TrueNAS SCALE
Ranked 3 of 5 NAS operating systems by recommenders
People recommend it as a low-maintenance file server that runs Docker apps easily and performs well on existing hardware.
People recommend it as a low-maintenance file server that runs Docker apps easily and performs well on existing hardware.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Full speed on the same hardware
“The Linux equivalents (TrueNAS SCALE, OpenWrt) handled it fine on the same hardware.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router” “Switch to Linux (TrueNAS SCALE/openWrt) and it just worked at full speed.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Moving from OpenBSD to FreeBSD for firewalls” “Switch to Linux (SCALE and OpenWRT) and I can max out 9 Gbps.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “I Love FreeBSD” - Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued”
- Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “FreeBSD”
Easy app deployment with Docker
“it's been really good, they backup each other and also run several services i use thanks to Docker”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “TrueNAS scale for file backup that also runs Frigate for POE cam mgmt (similarly sandboxed)”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)” “what's amazing is the ease with which I can deploy new apps”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Don't throw away your old PC–it makes a better NAS than anything you can buy” Backups and simple file sharing
“it's been really good, they backup each other and also run several services i use thanks to Docker”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “FreeCORE TrueNAS Core – Continued” “TrueNAS scale for file backup that also runs Frigate for POE cam mgmt (similarly sandboxed)”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)” “just via one checkbox on a SMB share config, for years”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Linux 7.3”
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 SCALEThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| OpenMediaVault | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
| TrueNAS CORE | 5 | 10 | 33% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“just via one checkbox on a SMB share config, for years”
“my TrueNAS SCALE installation has required approximately zero of my time and has never lost the ability to be updated”
“it's been really good, they backup each other and also run several services i use thanks to Docker”
“found that Linux had better performance”
“The Linux equivalents (TrueNAS SCALE, OpenWrt) handled it fine on the same hardware.”
“Switch to Linux (SCALE and OpenWRT) and I can max out 9 Gbps.”
“TrueNAS scale for file backup that also runs Frigate for POE cam mgmt (similarly sandboxed)”
“Linux on the same hardware was fine”
“what's amazing is the ease with which I can deploy new apps”
“Switch to Linux (TrueNAS SCALE/openWrt) and it just worked at full speed.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.