--- title: I ditched cloud storage for a NAS and saved hundreds in... description: Switching from cloud storage subscriptions to a home NAS can save hundreds of dollars over five years. Cloud plans costing $10–$20/month add up to $600–$1,200... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-cloud-storage-for-a-nas-and-saved-hundreds-in-the-process-nedc77tbk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I ditched cloud storage for a NAS and saved hundreds in the process | daily.dev og:description: Switching from cloud storage subscriptions to a home NAS can save hundreds of dollars over five years. Cloud plans costing $10–$20/month add up to $600–$1,200... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-cloud-storage-for-a-nas-and-saved-hundreds-in-the-process-nedc77tbk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/neDc77tBk.png og:image:alt: I ditched cloud storage for a NAS and saved hundreds in the process og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I ditched cloud storage for a NAS and saved hundreds in the process **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Switching from cloud storage subscriptions to a home NAS can save hundreds of dollars over five years. Cloud plans costing $10–$20/month add up to $600–$1,200 over five years, while a NAS pays for itself quickly and offers terabytes of storage with gigabit local transfer speeds. Modern NAS software like Immich (with ML face recognition and mobile backup) and Nextcloud replicate the Google Photos/iCloud experience offline. The key caveat is the 3-2-1 backup rule: keep three copies across two media types with one off-site copy (e.g., Backblaze B2 or Hetzner Storage Box) to avoid a single point of failure. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much can I save by switching from cloud storage to a home NAS over 5 years? Paying $10–$20 per month across multiple cloud accounts adds up to $600–$1,200 over five years. A 2-bay or 4-bay NAS with high-capacity drives pays for itself within that window while providing terabytes of local storage instead of gigabytes, plus unthrottled gigabit LAN transfer speeds instead of slow residential ISP upload pipes. _Developers and home users weighing the NAS vs. cloud cost trade-off find real numbers on daily.dev._ ### What is the 3-2-1 backup rule for a home NAS? The 3-2-1 rule means keeping three copies of your data across two different media types, with one copy stored off-site. For a home NAS, this typically means automated, encrypted nightly syncing to cold storage services like Backblaze B2 or Hetzner Storage Box, or an off-site NAS at a trusted location such as a family member's house. _Anyone building a resilient home backup strategy can track NAS and self-hosting discussions on daily.dev._ ### What open source software can replace Google Photos on a self-hosted NAS? Immich is a self-hosted alternative that replicates the Google Photos experience with machine-learning face recognition, object detection, map timelines, and instant background mobile backup — all offline with no third-party data collection. Nextcloud and Synology Drive are other options that add document sync and automated phone camera roll capture without file size limits. _Self-hosters choosing between Immich, Nextcloud, and similar tools can follow the conversation on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Leaving the cloud for a NAS taught me I still need it, just not the way I thought](https://daily.dev/posts/leaving-the-cloud-for-a-nas-taught-me-i-still-need-it-just-not-the-way-i-thought-hqpkx2prl) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I ditched Google One for a 2-bay NAS, and my storage costs dropped by 90%](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-google-one-for-a-2-bay-nas-and-my-storage-costs-dropped-by-90--jxwr4svvo) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Cloud Is Drowning — But I’m Fine, I Live by the River \(and I Have a NAS\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-cloud-is-drowning-but-i-m-fine-i-live-by-the-river-and-i-have-a-nas--oe7pc8up5) · Codemotion · 5 upvotes · 0 comments - [7 things I stopped paying for after getting a NAS](https://daily.dev/posts/7-things-i-stopped-paying-for-after-getting-a-nas-ryuiis7es) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-cloud-storage-for-a-nas-and-saved-hundreds-in-the-process-nedc77tbk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I ditched cloud storage for a NAS and saved hundreds in the process","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-cloud-storage-for-a-nas-and-saved-hundreds-in-the-process-nedc77tbk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-cloud-storage-for-a-nas-and-saved-hundreds-in-the-process-nedc77tbk"},"datePublished":"2026-08-08T18:32:44.284Z","dateModified":"2026-08-08T18:33:14.228Z","description":"Switching from cloud storage subscriptions to a home NAS can save hundreds of dollars over five years. 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