# TrueNAS CORE Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is TrueNAS CORE the right Backup solution for you? Explore 53 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/231502/TrueNAS-CORE/reviews --- TrueNAS CORE 4.8 (53) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/231502/TrueNAS-CORE/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of TrueNAS CORE Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Anthony M Desktop Support EngineerInformation Technology and Services, 5,001 - 10,000 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “I have the flexibility to run multiple VMs and add more RAM.The upgrade from FreeNAS to TrueNAS CORE is free.“ June 23, 2023 BW Bart W Rust EngineerComputer & Network Security, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Some weird quirks in the web UI, for example the terminal doesn't use the whole screen and can't be resized.“ July 22, 2022 Walt R System Admin IIHigher Education, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Core is community supported and can run on any x86 system that meets the hardware requirements, while Enterprise is only available with ixSystems hardware, supports HA and and you can get enterprise support from ixSystems.“ August 7, 2022 Brendon C PartnerLaw Practice, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “ZFS file system cannot grow a volume like Synology's Btrfs can, by simply adding a drive.“ August 4, 2022 NF Nicholas F Datacenter Operations ManagerEducation Management, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “With immutable snapshots and replication, we are able to have warm backups on multiple hardware nodes for important datasets.“ July 21, 2022 HP Henrik P BoardmemberFinancial Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “BSD is also stingy when it comes to hardware comptibility, meaning that you might have to do some research if you want to make sure your hardware is supported“ September 22, 2022 JH James H DirectorInformation Technology and Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “A few things that made this process really easy for us was the supported file sharing protocols such as NFS and SFTP which gives us ease of access from our clients servers, and gives our clients easy access to their backups, additionally the built in rsync server made it very easy for us to automate backups for all of our clients in a very short timeframe.“ August 3, 2022 SB Steven B CEOInformation Technology and Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Before really hashing everything out and learning the qwerks, I had a lot of issues with a two-node pair losing sync. “ July 25, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 53 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Ajay S. Student Computer & Network Security Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Tried, true, and tested by the community! TrueNAS CORE!" September 9, 2022 5.0 Pros I also have nothing bad to say about TrueNAS CORE. As a community-driven, FOSS, ZFS supporting storage and backup solution (though RAID is not a backup), iXsystems has done a great job in educating me in the ways of NAS/SAN solutions and boy do I appreciate them for it! TrueNAS is great tool for redundancy for when I accidentally mess something up in the development environment, I have a system I can rely on to restore my mismanaged files. It has actually helped me while getting hacked as I took it offline to prevent any further damage to my data. My scope is fairly limited, as I am expanding my network for future scalability. I am directly addressing the business problem of needing a backup solution (though NAS/SAN are not necessarily backup solutions) while expanding my storage capabilities. The proprietary setup used by Unraid was also another barrier to my entry, as I prefered to support, the newly established TrueNAS philosophy of FOSS. Alternatives considered [Proxmox VE](https://www.capterra.com/p/210797/Proxmox-VE/)[Synology Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/233483/Synology-Drive/) Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE I also have nothing bad to say about TrueNAS CORE. As a community-driven, FOSS, ZFS supporting storage and backup solution (though RAID is not a backup), iXsystems has done a great job in educating me in the ways of NAS/SAN solutions and boy do I appreciate them for it! TrueNAS is great tool for redundancy for when I accidentally mess something up in the development environment, I have a system I can rely on to restore my mismanaged files. It has actually helped me while getting hacked as I took it offline to prevent any further damage to my data. My scope is fairly limited, as I am expanding my network for future scalability. I am directly addressing the business problem of needing a backup solution (though NAS/SAN are not necessarily backup solutions) while expanding my storage capabilities. The proprietary setup used by Unraid was also another barrier to my entry, as I prefered to support, the newly established