Synology vs QNAP NAS (in 2025)

I commented this very recently on another video, but I think you should pay attention to their mobile apps as well, especially since many of them have quite low ratings in the app stores. I had a synology and was quite happy with the android apps, but seeing the ratings of the asustor or terrramaster apps makes me hesitant. Most people, including me, will usually access their NAS through a PC but occasionally you want to show file/photo/video or backup things from your smartphone as well. Anyway thanks for all the videos.

One product : QNAP TS-h973AX, (5)3.5" , (4) 2.5" bays with (2) U.2 NVMe drives, (1) 10gbe and (2) 2.5gbe, 1 usb-c (slow 5 Gbit) and 3 USB-A, ZFS based QuTS hero 4.5.0 with dynamic volumen growing, AMD Ryzen V 1500B quad core and 32GB of RAM you can grow to 64GB no volumen size shenanigans (like 108TB) : $1149 before tariffs. I used to recommend synology to creatives, because of the easy to use software, nowadays the difference is not that big. What Synology has is fantastic cloud backup, and the security track record, better than QNAP. Hardware difference continue as we go up, with interesting platforms in the qnap side based on i8 and i7 processors, different AMD and ZXeons, 4K pure SSD with support of 192GB or U.2 with support of 16 cores and 1TB, multiple PCIe cards and native 25gbit ethernet, a dream for medium size creative studios. It's just a powerhouse.

my last 4 bay is like already 9 year old and i am looking what to buy these days

I would like to see a SFP+ QNAP NAS that is not too much expensive. SFP+ with 2 to 4 bays with 2 NVME as read/write cache options ?
The ZFS support is a great thing that DSM doesn't have..

Hey, I really enjoy all ur videos but am curious does DAS still exist, Because everyone is always talking about NAS and if so which brand do u recommend with raid rebundacy and at least 4 bays. I would really appreciate any kind of info u can offer. Thank you.

I still think if someone is buying their first NAS those people are going to be buying the Synology even if the drives are locked in.

QNAP, thanks to ROB, the Seagulls wizard

Thanks for the comparison. I personally was considering on buying a Synology to try out DSM, but I am now leaning towards other options since I heard about the HDD lock-in stunt that they pulled. While the QuTS Hero/QTS seems alright, I am thinking of going down the route of going for a prebuilt NAS and installing UnRAID and a TrueNAS VM for ZFS management on it.

without the Synology shenanigans, i would never ever heard of QNAP, UGREEN, or diy NAS. Has been searching regarding the alternatives this past few weeks. Thanks Synology for offering alternatives for us users. Good doggy synology.

Since all I ever needed was a backup solution , spec versus price was always my deal. but I always go 8 bay (now) for many smaller drives. so I choose qnap. my first was a 5 bay. long ago. I don't need remote access. I just want to store data. so the flexibility to use any harddrive. I backup 1 nas to the other nas. been working for over 12 years.

Great balanced review, nice job! I'm used to QNAP and happy with them at this point. Used them for 20 plus years and they are fine. The os i see for such a little amount, performance and value land on qnap for me anyways.

The only other selling point for Synology is . . . new users they may start with smaller capacity hard drives and expand the storage using SHR and save money. For established Synology NAS users who like a particular hard drive . . . their favourite hard drives could be slotted into any NAS unit that suits them. Other users may simple have out-grown what Synology has to offer . . . ignoring their hard drive issues.

I own 2 Qnap 2-Bay NAS. At work I have 3 QNAP 4-Bay and one Synology 4-Bay. Qnap is much more powerful and efficient. The ONLY reason I ordered the Synology was ActiveBackupForBusiness. Lucky it's a 423+, so every HDD works fine.

I'm not getting rid of the two Synology NAS units that I already have, but I'm done buying anything from Synology going forward. Hopefully, by the time I need to buy a new NAS, some other manufacturer will have better software.

Great video! Keep them coming!! Thanks

That Qnap, and others in it's class, can absolutely run Truenas Scale. I have two that are doing just that, and they're rock solid.

For a 4 bay I’m surprised you’re not comparing the Asustor AS5404T: dual 2.5gbe ports, four bays, four nvme slots, upgradable ram (to 16GB), and an OS that is simple and has a pretty good app selection.

