TerraMaster vs Synology: Hardware Power vs Software Polish

Winner: Synology — for most home lab users. DSM software, automatic security updates, and a mature app ecosystem make Synology the brand to buy if you want a NAS that works reliably with minimal tinkering. But TerraMaster wins convincingly on hardware per dollar, and if you plan to run Proxmox, TrueNAS, or need raw compute power, the F4-424 Pro is the better machine.

Specs Comparison

The comparison table above tells the core story: TerraMaster ships dramatically more hardware at every price point. The F4-424 Pro has 4x the CPU cores and 8x the RAM of the DS923+ — for $100 less (~$860 vs ~$960). The F2-223 at ~$300 has double the RAM, 2.5GbE, and M.2 slots at a fraction of the discontinued DS224+‘s inflated ~$870 price.

On paper, TerraMaster should win every comparison. In practice, the gap narrows once you factor in software quality, ecosystem depth, and long-term support.

CPU & Raw Performance

This is where TerraMaster dominates. The F4-424 Pro’s Intel Core i3-N305 is an 8-core, 8-thread processor that boosts to 3.8 GHz. It chews through 4K HEVC transcoding, runs a dozen Docker containers without flinching, and has enough headroom to host Proxmox virtual machines. Intel Quick Sync provides hardware-accelerated transcoding that Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby all leverage.

The DS923+‘s AMD Ryzen R1600 has 2 cores and 4 threads with a 3.1 GHz ceiling. It handles file serving and Docker containers adequately, but it has no hardware transcoding engine. Plex on the DS923+ means DirectPlay only — if a client needs transcoding, the CPU buckles at 4K. Multi-container workloads feel the 2-core constraint.

At the budget tier, the story is more nuanced. The DS224+‘s Intel J4125 is a 4-core chip with Quick Sync — it actually has more cores than the F2-223’s dual-core N4505, and it handles Plex transcoding capably. The F2-223 compensates with 4 GB of RAM versus 2 GB, which matters more for Docker than raw CPU speed.

Winner: TerraMaster — the i3-N305 is in a different league from anything Synology ships in a 4-bay chassis. At the 2-bay tier, the DS224+‘s J4125 holds its own on CPU, but the F2-223’s extra RAM and M.2 slots balance the equation.

Software & Ecosystem

This is Synology’s moat, and it is wide.

DSM 7 (now at version 7.3 with DSM 8 expected in 2026) is the most polished NAS operating system on the market. The interface is responsive, logical, and rarely surprising. First-party apps are genuinely good: Active Backup for Business provides free enterprise-grade backup for PCs, VMs, and servers. Synology Drive replaces Dropbox. Synology Photos replaces Google Photos. Surveillance Station includes two free camera licenses. These are not afterthoughts — they are maintained, documented applications with mobile clients.

Security is another Synology strength. DSM receives regular patches with a well-documented CVE response process. Automatic updates, two-factor authentication, adaptive multi-factor authentication, and immutable snapshots are built in. Synology’s security advisory page is transparent about vulnerabilities and fixes.

TerraMaster’s TOS 6 has made genuine progress. The upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.1 LTS improves hardware compatibility and stability. SPC (Security and Privacy Control) restricts application access to network and storage resources, reducing the attack surface. The new ACL permission system supports 13 granular permission types. TRAID and TRAID+ offer flexible RAID with mixed-capacity drives. A redesigned UI with Night Mode and improved search makes daily use more pleasant.

But TOS still lacks the ecosystem depth. The first-party app library is thin compared to DSM. Community forums are smaller. Third-party guides and troubleshooting resources are fewer. If something breaks at 2 AM, you are more likely to find a Synology answer on Reddit than a TerraMaster one.

Winner: Synology — and it is not close. DSM’s app ecosystem, security track record, and community support are years ahead. TOS 6 is the best TerraMaster OS yet, but the gap remains significant.

Storage & Expansion

Both brands support standard 3.5” and 2.5” SATA drives in their bays. The interesting differences are in expansion options.

The DS923+ has a PCIe Gen 3 x2 slot — the only way to add 10GbE networking to a Synology 4-bay in 2026. This is a meaningful advantage if your home lab network already runs 10GbE or you plan to upgrade. The DS923+ also supports Synology’s DX517 expansion unit for adding five more bays — taking you from 4 to 9 drives without data migration.

The F4-424 Pro has no PCIe slot. You get 2.5GbE out of the box (faster than the DS923+‘s 1GbE baseline), but there is no upgrade path to 10GbE. No expansion unit support either — 4 bays is the ceiling.

Both 4-bay models include two M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching. At the 2-bay tier, the F2-223 includes two M.2 slots and HDMI output while the DS224+ has neither.

For RAID flexibility, TOS 6’s TRAID system allows mixing drive capacities while maintaining redundancy — similar to Synology’s SHR but with its own implementation. Both work well for home lab use where you might add drives incrementally.

Winner: Split. The DS923+ wins on expansion potential (PCIe, DX517). The F4-424 Pro wins on baseline networking (2.5GbE vs 1GbE). If you need to grow beyond 4 bays or add 10GbE, Synology. If 2.5GbE and 4 bays are sufficient, TerraMaster ships more hardware out of the box.

Alternative OS Support

This is TerraMaster’s unique advantage and one Synology cannot match.