TrueNAS philosophy of FOSS. Review Source RA Robert A. System Administrator Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "TrueNAS Core, truly a great place to start your companies storage. " August 5, 2022 5.0 It helped me in using an old server at work to make a new datastore and NFS archive. I was able to move everything to it as we replaced our old synology server. This made it so that our users didn't even realize I was doing this in the middle of the day. This also saved our company alot of money on overtime. Pros It was easy to use, the software is free. You can set it up on many different types of hardware. It does not use / require an actual raid cared. the ZFS file system is amazing and fast / pact with features. You can run VM's on this software provided you have the RAM / Storage. It runs plugins that behave like docker apps like GUAC. One of the most important features for me was the availability of a DARK MODE. Your eyes will thank you so much. Cons The networking setup if not using DHCP was a bit finicky but not difficult. You have to wrap your head around the fact that it does not use a RAID card. Do NOT use RAID for this software. The software manages all of that directly. Make sure you have a good UPS and you'll be golden. Alternatives considered [DiskStation](https://www.capterra.com/p/206898/Active-Backup-for-Business/) Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE Unfortunately this time around we had already ordered a Synology Device. Going forward we will be choosing TrueNAS. We did not learn about their awesome support options until AFTER the synology had already been ordered. It was not returnable either. Review Source JH Jesus H. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "I just wrote this because they made me" August 3, 2022 3.0 negative Pros I didn't like it. While it had all the features I needed I ran into many many hardware compatibility issues. Such as network cards not being detected. Cons Bad hardware compatibility and I need 40 characters. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE I didn't Review Source HP Henrik P. Boardmember Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "BSD storage made simple" September 22, 2022 4.0 My overall experience with \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] has been rock solid and I’ve been looking forward to trying it out even more powerful hardware to further explore its potential Pros The fact that TRUENAS uses ZFS as a base filesytems means that it includes a lot of great features out of the box Cons Being based on BSD means a lot of great things but unfortunately two major downsides: 1: the ecosystem is somewhat than for example Linux, meaning That there may not always be a convenient way to install the application you need BSD is also stingy when it comes to hardware comptibility, meaning that you might have to do some research if you want to make sure your hardware is supported Alternatives considered [DiskStation](https://www.capterra.com/p/206898/Active-Backup-for-Business/) Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE I employ the principle of "opensource first" which meant that TrueNAS was the superior offering Review Source BC Bruno C. CEO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellence in Network Storage" August 4, 2022 5.0 TrueNAS has bringed its experience to the storage technology. We used it on the past has a simple NAS system. But today we are planning on our project to use it as a SAN for all our servers.The flip-over was done because it's simplicity on management, the easyness to configure high availability, and the support excellence that is provided to us.We consider TrueNAS has a an indispensable partner for our daily business. Pros \- High Availability - Storage Management - Access Policy Management - Detailed Statistics of the Managed Storage Cons \- Integration with Hyper-V (if it already exists, I didn't found it) - A WHMCs module to connect with the API - File Change Backup (like do a backup of every file change) Alternatives considered [Cove Data Protection](https://www.capterra.com/p/163343/Backup-and-Recovery/) Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE User Friendly. High Availability. Centralized Backups with 3-2-1 schemas. Pricing Review Source AG Armando G. Senior Systems Analyst Industrial Automation Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "TrueNAS Scale" August 3, 2022 5.0 The overall experience has been great. After the initial os config and pod configuration, the system runs very reliably. Pros What I liked most about TrueNAS scale was the ability to have a ZFS storage management solution and Hypervisor in one product. This made it an easy decision when choosing a server os for my homelab. Cons The lack of a GUI solution to k8 pod information. I also do not like that when saving a k8 config or updating the pod, will auto start if offline. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE The ability to have storage management and hypervisor on one box. Review Source SB Steven B. CEO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Fantastic Solution for both Enterprise and Homelab" July 25, 2022 5.0 I wouldn't hesitate to recommend TrueNAS to anyone. Pros Dashboard is great, and the layout is better than some of their competitors. Cons The HA implementation isn't as user-friendly. Before really hashing everything out and learning the qwerks, I had a lot of issues with a two-node pair losing sync. I think this has been fixed in the latest releases, though. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE I had used FreeNAS in the past, and I like to support companies that are pushing FOSS. Review Source CR Christopher R. System Administrator Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "TrueNAS is truly top tier." September 8, 2022 5.0 TrueNAS is great for a home user whether experienced or not, due to its ease of use and value. Pros TrueNAS provides a cost-effective alternative to subscription services like Apple iCloud, Google Drive, etc. Cons Little bit of a learning curve as some settings and features are not intuitive or new user friendly. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE Functionality and ease of use. Switched from [Dropbox Business](https://www.capterra.com/p/143068/Dropbox-Business/)[OneDrive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161304/OneDrive/)[Google Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161425/Drive/)[iCloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/204717/iCloud/) Cost was largely the deciding factor, as running TrueNAS locally is significantly less expensive than paying a monthly fee. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Support Technician Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Free and Simple to Use" September 9, 2022 5.0 Pros While I'm accustomed to using the terminal, I welcome the in-browser graphical UI which anyone can use. Remote administration has never been easier for me and my colleagues, with even those unfamiliar with Linux being able to pick up on things very quickly due to the intuitive design. We deploy NAS and server solutions for clients which can be remotely accessed by us for easy maintenance and administration. Cons TrueNAS Scale is not as mature as TrueNAS Core, but I have experienced no stability issues thus far. Switched from [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) TrueNAS is much simpler to set up and administrate than a normal Linux server. File sharing, virtual machine deployment, and installation of apps such as Plex and Home Assistant are very easy. Review Source Walt R. System Admin II Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best open storage solution" August 7, 2022 5.0 I've implemented both for my university and have deployed 5 systems over the past 5 years. Initially replaced two Isilon NAS units with TrueNAS Core systems. Our first ixSystems' hardware replaced an EMC SAN in a remote campus using iSCSI with ESXi as primary storage. Since then we've deployed M40's running TrueNAS for primary and archival storage with Veeam. The only time we've had to touch them has been to upgrade the OS. Pros TrueNAS is the most popular storage OS for a reason. It is a mature and stable platform that implements Open ZFS on FreeBSD. ZFS is the most reliable file system in existence. It was designed to ensure data integrity and scale to a Zettabyte of storage back in 2001. Most of the features that are taken for granted in a modern storage system were lifted from ZFS. TrueNAS is pretty much set and forget. It's self maintaining and self repairing. It's dynamic caching algorithms can provide flash performance with inexpensive spinning disk. TrueNAS Core runs on the same code base as TrueNAS Enterprise. Core is community supported and can run on any x86 system that meets the hardware requirements, while Enterprise is only available with ixSystems hardware, supports HA and and you can get enterprise support from ixSystems. Cons HA and enterprise support is only available on ixSystems' hardware. Review Source KH Kevin H. Cloud Engineer Computer Networking Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "TrueNAS Core and Scale review" July 19, 2022 5.0 TrueNAS Scale allowed me to consolidate my whole homelab environment into one single, high performing machine that is robust and scalable to my needs. Pros I love how easy it is to manage everything in one place. I love being able to run containers and VMs on the same system and assign their data and permissions easily. Cons While the documentation and guides are great and extensive, it still has a high learning curve that can be difficult for new users to get into. There are some hypervisor functionally currently missing that might get added in the future. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE TrueNAS is the more stable and mature product. Switched from [Debian](https://www.capterra.com/p/229027/Debian/)[Proxmox VE](https://www.capterra.com/p/210797/Proxmox-VE/) I wanted an all in one solution that I can tailor to my needs. Review Source JB Jeremy B. Worship Pastor | Global Production Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great, flexible storage solution" August 3, 2022 5.0 Pros The great community plugins and ability to run multiple VMS Cons High barrier to entry if you are unfamiliar with server management Alternatives considered [DiskStation](https://www.capterra.com/p/206898/Active-Backup-for-Business/) Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE Better integrated hardware, more power and performance, Open source, great community Review Source RV Ray V. Maker Entertainment Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I have nothing bad to say about TrueNAS" September 9, 2022 5.0 Pros I have had a TrueNAS running for years starting with FreeNAS that upgraded to TrueNAS Core and now rebuilt it with TrueNAS Scale to get access to Dockers. There is no better way to run a Emby Server (media server) then on a TrueNAS system, no more windows updates restarting your server halfway through a movie. Cons Make the permissions easier to understand Review Source BT Brandon T. Sys Admin Media Production Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Why you need this" September 5, 2022 5.0 I have moved away from traditional Raid arrays for TrueNAS and is the best thing I have every done. Pros Free, trust worthy, easy, and just the best all around option! Cons Sometimes fixes require backend changes with CLI which can be problematic. Review Source BB Berold B. Consultant Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Truenas is the real deal" August 3, 2022 5.0 Pros It's provided a secure and stable environment to take care of the data needs of my clients and it's easy enough to use Cons No issues at this point after using the software in four separate locations for over the past three years Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Mr Consumer Electronics Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Home user point of view" September 11, 2022 5.0 I'm a simple home user ,and this was my second encounter with a Nas product; I like it and it suits my needs . Pros The security for any data loss, the variety of functions the software is able to accomplish. Cons The lack of a home usage design, and the complexity and not so intuitive arrangement of menu functions. Review Source AD Agoston D. CTO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "TrueNAS Scale" August 4, 2022 5.0 I like it so much Pros Based on ZFS and professional Container management. Cons I can't use the free space on the root SSD as an l2arc cache Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE zfs, professional container support, follow the KISS paradigm ( keep it stupid simple ) Review Source Anthony M. Desktop Support Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Optimal backup solution" June 23, 2023 4.0 I have the flexibility to run multiple VMs and add more RAM.The upgrade from FreeNAS to TrueNAS CORE is free. Pros Does not require a lot of RAM to run this software.It does support Windows, macOS and Linux systems.Easy to set up. Cons Can't expand the storage.Does not come with WiFi support. Review Source MS M S. Network and Security Engineer Retail Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "TrueNAS review" September 29, 2024 5.0 Pros Really good NAS OS, have the control over everything. ZFS pool is great for our usage and the capabilities of creating docker within TrueNAS is a plus Cons Can be hard to understand how TrueNAS works at the beginning. You have to prepare yourself before starring with it Review Source MK Marcin K. Senior Technical Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "BSD-based WebUI-using storage appliance" August 16, 2022 4.0 Basically fulfills all its core goals pretty well, can be had for free for own deployments or can be a paid solution for supported enterprise/business customers. Pros ZFS has been implemeted great - its stable and performant in the BSD variant (Core), but it has issues in its linux based variant (Scale) due to how ZFS dataset is used as storage filesystem for Docker/Kubernetes functionalities. It's also rather resource prudent. Cons It is BSD-based in the Core guise, so any BSD issues or support apply here as well. In its linux-based variant (Scale), the ZFS datatset for applications results in thousands of snapshots reported in the UI, due to each layer of each container in use, plus a history of those for rollbacking purposes is saved and shown without any useful filtering option in the snapshots pane/page of the UI and by extension in the CLI. By default, SMB/NFS shares do not expose snapshots of the filesystem in the shares for ease of data recovery upon accidental deletes etc. