Software Alternatives & Reviews

OpenWrt VS Unraid

Compare OpenWrt VS Unraid and see what are their differences

OpenWrt logo OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers

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.
  • OpenWrt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14
  • Unraid Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26

OpenWrt videos

Upgrading Your Home Router to OpenWRT and Why It Is Worth It

More videos:

  • Review - Playing with OpenWrt Wireless Settings
  • Review - Make Your TP-LINK Router into a High Power Router with OpenWrt

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 OpenWrt and Unraid)
Operating Systems
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Computing
0 0%
100% 100
Linux
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Storage
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using OpenWrt 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 OpenWrt and Unraid

OpenWrt Reviews

Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
Both pfSense and OpenWRT are formidable and versatile alternatives for network administration software. While OpenWRT is designed for embedded devices such as routers, Pfsense focuses on firewalls and routing functions that are more complex. Pfsense is more user-friendly, while OpenWRT provides more configuration options. Both are supported by thriving online communities...
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
OpenWrt also offers a range of advanced networking configurations, including support for Quality of Service (QoS), network address translation (NAT), and virtual LAN (VLAN) tagging. These features make OpenWrt an attractive option for businesses and organizations that require more advanced networking capabilities. The open-source nature of OpenWrt means that users can...
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Unlike IPFire, OpenWRT has a large number of optional packages in its repository. As a result, you can configure this OS in countless different ways. Most importantly, OpenWRT has drivers for all hardware supported by Linux. This means that almost all Wireless hardware is supported, making it the most versatile OS for creating Access Points.
Source: teklager.se
Top 7 pfSense Alternatives
OpenWRT is made primarily to replace the software on existing routers, but it can also run on x86 (PCs, server hardware, VMs) machines. It is a very mature OS and has some of the best Wi-Fi support around, unlike a lot of other router software options. It has a pretty good GUI and a ton of add-on packages.
7 Best Router Firmware | Open Source | 2022
OpenWrt Project is a Linux based alternative open source firmware for routers in 2022 and embedded systems. And it is one of the best Open Source Firmware that offers you an utterly writable filesystem along with package management. It allows for full customization and lets you customize the device for any application.
Source: viralhax.com

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, OpenWrt should be more popular than Unraid. It has been mentiond 103 times since March 2021. 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.

OpenWrt mentions (103)

  • Recommendation for a wifi router with L2TP or other VPN server support?
    If your current router supports a custom firmware like openWRT then you could do this without having to buy a new one. Source: 5 months ago
  • OpenWrt Site Account Creation
    Unfortunately, I can't create an account via Github on the openwrt site. Source: 7 months ago
  • openwrt.org not loading
    Anyone else having trouble reaching openwrt.org right now? I can't get the forums, main page or downloads. I've done plenty of troubleshooting and there isn't anything else on my network having trouble reaching anything else on the internet. Source: 8 months ago
  • Things just got a little weird, my current network is down, I'm a newb trying to start from the ground up and I found out I actually have another (newer) wifi router.... what to do?
    On the router. openwrt.org has lots of great documentation that lays out exactly what you're looking for and then some. Source: 11 months ago
  • As of June 2023, what is the best router that I could buy specifically for ease of use with all things pi-hole related
    Is the Verizon one a combined modem/router? If you want to add your own router, you might have to call them and ask them to put it into bridged mode. I like OpenWRT because it gives you a lot of customization options. I've just been running it on an old TP-Link Archer C7 for the past 5 years or so and I haven't had any issues, but that's ancient hardware now. Source: 11 months ago
View more

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 OpenWrt and Unraid, you can also consider the following products

pfSense - pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

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

MikroTik RouterOS - The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.

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

OPNsense - OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.

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