Best budget NAS in 2023

Prebuilt network-attached storage (NAS) enclosures can cost as little as $100, but they can also become extremely expensive when considering servers with countless bays, powerful Intel processors, and plenty of connectivity options. This guide will highlight some of the best budget NAS available, including those with a focus on offering better value. We've included the best NAS from Synology, TerraMaster, Asustor, and QNAP, among other brands.

Our top picks for best budget NAS in 2023

Source: Synology

Synology DiskStation DS220+

Best Budget NAS

The best way to save money on a brilliant two-bay NAS.

The Synology DiskStation DS220+ is showing its age slightly but it’s still one of the best NAS for value. An Intel CPU, upgradable RAM, two 1GbE ports, and an excellent OS for $300? Yes, please!

Pros

• Intel Celeron CPU
• Excellent OS

Cons

• No M.2 slots
• 1GbE networking

$333 at Amazon $300 at Newegg

The Synology DiskStation DS220+ has found its way into almost every single one of our NAS buyer guides and that's for one very good reason — it's one of the best value NAS out there. The two drive bays make it perfect for those looking to start out with their very first NAS or for seasoned veterans who require a place to store backups. While this model is almost four years old at the time of writing (we've reviewed newer Synology NAS such as the DiskStation DS1522+), the Intel Celeron processor is still more than capable of running the latest apps and services, including Plex Media Server.

There's 2GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 6GB, two 1GbE connections on the rear of the enclosure, as well as two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. That connectivity is more than enough for a bustling small office or household, but you may find it a struggle to keep up with numerous simultaneous connections, especially with the available processing power and system memory. The best part about a Synology NAS such as this on a tighter budget is the inclusion of Synology's excellent DSM operating system. It's among the best Synology NAS in terms of value.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster F4-423

Best Budget 4-Bay NAS

Upgrade your storage capacity with this expansive server.

TerraMaster's F4-423 is an Intel-powered NAS with four drive bays, M.2 SSD support, and 2.5Gb networking. For the price, it's a very capable server foundation that can be used for various deployments.

Pros

• Four drive bays
• Intel Celeron CPU

Cons

• OS is a little rough

$499 at Amazon $500 at Newegg

For those who need a little more storage capacity or plan on building out their storage pool at a later date, something like the TerraMaster F4-423 will be the better option with four drive bays and support for M.2 SSDs. It has a very capable, modern Intel Celeron processor, upgradable RAM, and two 2.5GbE connections. It's priced aggressively against competitor NAS, and as such you'll not need to spend much to take advantage of features usually found inside more expensive SOHO enclosures.

With all four drive bays fully populated, it's possible to configure the F4-423 with up to 80TB of capacity. That's not taking into account RAID, which is strongly recommended, and even with a drive reserved, around 60TB can be available for storing just about anything. The specifications of this enclosure allow for a service like Plex Media Server to run comfortably as well.

Source: Synology

Synology DiskStation DS220j

Best Budget 2-Bay NAS

You cannot beat this NAS deal.

The DS220j cannot match the DS220+ in terms of raw performance, and it isn’t particularly ideal for things like running multiple streams of videos. But its biggest selling point is its price. For less than $200, you get a Synology NAS that runs the same DSM 7.0 version and quality first-party apps as its much beefier siblings. Its basic hardware makes it a good deal if you want to use it only as a storage unit for all your data or as an off-site backup option.

Pros

• Excellent OS
• Two drive bays

Cons

• Weaker CPU
• 1GbE networking

$189 at Amazon $190 at Newegg

The Synology DiskStation DS220j is among the favorites for budget NAS. The Realtek RTD1296 is an ARM processor with four physical cores and a burst speed of up to 1.4GHz. That may not sound like much, but this enclosure is designed for lighter use. Rocking two drive bays, this is one of the most affordable Synology NAS we'd recommend. The 512MB of RAM is DDR4, but you won't be able to expand it through the installation of aftermarket modules. There's also no M.2 SSD support for caching or expanding the storage pool.

To help keep costs low, Synology only includes a single 1GbE connection, which should be sufficient for home use or in a small office. When you have a few backup files to store somewhere, the DiskStation DS220j can be a good candidate with support for RAID, Synology's cloud platform, and the same excellent DSM operating system.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster F2-210

Best Value Budget NAS

This two-bay NAS has some good specs for the price.