So many X NAS vs Y NAS comparisons, all of them are little value without context. Anyone can build a NAS and put some software on them and call it a day. Let's make it clear that myself don't agree with locking functionality behind some rebranded disks, every disk making brand should have at least a few aproved disks on the compatibility list. Now, about Synology, there are things that people does not know if they never used their software in business for a long time. I have tried all NAS brands and nobody have the perfect software. But Synology does have a better software since the day they implemented ACL. The Synology + series with x86 CPU's are THE right thing and Synology knows it very well. If it comes to it, I will be forced to go along with Synology even if I don't like it, because nobody makes that software, so stable, with such a long good history. No, please do not talk about any enthusiast level or open source software that today exists and tomorow dosn't, it's not acceptable in business. A 10 year life for a software is just the begining. So, if a person want a NAS, buy any NAS. Synology is not JUST a NAS and I want to make it very clear.

Synology has the best software but the cheapest hardware. Qnap has the crappiest software but great hardware when compared at the same price point.

Unfortunately great hardware can't make crappy software good.

In my mind synology surveillance and backup for business are simply too good. If I were qnap I'd put my focus there.

I keep watching these videos even though I don’t own a NAS as they are too expensive for me but hopefully one day I will be able to afford a NAS

I was thinking to buy synology, but not anymore

I would miss hybrid RAID (like SHR) and it seems not many do support this. It makes it easier to upgrade array instead of replacing all disks etc.

I voted a couple of years ago to go with qnap. I do not like being locked in to drives, adapter cards, etc. your guides and videos help tremendously with the decision. I’m very happy

So if I understand correctly, backing up data from nas to cloud (offsite) on synology only works with their own cloud storage service?

I'll probably go with the qnap ts-664 this month. Since my current Synology is EOL. Sad that Synology is going this way.

QNAP hardware and OS is ugly as f***

Thanks for the update. Many years ago, I moved from Drobo to Synology because, as a home user, I wanted a low-cost entry and an ability to increase storage gradually as the need arises. The SHR and Btrfs sold me. Now, Synology is banning low-cost drives, and that puts them out of my price range. Qnap requiring me to replace all of the drives in a server at once, when I want to increase storage on the server, and that puts them out of my price range. I hope Synology changes their mind.

Love your channel and enthusiasm

What about performance running a virtual machine? Obviously a core i5 will do better than an Intel Atom with VMs and synology has lagged behind with hardware.

Is it QNAP or its TVS

I wanted to migrate my set of 8x WD 20GB enterprise drives, but NAS compare shows me a video where the migration drives appear with a big scary warning. Furthermore, if there was a repair or recovery situation then the situation becomes critical. At this point I'm going to pull the Synology drives and move them to a Linux server. I'm done.

Great video! Just a heads-up for others — I was considering Synology but decided against it because of their HDD locking. I prefer having the freedom to use the drives I want without vendor restrictions. Something to keep in mind before investing.

so Synology = Apple (pretty UI, less features), QNAP = Android (not so consistent UI, a lot more customizable)

How long before someone hacks the firmware on hard drives by applying the synology firmware to other companies hard drives.

great stuff Robert. Where is your Russian buddy?

Robbie, the idiots like me might need a Qnap setup tutorial that includes your recommended software to interface with the device. If I bought a new NAS tomorrow, I might fear the unknown of stepping away from Synology. I wouldn’t want to learn that Synology had come to their senses and I’m in the wilderness. Good video, thank you.

I'm now convinced QNAP is what I need. The only issue is, the NAS I want is from 2021... So ya.. I guess more waiting for me... Hopefully they'll release a new product line in a reasonable timeline. I hope...

are there other NAS Options with similar implementations of Synology's Hybrid Raid?

I’ll wait until 2026 Synology
If they don’t change anything I am done

I'm still waiting for the 464 replacement. It's been a few years now. Great Video btw.

I've currently got a Synology DS212J that I use for security cameras (3 of them) which I find is very slow to operate. Would it make sense to change to a QNAP sub $400 unit for the same use?

Thanks for a helpful comparison!

This was great! As someone getting frustrated trying to choose a QNAP model (even though I can build a PC from scratch) one comment had me surprised. One of my issues is whenever I land on a QNAP unit that fits my needs, I see it was released 3 or 4 years ago. Your article mentions frequent QNAP hardware refreshes. Are they due for a big refresh? I didn't see anything mid-range to high end prosumer (6 or 8 bay, faster CPU, hardware transcoding) releases at Computex. Just curious on this point.

Thank you very much, very informative

I'm still running a Synology DS1813+, and after 12 years or so I was looking forward to the DS1825+ refresh.
I was ready to just give Synology my money.

But they decided that exploiting their customers makes more business sense than seeing them as partners.

So I'm now in the market, and Synology is not on my list.

Heck, even if they see all of this uproar, decide that it was a bad idea, and reconsider, can we trust them that an update 2 years from now will not take it away on existing hardware, because at that point we have no choice?

Once you show me you are willing to reap me off if you can get away with it, it is very hard to get my trust again.