A recent XDA piece put CasaOS in the “beginner” bucket next to TrueNAS and Unraid. That is fair. CasaOS gets a first-time home-lab user to a working Jellyfin, Nextcloud, or Home Assistant install in under an hour, and the price is a smaller app catalog and no built-in disk protection. The gap is where every alternative below aims.
We tested seven CasaOS alternatives on a HP MicroServer Gen10 Plus, a repurposed NUC, and a Raspberry Pi 5. Each one solves at least one of CasaOS’s real trade-offs: a bigger app store, a proper backup story, or storage protection you do not have to bolt on later.
Why people look past CasaOS in 2026
The r/selfhosted and r/homelab threads on CasaOS repeat the same points:
- The app catalog covers roughly 80 packages. Unraid’s Community Applications and UmbrelOS’s store both go past that, and the shape of the CasaOS store is Docker Compose files under the hood, so power users end up managing Compose directly anyway.
- No native RAID or parity. Storage below CasaOS is your problem to solve.
- No first-class multi-user story. CasaOS treats the box as a single-owner device. Family setups need a separate identity layer.
- Slow release cadence. Major features land quarterly at best.
- The Zima commercial tie means some app-store additions are targeted at ZimaBoard and ZimaCube first.
None of this makes CasaOS a bad first pick. But every alternative below fills at least one of these gaps.
Quick comparison
| OS | Best for | App catalog | Storage layer | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UmbrelOS | Phone-style app store | 100+ apps | Btrfs | Prettiest UX in this category |
| ZimaOS | ZimaBoard/ZimaCube owners | CasaOS-derived store | ZFS optional | Tightest hardware integration |
| Runtipi | Docker Compose store, self-hosted | 200+ apps | Whatever the host uses | Broader Docker catalog |
| YunoHost | Multi-user family server | 400+ apps | Debian-native | Real user accounts, LDAP, mail |
| OpenMediaVault | NAS-first, apps second | Docker plugin | ext4, XFS, Btrfs, ZFS plugin | Actual RAID and shares |
| Cosmos Server | Reverse proxy plus app store | 100+ apps | Whatever the host uses | Built-in auth, HTTPS, WAF |
| Home Assistant OS | Smart home first | 2000+ HACS add-ons | ext4 | Home automation is the anchor |
The 7 best CasaOS alternatives
UmbrelOS — best for a polished home app store
UmbrelOS started life as a Bitcoin node OS and grew into a general home-server platform with a phone-app-store UX that is honestly better than anything else in this list. Immich, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Nostr relays, Bitcoin Core, and Adguard Home are all one-tap installs. The Umbrel Home hardware box is a first-party option, but the OS installs on x86 and Raspberry Pi with a single flash.
Where it falls short: No native RAID. Bitcoin-first roots leave some UI corners feeling niche.
Pricing: Fully free and open source. Umbrel Home hardware is optional.
vs CasaOS: Bigger catalog, prettier UX. Same storage story: bring your own protection.
Download: UmbrelOS
Bottom line: The pick when you want the CasaOS experience with a wider catalog and a UX that would not look out of place on iOS.
ZimaOS — best for Zima hardware owners
ZimaOS is CasaOS’s sibling project from the same team, tightened around ZimaBoard and ZimaCube. On those boxes you get first-party RAID setup, RGB controls for ZimaCube, and a recovery flow tied to the vendor’s boot media. On non-Zima x86 it installs, but you lose most of the differentiators.
Where it falls short: Ecosystem lock-in. Off Zima hardware, CasaOS itself is usually the better pick.
Pricing: Fully free with Zima hardware. Free to install on generic x86 too.
vs CasaOS: Only better if you own the hardware. Otherwise it is CasaOS with a different logo.
Download: ZimaOS
Bottom line: Right pick only if a Zima box is what you plan to run.
Runtipi — best when the CasaOS catalog is too small
Runtipi is a self-hosted app store project with a catalog roughly triple the size of CasaOS’s. Everything ships as Docker Compose. The web UI is intentionally minimal and the install command is a single curl on Debian or Ubuntu. The maintainer community keeps the store growing week over week, and pull requests to add apps land quickly.
Where it falls short: UX is less polished than UmbrelOS. No storage layer, same as CasaOS.
Pricing: Fully free and open source.
vs CasaOS: Same shape, wider catalog, more community throughput. Same storage caveats.
Download: Runtipi
Bottom line: Pick when you have hit CasaOS’s catalog ceiling and Docker Compose is fine as the underlying model.
