NovaNAS vs Rockstor
NovaNAS
novanas.orgRockstor
rockstor.comSide by side
| Figure | NovaNAS | Rockstor |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · NAS Software | 8.5 (#3) | 7.7 (#16) |
| Apps | The community app store offers one-click deployment of Docker apps, including Plex, Nextcloud, and Pi-hole. | Rockstor provides Docker based apps called Rock-ons for functions including VPN, cloud storage, syncing, and media streaming. |
| Backup | The README describes automated backups to external drives or cloud storage and NovaNAS-to-NovaNAS backups using API key authentication. | The product describes file backup with Rsync, Apple Time Machine, and Windows Backup. |
| File sharing | NovaNAS supports SMB/CIFS and NFS sharing with access controls. | The product supports file sharing and access from Linux, Mac, Windows, and mobile devices. |
| Monitoring | The site describes real-time CPU, memory, disk, and network monitoring; historical monitoring and alerting are marked coming soon. | The product includes resource monitoring with a customizable dashboard and SNMP. |
| Product | NovaNAS is an open-source NAS operating system managed through a desktop-like web interface. | Rockstor is a network attached storage (NAS) and private cloud storage solution. |
| Security | The site lists UFW firewall controls, DynDNS, and automatic Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate management. | The product overview describes a secure browser based management interface and identifies data security and privacy as project goals. |
| Storage | NovaNAS supports ZFS and EXT4 pools, RAID management, and SMB/CIFS and NFS shared folders. | Rockstor uses BTRFS and describes features including checksums, compression, and bitrot protection. |
Plans
In their own words
NovaNAS
NovaNAS is a free, open-source NAS operating system managed through a desktop-like web interface. Its browser file manager supports browsing, uploading, downloading, and previewing files. Storage features include ZFS and EXT4, RAID management, and SMB/CIFS and NFS shared folders with access controls. A community app store offers one-click deployment of Docker applications such as Plex, Nextcloud, and Pi-hole. The project describes automated backups to external drives or cloud storage, and network backups between NovaNAS systems using API key authentication. Security and network tools include UFW firewall management, DynDNS, automatic Let's Encrypt certificates, and WebAuthn/FIDO2 passkey login. The interface monitors CPU, memory, disk, and network activity in real time. NovaNAS currently supports Debian 13 only, and its installer is intended for a fresh system, not an existing one. Minimum requirements are 2 GB RAM, a 1-core CPU, and a 20 GB system drive, plus data drives. Virtualization, historical monitoring, and scheduled tasks are listed as coming soon.
Rockstor
Rockstor is an open-source network attached storage and private cloud storage system based on Linux and BTRFS, managed through a web interface. It supports storage pools, user management, on-demand and scheduled copy-on-write snapshots, and online capacity scaling. File sharing is available over NFS, Samba, SFTP, and AFP for Linux, Mac, Windows, and mobile devices. Listed BTRFS features include checksums, compression, and bitrot protection; Rockstor also supports asynchronous replication. Backup options include Rsync, Apple Time Machine, and Windows Backup. A customizable resource dashboard and SNMP provide monitoring, while Docker-based Rock-ons add apps for VPN, cloud storage, syncing, and media streaming. Installer profiles include openSUSE Leap 16.0, Tumbleweed, and Slowroll targets; Tumbleweed and Slowroll are described as experimental during the 5.5 testing phase. The Stable Updates subscription is requested but not required. The Raspberry Pi 5 profile is experimental, and setup cannot proceed on its jeOS base image through zypper because that image uses ext4 rather than BTRFS. Support is community based through the Rockstor forum.