Synology?
The Synology premium was justified when DSM was clearly ahead of everything else. That gap is now gone. The hardware was always mediocre, and the 2025 drive lock-in attempt made it clear that Synology’s strategy isn’t about giving users more—it’s about tightening its ecosystem over time.
With all of that in mind, choosing Synology as your next NAS doesn’t make much sense. A better option is to find an old PC or laptop and repurpose it as a NAS. Just make sure to use NAS-certified HDDs—standard desktop drives aren’t designed for that kind of workload.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