YunoHost — best for a family server
YunoHost is the mature multi-user self-hosted server platform with real user accounts, LDAP, and a first-class mail stack. It is the closest thing to a self-hosted “Google Workspace on your box” experience: Nextcloud for files, Roundcube for mail, Rainloop, XMPP, WordPress, Mastodon, and 400 more packages. The user model means every family member gets an account with SSO across apps.
Where it falls short: Setup is deeper than CasaOS. The DNS and TLS layer expects a real domain. Not the pick for a Pi-in-a-drawer.
Pricing: Fully free and open source.
vs CasaOS: Real user accounts and a real mail stack. Steeper install.
Download: YunoHost
Bottom line: The pick when the family or a small team needs accounts, mail, and per-user apps.
OpenMediaVault — best when NAS is the point
OpenMediaVault is the answer when the honest truth is you wanted a NAS and picked CasaOS by mistake. OMV handles RAID (mdadm), SMB, NFS, snapshots, and the storage jobs CasaOS punts on. Docker and Portainer arrive through the omv-extras channel and cover most home-lab appetites.
Where it falls short: The Docker experience is a plugin, not a native app store. The learning curve is closer to a traditional NAS than to CasaOS’s one-click model.
Pricing: Fully free and open source.
vs CasaOS: Wins on storage. Loses on app-store polish.
Download: OpenMediaVault
Bottom line: The pick when disk protection is not optional and Docker apps are secondary.
Cosmos Server — best for reverse-proxy plus apps
Cosmos Server merges a self-hosted app store with a reverse proxy, HTTPS, authentication, and a Web Application Firewall out of the box. Every app you install gets a subdomain, TLS, and SSO without touching Traefik or Nginx configs. The security tilt is the differentiator: 2FA, geo-blocking, and per-app access controls arrive by default.
Where it falls short: Newer project. Catalog is decent but not the biggest. Some users hit rough edges on ARM.
Pricing: Fully free and open source. Optional Pro tier for advanced monitoring.
vs CasaOS: Wins on security and reverse-proxy automation. Same “bring your own storage” story.
Download: Cosmos Server
Bottom line: Pick when the apps go on the internet and you do not want to hand-write reverse-proxy configs.
Home Assistant OS — best when smart home is the anchor
Home Assistant OS is a full appliance OS that treats home automation as the point and self-hosted apps as the neighbours. Through HACS (Home Assistant Community Store) and the official add-ons list, you can install Node-RED, Frigate for NVR, ESPHome, Zigbee2MQTT, and dozens more. It is not a general home server. But if the home is already automated, folding a few CasaOS-style apps into HAOS avoids running two boxes.
Where it falls short: Not a general server OS. Apps outside the HA ecosystem need workarounds.
Pricing: Fully free and open source. Nabu Casa cloud is a paid add-on.
vs CasaOS: Wins if smart home is the point. Loses as a general Jellyfin-and-Nextcloud box.
Download: Home Assistant OS
Bottom line: Right pick when the household already runs on Home Assistant and adding a NAS layer next to it is overkill.
How to choose
- Pick UmbrelOS if the UX polish and the wider one-tap catalog are the reason you are switching.
- Pick Runtipi if the catalog size is the only complaint and Docker Compose under the hood is fine.
- Pick YunoHost if the family or a small team needs real accounts, SSO, and mail.
- Pick OpenMediaVault if disk protection is the real requirement and apps are secondary.
- Pick Cosmos Server if the apps go on the internet and you want auth and reverse proxy handled.
- Pick Home Assistant OS if the smart home is already the anchor of the home network.
- Stay on CasaOS if the box is a Pi 5 or an old NUC, the catalog covers what you actually run, and the “under an hour to Jellyfin” pitch is exactly the pitch you needed.
FAQ
What is the biggest app catalog in this list? YunoHost with roughly 400 official packages. Home Assistant HACS is larger but scoped to smart-home add-ons.
Does CasaOS have RAID? Not natively. Storage protection sits on the host filesystem. If disk protection is required, OpenMediaVault or a hypervisor with ZFS underneath is the honest fix.
Can I run CasaOS on top of another OS? Yes. CasaOS installs on Debian, Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS, and Armbian. It is a layer, not a boot medium.
Is UmbrelOS only for Bitcoin? No. The Bitcoin origin story is real, but the current catalog covers Immich, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Adguard Home, and most non-crypto home-server apps.
Which one works on a Raspberry Pi 5? CasaOS, UmbrelOS, Runtipi, and Home Assistant OS all install on Pi 5. YunoHost also runs but expects a proper domain.
