File Storage & Backup · alternatives
Alternatives to TrueNAS
16 file storage & backup tools sit alongside TrueNAS in this directory. Below is what separates each from TrueNAS on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 16
- With a free tier
- 4
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- TrueNAS starts at
- Free
Why people look past TrueNAS
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. TrueNAS has a free tier, and starts at Free against a category median of $8.5/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Free open-source backup with encryption
Priced and rated the same as TrueNAS on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Affordable online backup with multiple device support
- Starts $4 a month dearer, at $4/month.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than open-source.
Self-hosted file sync, sharing and collaboration platform
- Sold on a freemium model rather than open-source.
Modern data protection for enterprise workloads
- Starts $250 a year dearer, at $250/year.
Mac and Windows backup to your own cloud storage
- No free tier, where TrueNAS has one.
- Starts $50 a year dearer, at $50/year.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than open-source.
Unlimited cloud backup at an affordable price
- No free tier, where TrueNAS has one.
- Starts $9 a month dearer, at $9/month.
Every TrueNAS alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TrueNAS (this page) | Free | Open-source | - | |
| Duplicati | Free | - | - | vs TrueNAS |
| IDrive | Free, then $4/month | Subscription | 1 | vs TrueNAS |
| Nextcloud | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs TrueNAS |
| Veeam Backup & Replication | Free, then $250/year | - | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Arq Backup | $50/year | Subscription | 1 | vs TrueNAS |
| Backblaze | $9/month | - | 2 | vs TrueNAS |
| Barracuda Backup | On request | Subscription | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Box | On request | Subscription | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Carbonite | $6/month | Subscription | 1 | vs TrueNAS |
| CrashPlan | $8/month | - | 3 | vs TrueNAS |
| Microsoft OneDrive | On request | Subscription | - | vs TrueNAS |
| pCloud | On request | One-time | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Sync.com | On request | Subscription | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Tresorit | On request | Subscription | - | vs TrueNAS |
| Veritas NetBackup | $100/month | Subscription | 1 | vs TrueNAS |
| Zerto | $5/month | Subscription | 1 | vs TrueNAS |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the TrueNAS badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (4)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Duplicati , Free
- IDrive , Free, then $4/month
- Nextcloud , Free
- Veeam Backup & Replication , Free, then $250/year
What you would be giving up
TrueNAS is most often brought in for on-premises backup and archival storage for enterprises, home lab and small business network-attached storage, media server storage for video, photo, and document libraries, disaster recovery and business continuity replication, s3-compatible object storage for cloud-native applications, high-availability storage clusters for datacentres. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If TrueNAS is broadly right and the question is cost, the TrueNAS pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the File Storage & Backup category lists everything the directory holds, and best file storage & backup tools ranks them.
TrueNAS runs on self-hosted, linux, web, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about TrueNAS alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to TrueNAS?
- 16 other file storage & backup tools are listed in this directory, led by Duplicati, IDrive, Nextcloud, Veeam Backup & Replication. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to TrueNAS?
- 4 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Duplicati, IDrive, Nextcloud, Veeam Backup & Replication.
- Is there a reason to switch away from TrueNAS?
- Nothing in the data flags one. TrueNAS has a free tier, and starts at Free against a category median of $8.5/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from TrueNAS?
- TrueNAS is most often brought in for on-premises backup and archival storage for enterprises, home lab and small business network-attached storage, media server storage for video, photo, and document libraries, disaster recovery and business continuity replication, s3-compatible object storage for cloud-native applications, high-availability storage clusters for datacentres. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to TrueNAS?
- None of the file storage & backup tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these TrueNAS alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, File Storage & Backup, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored slot runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare TrueNAS against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against TrueNAS covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every file storage & backup tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the File Storage & Backup category, 16 tools beside TrueNAS. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.