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE Scale was still in very alphs atges and was unusable at the time, and Qnap costed more and still used MD-ADM under the hood so potential rebuild of the array would be hours/days long. Review Source NF Nicholas F. Datacenter Operations Manager Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "\\" July 21, 2022 4.0 In the past 8 years I have deployed dozens of systems running FreeNAS and TrueNAS core. With the use of periodic SMART test schedules, ZFS scrubs, built in alerting, TrueCommand monitoring, and a whole host of maturity in the ZFS filesystem itself, I have never lost data because of a flaw in the product. It does exactly what it is designed to do, stops you from making poor decisions and keeps your data safe and uncorrupted. Pros I have used TrueNAS to solve a host of issues. We use TrueNAS as an iSCSI target for workloads such as video surveillance and VDI. For this workload we have been able to bring new life to existing hardware we already own in order to extend it's useful life longer than we otherwise would be able to. TrueNAS, both CORE and SCALE, have a wide breadth of hardware support. This is something becoming decreasingly common, with major hypervisor players end-of-lifing hardware long before it's useful life has ended. We also use TrueNAS for it's filesharing capabilities. With immutable snapshots and replication, we are able to have warm backups on multiple hardware nodes for important datasets. This is an very easily implemented layer in our backup and DR policies. TrueNAS leverages ZFS which is a COW file system, making snapshots simple and TrueNAS layers on an easy to expose Volume Shadow Copy feature in Windows. Cons ZFS's implementation of deduplication leaves alot to be desired. TrueNAS CORE and SCALE do not natively support Fibre Channel. TrueNAS SCALE's UI for managing VMs needs maturity and improvement. TrueNAS SCALE's hypervisor needs clustering, HA and "DRS" like feature sets to be competitive at "scale". Review Source AL Andy L. Retired Photography Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Powerful NAS but simple to manage" August 24, 2023 5.0 Very happy with my TrueNAS setup. The only down time has been a major powercut!Day to day the system is "invisible" - it just works and I feel confident my data is safe. Pros Open source software that is designed to do the job whilst making it easy to install and maintain. Prior to installing this software I had no experience of setting up a NAS system. The extra ability to run VMs with in it makes it ever better. Cons Very little to dislike. TrueNAS core is based on FreeBSD, which is a little different to the Linux which I am very comfortable with but in day to day use it makes no difference. Review Source PK Pam K. Sysadmin Defense & Space Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Biggest Bang for Buck for Branch AND Home Office" August 10, 2022 5.0 We have been using a SAN/NAS since the early 2000's, and had been a Left Hand Networks fan, until they were bought out by HPE. The quality of HPE software declined in subsequent versions, until HPE removed all LHN technology from their products completely. TrueNAS Core is going back to the roots of how a SAN/NAS is supposed to be managed. We will never go back to HPE's bloated, over processed, non-private offerings, thanks to TrueNAS. Pros Learning how to navigate the menu selections took considerably less time than competing companies (HPE specifically). Cons The more difficult issue we have come across is losing the IP address of the iSCSI connection on cold restart (power loss from storms), otherwise it's been a solid product. Reason for choosing TrueNAS CORE Pricing, Quality, Support. Review Source PM Patrick M. Manager Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "TrueNAS Core For Pros and corporate users." August 3, 2022 5.0 The benefits from running TrueNAS are the ability to scale, implement and recover data. Ease of use and the maintainability of the software makes TrueNAS a no brainer. Pros Ease of use, scalability and the ease with which we can customize a solution for each customer. Cons Is there really something I don't like? No, there is nothing I do not like about TrueNAS. Review Source JH James H. Director Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great inexpensive option for backups for a small company." August 3, 2022 4.0 Pros TrueNAS Core was extremely easy for us to integrate into our company, we managed to get our limited truenas servers up and running within a single day, and within a couple of weeks we were backing up our customers crucial data. A few things that made this process really easy for us was the supported file sharing protocols such as NFS and SFTP which gives us ease of access from our clients servers, and gives our clients easy access to their backups, additionally the built in rsync server made it very easy for us to automate backups for all of our clients in a very short timeframe. Cons For us, the main drawback of TrueNAS is that it is lacking a built in software firewall, in our client infrastructure's, which are mostly based on cloud providers such as OVH, private networking isn't always available which can make TrueNAS insecure and therefor in these environments we're unable to use it. Review Source Similar Products Featured