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Unraid

Paid NAS operating system that pools mixed-size drives and runs Docker apps and VMs.

PaidSelf-hostableNAS operating systems
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About Unraid

Unraid is a NAS and home-server operating system from Lime Technology that boots from a USB stick and turns a PC into a storage server. Its main idea is the parity-protected array: you can mix drives of different sizes and add them one at a time, unlike traditional RAID, and each drive keeps a normal file system so data survives on its own disk. It also supports ZFS, Btrfs and XFS pools for faster storage. On top of storage, it runs Docker containers and virtual machines, and a community app store lists thousands of apps such as Plex, Jellyfin, Nextcloud and Immich. Unraid is paid, with a perpetual licence priced by the number of drives and a set period of updates, plus a lifetime option; a free 30-day trial needs no card. It's popular with home-lab and media-server users who value flexibility over raw speed.

Best for: Home media-server builders who want to mix drive sizes and grow storage over time.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Mix drives of different sizes and add them one at a time
  • Docker apps and VMs with a large community app catalog
  • Perpetual licence with a free 30-day trial, no card needed

Why people leave

  • Paid licence, and cheaper tiers include only one year of updates
  • Array writes are slower than striped RAID or ZFS pools
  • Closed source, unlike TrueNAS or openmediavault

Top Unraid alternatives

See all 2
  1. 1TrueNAS logo
    TrueNAS

    Free Community Edition with OpenZFS, for stronger data integrity and faster pooled storage.

    66.5
  2. 2Debian logo
    Debian

    Free do-it-yourself route: mergerfs, SnapRAID and Docker give a similar mixed-drive setup.

    52.6

Why people left Unraid

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Reviews

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Unraid: common questions

Is Unraid free?

No, Unraid is a paid product. Starting price: $49 one-time (Starter, 6 devices) (checked on Unraid's own site).

Is Unraid open source?

No, Unraid is not open source. Open-source alternatives include TrueNAS and Debian.

What platforms does Unraid run on?

Unraid is available for Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Unraid?

The highest-ranked Unraid alternatives right now are TrueNAS and Debian. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 2 Unraid alternatives