HexOS, based on TrueNAS, launched at the end of November 2024 as an early-access platform for managing your NAS. At the time, and even months later, it lacked a lot of basic features that you'd expect from a NAS platform, even if you could still use the underlying TrueNAS system in the meantime. Even still, it was shaping up to be an exciting prospect for those looking for an off-the-shelf NAS operating system that could compete with Unraid or OpenMediaVault. Now, half a year on from our first look, it's meeting those expectations and then some.

HexOS is not a platform aimed at enthusiasts, and it's still not ready for most people yet, but it's certainly getting there. It's seen a year of rapid development and a slew of major updates throughout the entirety of 2025, making it significantly more than just a promising beta. I'd argue that it's close to achieving its vision of a "best of both worlds" solution that the space has sorely needed.

HexOS has enterprise bones with a community-focused face

The best of both worlds

As a primer, the brilliance of HexOS' lies in the fact that it's not reinventing the wheel, and instead, utilizes the already-fantastic but enterprise-focused TrueNAS Scale as its backbone. It's Linux-based and makes use of ZFS, one of the best file systems in the world when it comes to data integrity, snapshots, and general resilience. It's all built with the blessing of TrueNAS' developers as well, with iXsystems launching its "Powered by TrueNAS" initiative and making Eshtek (the developer of HexOS) its first partner.

Historically, ZFS has been a messy platform for those on Linux who want to use it in their day-to-day. Aside from the few distributions that implement it as a part of updates, getting ZFS working on any Linux distribution by yourself is possible though messy. TrueNAS is one of the many solutions out there, but for those who want a NAS that just works without needing to deal with the technical side, the TrueNAS dashboard can still be a learning curve in itself.

That's where HexOS comes in. It replaces the TrueNAS dashboard with its own "Command Deck"; a modern, intuitive interface that's easy to use and understand without needing to understand the nuances of terms like "VDEV" unless you want to. I already liked where it was going when I tested it out in the middle of last year, and a series of updates since then have made it even better.

More apps, more information, less TrueNAS

You need to use TrueNAS less and less

HexOS was arguably too simple for much of 2025. It's basically just a new front-end for TrueNAS, simplifying the setup process and providing easy-to-use UI options for installing applications, managing your storage, and creating new users. Yet the options that it actually surfaced were far too few, and it meant that installing any application, aside from the small, handpicked selection at the time, meant diving into TrueNAS and installing it that way.

For example, you can now manually configure your storage pool when first configuring HexOS, rather than letting the system set it up for you. Before, HexOS was criticised for holding your hand too tightly during storage setup, but now you have control to set it up the way that you want to. As well, there are a lot more applications available to install, and while many apps still require you to duck into the TrueNAS UI to install them, you can enable expert mode, then browse apps from HexOS, click install, and be brought to the exact place you need to be in the TrueNAS UI. Plus, users can create and share HexOS install scripts, which you can use to install applications without ever leaving the Command Deck.

In fact, it's full steam ahead for Eshtek when it comes to their upcoming 1.0 release, slated for Q1 of 2026. The team shared that it has four primary components left before it's ready for that, including interface refinements, TrueNAS Scale 25.10 (Goldeye) support, bug fixes, and "HexOS Local," a way to have the HexOS Command Deck be a fully local experience when you're on the same network as your NAS. Goldeye support is already here, and the team has now committed to following iXsystems' release cadence with HexOS updates occuring on the .1 update of TrueNAS Scale, in order to avoid potential first-release stability problems.

After that, version 1.1 aims to implement the company's "Buddy Backup" system, where backups can be synchronized across multiple systems. As well, version 1.2 aims to bring support for Virtual Machines, which are already surfaced in the UI if you create them in TrueNAS. They'll be curated in the same way that apps are, meaning you can just install a templated operating system and use it immediately without having to worry about the configuration side of things.

HexOS has a steep upfront cost, but that's the only downside

And right now, it's still cheaper than Unraid

As always, I personally only purchase things for what they are now, rather than what they can be, and HexOS is no different. With that said, the company has been making good on its promises so far, and the project's current state is already far enough along that I imagine its feature parity with other commonly recommended platforms is only around the corner. I imagine that Unraid is its biggest competitor, and while Unraid wins for more janky setups when it comes to mixing and matching drives, ZFS AnyRaid is making strides in this area, too.

On top of that, Unraid shifted to a subscription model last year, with a single lifetime license being available for $249. HexOS, meanwhile, costs $199 per server at the time of writing, with a price increase to $299 expected once the project leaves early access. If you're someone who loves to tinker with Linux and have zero issue with learning the likes of TrueNAS, then HexOS isn't for you. TrueNAS Scale is free, and given that's what HexOS is based on, you'll be able to get basically the same experience without the price attached.

HexOS isn't perfect, and it's still a lot younger than its primary competitors in the form of Unraid, Synology DSM, OpenMediaVault, and even TrueNAS to an extent. There are still features that need to be ported, and right now, I find myself diving into the TrueNAS backend more frequently than the kind of user HexOS is aimed at would likely be comfortable to do. Yet it's still managed to successfully lay down the blueprints for a bridge between the gap of a DIY NAS and a turnkey NAS from the likes of Ugreen and Synology.