I really want a NAS, but it's out of the question for me — here's why

I really want a NAS. The idea of buying a new piece of tech I can set up and play with gets me uber excited. But it’s not just about novelty. A NAS would get me off those subscription plans for cloud storage where I’m basically just renting digital real estate and where — depending on the provider — privacy is questionable to say the least.

A NAS makes sense in many ways, but there are also several reasons why it doesn’t. Those reasons outweigh all the positives I’ve mentioned, meaning that a NAS is out of the question for me — at least for now. Here’s why.

I can’t justify the cost

A NAS can be expensive. So much so that I can’t justify the cost, mainly because I don’t have enough data to store on it. My colleague wrote a post about how much data you actually need to have for a NAS to make financial sense, and the answer was at least 2TB.

While I have plenty of photos, videos, and all sorts of business documents I store in the cloud, I’m not nearly a quarter there at the moment. I’m working with less than 400GB of data, making the switch from cloud storage to a NAS irrational from a financial perspective.

As an example, a Google One plan with 400GB of storage goes for just $50 per year. If I set up my NAS, I’d have to futureproof it and add in more storage, and the total bill would easily exceed $500. That means the NAS would pay for itself in 10 years or more, which is a long time. Lots of things can happen in that time, including Google bumping up storage on each of its plans, pushing the financial breaking point even further into the future. As an example, Google’s $20 One AI Pro plan’s storage was increased overnight from 2TB to 5TB for no extra charge.

What’s more, Google’s $50 per year plan also includes higher usage limits for Gemini, adds Gemini to Gmail, which most people use, and offers a few extra perks. Google obviously isn’t the only cloud storage provider out there, so there are plenty of options to choose from. Some are a bit more expensive, others a bit cheaper, but in any case, I don’t see any financial logic in switching from the cloud to a NAS for me at this very moment.

I want less work, not more

Using any cloud storage solution comes with at least a certain amount of maintenance. Take Google Photos as an example. If you have thousands of images and keep adding new ones like most people do, you have to sort them into albums, delete the ones you took and don’t like, and perhaps even use the editing tools built into Photos to make your favorite ones stand out more.

With a NAS, all that work is still there, but you can add a bunch more on top. I’d have to set it up and make sure it’s secure, meaning that no one can easily get access to my data. Then there are software updates I have to install, deal with things like cleaning the fans to ensure the device runs properly, and more. God forbid something breaks in the process, which just adds extra stress on top of additional expenses.

Cloud storage is just a lot more convenient. I just sign in, and that’s it. All the security measures and updates are handled by the provider, and I never have to worry about anything breaking. If it does, it’s not something that generally concerns me and doesn’t affect the data I have stored.

I’d argue that the difference between cloud storage and a NAS is like the difference between going camping and going to a hotel. With camping, you have to set up everything on your pitch and maintain it for a good experience, while a hotel takes care of everything for you. You just unlock the door and lie down, and when you come back from a day out, the room is nice and tidy.

One is not necessarily better than the other — it just comes down to what you value more. I value my time, so I’d like to avoid maintaining another device and just leave that to the cloud storage provider. But if you love playing IT administrator at home, that’s a different story, and a NAS may be better suited to you.

Clutter, noise, and power drain

I wouldn’t call myself a minimalist in the proper sense of the word, but I don’t like visual clutter. My desk is already filled with too much stuff as is, including a monitor, a mini PC, a keyboard and mouse, a dedicated mic I need for meetings, a hub for my smart home, and a Bluetooth speaker. It’s all nicely organized on my somewhat large desk, but it’s at the limit. Adding a NAS to the mix would create too much visual clutter for me, which is something I’d rather avoid.

But that’s not even half the story. A NAS can also be relatively loud, which is another thing I want to avoid. Granted, it’s not exactly like having a lawnmower in my office, but there’s a constant hum that’s hard to unhear once you hear it, alongside other sounds it makes, especially when the device is reading or writing data.

The power drain is another thing to add to the list of inconveniences. A NAS is generally designed to be on at all times to allow you to access the data it stores, and that would increase power consumption in my apartment, adding a few bucks to the electricity bill.

Here’s what I do instead

A NAS is not for me, despite the fact that I want it for the novelty alone. The initial setup is something I’d enjoy, but over the long run, the maintenance, cost, noise, and everything else that comes with it would make me regret it. At least for now.

However, keeping my data private is still important to me, which is an area where a NAS has the upper hand compared to something like Google One, which I used as an example in this post. I have used Google Drive and Photos for a long, long time before privacy became a real concern for me.

However, I was able to solve it without getting a NAS. Instead of Google One, I subscribe to Proton Unlimited, which gets me an alternative to Google Drive, Photos, and Gmail, alongside a VPN, password manager, and a few other services. What makes it different is that it offers end-to-end encryption, meaning my files are completely safe. They are for my eyes only, as even Proton itself cannot see them. That gives me the best of both worlds. I get the privacy of a NAS and the convenience of cloud storage.

The only problem here is cost. I got a good deal at around $100 per year for 500GB, which is double the Google One plan I was previously on — but has 100GB of storage more. However, the plan also includes extra perks like a VPN and the best password manager I’ve ever used — Proton Pass — alongside a few extra services, so it’s not completely fair to compare pricing one-to-one. Subscribing to those individually can cost a pretty penny, so the cloud storage that I get feels reasonably cheap when compared to a NAS.

There are other privacy-focused options out there besides Proton, of course, with Ente being one of them. It’s a great Photos alternative and was praised by my colleague Rob when he tested it out last year.

So for now, a NAS is out of the question, and Proton is the service of choice for me. At least for now. Once my data library increases, I’ll likely have to reconsider my options and see what makes most sense to me at that time. Maybe I’ll get a NAS eventually or even move back to a Google One plan for all my non-sensitive data storage needs. The truth is that none of these options are perfect, as there’s a compromise I have to make when opting for each one, so it just comes down to what makes the most sense at a given time.

So with that in mind, my current setup isn’t exactly something I recommend to everyone. Those who have a lot of data and don’t mind the maintenance of a NAS should definitely get one. And if privacy isn’t your biggest concern and you like Google, you should stick to its One subscription plans, as apps like Drive and Photos are a lot more feature-packed, fast, and easy to use than Proton’s alternatives. But if you’re like me and sitting in the middle, Proton or an alternative privacy-focused cloud storage service just might be for you.