Software Alternatives & Reviews

NixOS VS Unraid

Compare NixOS VS Unraid and see what are their differences

NixOS logo NixOS

25 Jun 2014 . All software components in NixOS are installed using the Nix package manager. Packages in Nix are defined using the nix language to create nix expressions.

Unraid logo Unraid

Simplicity. Flexibility. Scalability. Modularity. Unraid empowers you to build the system you’ve always wanted using your preferred hardware, software, and operating systems.
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Unraid Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26

NixOS videos

First Impression of the NixOS Installation Procedure

More videos:

  • Review - Introduction to NixOS - Brownbag by Geoffrey Huntley
  • Review - NixOS 18.03 - A Configuration-focused GNU+Linux Distro

Unraid videos

8 months on unRAID

More videos:

  • Review - unRaid - One Year Later - My Thoughts
  • Review - Freenas vs Unraid vs Openmediavault : Best Nas Software 2019

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NixOS and Unraid)
Front End Package Manager
Cloud Computing
0 0%
100% 100
Package Manager
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Storage
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using NixOS and Unraid. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare NixOS and Unraid

NixOS Reviews

The 10 Best Immutable Linux Distributions in 2024
Why it’s on the list: NixOS uses the Nix package manager, which treats packages as isolated from each other. This unique approach to package management virtually eliminates “dependency hell”.

Unraid Reviews

9 Of The Best FreeNAS Alternatives For Your Storage Needs
You can use the free 30-day trial version to see if Unraid is suitable for your hardware. You will experience full functionality in the trial version without any storage device limit. However, you will require an internet connection for the trial versions.
Top 7 FreeNas Alternative For Your PC
unRaid is software made to transform any computer into a NAS server. An easy to use processor clocked at 1GHz with 512MB RAM does all the tricks. In simple terms, the motherboard must provide the possibility to boot on a USB key. It doesn’t need installing disks of the same capacity. Hence, you can try the free sector repair solution if your disk isn’t working.
Top 15 Best TrueNAS Alternatives In 2022
Network-attached storage systems, UnRAID application servers, and UnRAID virtualization hosts make up the bulk of UnRAID’s offerings.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS seems to be a lot more popular than Unraid. While we know about 246 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 13 mentions of Unraid. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

NixOS mentions (246)

  • I use NixOS for my home-server, and you should too!
    As we covered in my last post, NixOS is a amazing Linux distribution for creating stable and declared environments. Now while this is amazing for a desktop setup, it is also perfect for a home-server or home-lab. - Source: dev.to / 11 days ago
  • Colima k8s nix setup
    Nix is a cross-platform package manager. It uses the nix programming language. Nix and NixOs are often used in the same context, but while the first is a package manager, the latter is a linux distribution based on nix. - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • NixOs - Your portable dev enviroment
    Today I want to talk to you about Nixos. What is it? Nixos is a declarative and reproducible OS, partly taking the words used on their own page. What does that mean? - Source: dev.to / 25 days ago
  • Nix – A One Pager
    Software developers often want to customize: 1. Their home environments: for packages (some reach for brew on MacOS) and configurations (dotfiles, and some reach for stow). 2. Their development shells: for build dependencies (compilers, SDKs, libraries), tools (LSP, linters, formatters, debuggers), and services (runtime, database). Some reach for devcontainers here. 3. Or even their operating systems: for... - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago
  • Tools for Linux Distro Hoppers
    Hopping from one distro to another with a different package manager might require some time to adapt. Using a package manager that can be installed on most distro is one way to help you get to work faster. Flatpak is one of them; other alternative are Snap, Nix or Homebrew. Flatpak is a good starter, and if you have a bunch of free time, I suggest trying Nix. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
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Unraid mentions (13)

  • what are your digital decluttering routines?
    Really: I've got a Synology 10-disk unit in JBOD mode (each drive independent, but see SnapRaid) containing backup of backups and recent set of 4x 14TB unopened drives. I'm working at building a new UnRaid system to contain everything; I just need to confirm the power supply max load and if I can stagger the drives to avoid the maximum inrush. RAID5 is great (but Is Not A Backup), UnRaid is a "daily" RAID5... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Build upgrade - OS advice
    As an example, I have qemu+kvm host running my VMs (NAS, plex, Nextcloud etc.). As for NAS OS, TrueNAS is a great options. With different drive size you can consider UnRAID. It allows to pool drives of a different size. https://unraid.net/product. Source: over 1 year ago
  • my first NAS. need some input on what to buy. synology?
    You can turn a PC case into a NAS with NAS OS like openmediavault (https://www.openmediavault.org/), unraid (https://unraid.net/product), or TrueNAS Core (https://www.truenas.com/docs/core/gettingstarted/corehardwareguide/). They require +8 GB RAM (Unraid system requirements say 4 and OMV is ok with +1GB RAM). To start, I'd go with openmediavault. If you need it to be windows, say, using for anything else, you can... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Low cost storage server - is there a need?
    Take a look at using unraid as a backup server. https://unraid.net/product. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Homelab iSCSI Resizable Storage
    In case you are interested in software options. UnRAID is a nice option. Https://unraid.net/product. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing NixOS and Unraid, you can also consider the following products

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

TrueNAS Core - TrueNAS Core (formerly FreeNAS) is a storage operating system strong and robust enough to meet the needs of enterprise level businesses.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

OpenMediaVault - OpenMediaVault is the next generation network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux.

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

XigmaNAS - File Sharing, OS & Utilities, and Security & Privacy