Powered by a Realtek ARM processor, the TerraMaster F2-210 won't win any awards for performance, but it's not designed to. This is an affordable entry-level NAS with everything you need to get up and running.

Pros

• Great value
• Good for beginners/backups

Cons

• Weaker CPU
• 1GbE networking

$159 at Amazon

The TerraMaster F2-210 is very similar to what Synology offers with its DiskStation DS220j. Inside this capable compact NAS is a Realtek RTD1296 CPU with four cores and a burst speed of up to 1.4GHz. Just like the DS220j, TerraMaster installed 1GB of DDR4 RAM inside this NAS, which makes it good enough for a slightly busier household or a few colleagues in the office. It's still not designed for running intensive apps and services such as Plex Media Server, but for storing files you'll experience absolutely no issues.

The single 1GbE connection will also play a limiting factor in just what you can do with this NAS. For the price, it's what we'd expect to see and TerraMaster does make up for this by supporting up to 40TB of raw capacity with the two drive bays. One area where TerraMaster falls a little behind the competition is the operating system the company uses for its enclosures. It's not terrible and has improved greatly over recent versions, but it's still not quite as good as what Synology, Asustor, and QNAP offer.

Source: Synology

Synology DiskStation DS120j

Best Affordable NAS

You'll struggle to find a more affordable enclosure than this.

The Synology DiskStation DS120j is about as budget-friendly as we’d go with this buyer guide. It has one drive bay, a basic CPU, and just enough RAM to get you up and running.

Pros

• Super affordable
• Excellent OS

Cons

• Only one drive bay
• Weak specs

$120 at Amazon $100 at Newegg

The Synology DiskStation DS120j is very similar to the DiskStation DS220j we've recommended as our best budget 2-bay NAS. In fact, the specifications of these two enclosures are almost identica, aside from the number of drive bays. We wouldn't usually recommend a NAS with just one drive bay, but if all you need is somewhere for files to be stored securely, this is about as cheap as we'd go. Although this NAS costs around $100, it's still loaded with the same Synology DSM operating system as the more expensive Synology NAS.

512MB of DDR3L RAM and the Marvell Armada 3700 88F3720 CPU won't win performance awards, but they're capable of running the OS smoothly, so long as you're not running intensive apps and services in the background. Having multiple people access the enclosure simultaneously can also cause some strain on the processor, but for starting out with your first NAS or having connected storage in the dorm, the Synology DiskStation DS120j is a fine choice.

Source: QNAP

QNAP TS-264

Best Budget NAS for Plex

Run your very own Spotify and Netflix with this NAS.

The QNAP TS-264 is a very capable compact two-bay enclosure. This NAS has 2.5GbE networking, two M.2 slots, a PCIe 3.0 expansion slot, an Intel Celeron processor, and 8GB of RAM. It's perfect for running intensive apps and services such as Plex Media Server.

Pros

• CPU transcoding support
• Impressive specifications

Cons

• Pricey

$429 at Amazon

Costing $429, the QNAP TS-264 is one of the more expensive NAS recommendations in this buyer guide, but it's well worth it if you can stretch to cover the cost. We'll start with the impressive Intel Celeron 5095 CPU with four physical cores and the ability to boost up to 2.9GHz. This chip will be able to handle countless tasks thrown at it, be it surveillance or running a media server. The solid transcoding support, two M.2 slots, and a PCIe 3.0 x2 slot are why we recommend this as our best budget NAS for Plex.

The 8GB of DDR4 RAM included with the TS-264 is all you'll be able to use with the enclosure, but this should be more than enough for most tasks. The QNAP QTS operating system will be able to fully utilize the processing power available and a single HDMI port ensures you will be able to hook up your big TV screen for buttery-smooth playback of all your purchased 4K content. Two 2.5GbE connections will also allow for enough bandwidth for streaming huge files over the network, making this a fine NAS for work and play.

Choosing the best budget NAS

We're huge fans of the Synology DiskStation DS220+. It's powered by an Intel processor that can easily handle heavier workloads such as running Plex Media Server. There are two drive bays, the RAM can be expanded further, and the operating system is nothing short of brilliant. It won't be good for those who require more power from the processor or support for expansion units, but if you're looking to get started with one of the best-value NAS, look no further than the DS220+.

Source: Synology

Synology DiskStation DS220+

Best Budget NAS

There are some very good choices available for NAS on a budget, but we feel the Synology DiskStation DS220+ is the best choice for most people.

$333 at Amazon $300 at Newegg