TrueNAS CORE
Shares rank 4 of 5 NAS operating systems by recommenders
Free NAS operating system built on FreeBSD that a few people were glad to see; the most common caveat is withheld source and build scripts, and many are moving to Linux.
Free NAS operating system built on FreeBSD that a few people were glad to see; the most common caveat is withheld source and build scripts, and many are moving to Linux.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 33%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free option some had hoped for
“I gave up on any hope that something like this would come along”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” Good fit if FreeBSD matters
“this is a good option if FreeBSD is important to you”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Withholds source and build scripts
“They do not give all of the code. If you have an object, and don't have everything needed to reproduce the object, then you have not been given the source to the object.”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “recently stopped publishing their build scripts, intentionally making it harder to build their open source code”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “They chose to base their enterprise on the work of others, only to pull the ladder up behind them.”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” - Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
- Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
- Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
- Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
Users switching to Linux
“choosing to use something else rather than reward trunas for doing something I don't like”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “switching from FreeBSD to Linux twice (TrueNAS CORE -> TrueNAS SCALE”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “FreeBSD” “Using TrueNAS CORE and OpnSense. Switch to Linux”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “I Love FreeBSD” Few reasons to pick FreeBSD
“I don't see why you'd use FreeBSD if you don't have a very specific reason”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “it was the old freebsd base and not the |inux future”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” Core deprecated, stuck on FreeBSD 13
“Core is deprecated and stuck on freebsd 13”
Comment from 1 Nov 2025 in “An Introduction to OCI Containers on FreeBSD” “Unfortunately trunas core is dead now.”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Back to FreeBSD: Part 1”
Other NAS operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other NAS operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TrueNAS | 48 | 34 | 59% | 11 | — | — |
| Unraid | 20 | 6 | 77% | 7 | — | Approved |
| TrueNAS SCALE | 7 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| TrueNAS COREThis page | 5 | 10 | 33% | 1 | — | — |
| OpenMediaVault | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“elitist bs coming down from the top making this not a community effort but a product”
“annoyed with the truenas closed source/hostility stuff as of late”
“choosing to use something else rather than reward trunas for doing something I don't like”
“They did something I don't approve of.”
“they rely on tricky, concealed intentions, and rightfully deserve criticism.”
“I don't see why you'd use FreeBSD if you don't have a very specific reason”
“They chose to base their enterprise on the work of others, only to pull the ladder up behind them.”
“it was the old freebsd base and not the |inux future”
“Doesn't this violate the whole spirit of the GPL?”
“They do not give all of the code. If you have an object, and don't have everything needed to reproduce the object, then you have not been given the source to the object.”
“time to migrate from yet another was-open-source-now-only-technically-open-source software”
“recently stopped publishing their build scripts, intentionally making it harder to build their open source code”
“this is a good option if FreeBSD is important to you”
“I gave up on any hope that something like this would come along”
“I was never able to get FreeBSD (TrueNAS CORE, OpnSense) to get anywhere near 10 Gbps.”
“Using TrueNAS CORE and OpnSense. Switch to Linux”
“Unfortunately trunas core is dead now.”
“switching from FreeBSD to Linux twice (TrueNAS CORE -> TrueNAS SCALE”
“Core is deprecated and stuck on freebsd 13”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.