The F4-424 Pro exposes a standard UEFI/BIOS. You can wipe TOS entirely and install Proxmox VE, TrueNAS SCALE, Unraid, or any Linux distribution directly on the hardware. With an i3-N305 and 32 GB DDR5, the F4-424 Pro is a legitimate Proxmox hypervisor that happens to come in a NAS form factor. Community guides document the full installation process, and TerraMaster does not void your warranty for running alternative operating systems.

This matters for home lab builders who want a compact, low-power virtualization host. Instead of buying a separate mini PC for Proxmox, the F4-424 Pro combines storage and compute in one chassis. You can run TrueNAS as a VM inside Proxmox with direct SATA passthrough (though note that the ASM1062 SATA controller has reported passthrough limitations on some configurations — test before committing).

Synology locks its hardware to DSM. There is no supported path to install Proxmox, TrueNAS, or any alternative OS. This is by design — DSM’s tight hardware-software integration is part of what makes it reliable. But it means a Synology NAS can only ever be a Synology NAS. If you check out our best 4-bay NAS roundup, the F4-424 Pro is the top pick specifically for Proxmox use cases.

Winner: TerraMaster — decisively. If bare-metal OS flexibility matters to you, Synology is not an option.

Power & Noise

The DS923+ draws roughly 11W at idle with drives spinning — impressively efficient for a 4-bay NAS running 24/7. Over a year, that is about $10 in electricity at $0.12/kWh. The DS224+ sits around 15W idle.

The F4-424 Pro idles at approximately 24W — more than double the DS923+. That 13W difference adds up to about $14/year, which is not devastating, but the i3-N305 and 32 GB DDR5 simply draw more power than a 2-core AMD with 4 GB. Under load, the gap widens further. The F2-223 idles around 14W, comparable to the DS224+.

Both brands produce acceptable noise levels for home use. Synology’s enclosures tend to be slightly quieter at idle, partly because lower-power components generate less heat and need less active cooling. Neither brand will disturb a living room, but the DS923+ is the quieter of the two 4-bay options.

Winner: Synology — the DS923+ is the more efficient 24/7 appliance. The power gap is the trade-off for TerraMaster’s raw performance advantage.

Price & Value

Here is where the math gets interesting:

The F4-424 Pro costs ~$860 with an 8-core i3-N305 and 32 GB DDR5. The DS923+ costs ~$960 with a 2-core R1600 and 4 GB ECC — $100 more for dramatically less hardware. To match the F4-424 Pro’s RAM on the DS923+, you would need to buy 32 GB of ECC SO-DIMMs — roughly $80-120 — bringing the Synology total to $1,040-1,080. Even then, you still have a 2-core CPU with no hardware transcoding.

At the 2-bay tier, the price gap has become a chasm. The DS224+ has been discontinued and now sells at inflated prices around ~$870 — nearly 3x its original ~$300 MSRP. The F2-223 at ~$300 includes 4 GB RAM, 2x 2.5GbE, and 2x M.2 NVMe. At less than half the DS224+‘s current street price, the F2-223 delivers significantly more hardware. If you want Synology’s DSM ecosystem in a 2-bay, the DS225+ at ~$335 is the current-generation replacement to consider — not the DS224+ at its inflated end-of-life pricing.

TerraMaster’s pricing strategy is clear: maximize hardware per dollar and compete on specs. Synology’s strategy is equally clear: charge a premium for software quality and ecosystem value. Neither approach is wrong — they serve different priorities.

Winner: TerraMaster on hardware value at both tiers. The F4-424 Pro delivers vastly more hardware for $100 less than the DS923+. At the 2-bay tier, the F2-223 at ~$300 is a fraction of the DS224+‘s inflated ~$870 price. Synology wins on total value only if you heavily use DSM’s first-party apps — and at the 2-bay tier, the DS225+ at ~$335 is the Synology to consider, not the discontinued DS224+.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy Synology if:

• You want a NAS that works out of the box with minimal configuration
• You rely on first-party apps: Active Backup, Synology Drive, Photos, Surveillance Station
• Security and automatic patching are top priorities
• You plan to add 10GbE via PCIe (DS923+) or expand with a DX517

Buy TerraMaster if:

• You want to run Proxmox, TrueNAS, or Unraid bare-metal on NAS hardware
• Raw CPU and RAM performance matter for your workload (VMs, transcoding, AI inference)
• You are comfortable with Docker-first workflows and do not need polished first-party apps
• Budget is tight and you want maximum hardware per dollar (especially at the 2-bay tier)

Bottom Line

For most home lab users who value software polish, the Synology DS925+ at ~$625 is the better 4-bay buy in 2026. The DS923+ at ~$960 is only worth considering if you need its PCIe slot for 10GbE — at that inflated price, the hardware gap with the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro at ~$860 is impossible to justify on specs alone. The F4-424 Pro is the better machine if you plan to wipe TOS and install Proxmox, or if you need the raw compute power of an 8-core i3 with 32 GB DDR5 — and it now costs $100 less than the DS923+. At the 2-bay tier, the DS224+ has been discontinued with inflated pricing at ~$870. The DS225+ at ~$335 is the current-generation Synology 2-bay to consider. The F2-223 at ~$300 still offers more hardware (2.5GbE, M.2 slots, double the RAM) for less money, though it is currently unavailable from most retailers. Know what you prioritize — software or silicon — and the choice makes itself.