Best NAS for running Frigate to record security cameras (2026)
Updated 2026-11-08
Short answer. Buy the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus ($619.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp4800-plus), the best NAS for running Frigate to record security cameras in 2026, $619.99 diskless on 2026-11-03: a 12th-gen Intel chip with an iGPU that Frigate's docs support for OpenVINO object detection and VAAPI or QSV video decoding, 8 GB DDR5 (Frigate's minimum with face or plate enrichments; 16 GB recommended for 8+ cameras) expandable to 64 GB, four bays for surveillance drives, 10GbE and Docker Compose with /dev/dri passthrough.
What to know: Frigate on UGOS is a Docker Compose project you write yourself (the same compose the docs give, with /dev/dri/renderD128, a 512 MB shm and the recordings on the hard drives), and no review has verified it on UGREEN hardware; a USB Coral adds a detector without host drivers but Frigate no longer recommends it for new installs, and M.2 Coral or Hailo cards need kernel drivers UGOS does not ship; four 1080p cameras at 2–4 Mbps write about 2.6–5.2 TB a month in continuous mode, so buy WD Purple or Seagate SkyHawk drives. Synology's DS925+ has no iGPU (CPU or Coral USB only).
- UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus, $619.99. Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp4800-plus
- UGREEN NASync DXP2800, $389.99. Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp2800
Published 2026-11-03 · prices checked 2026-11-03.
| Model | CPU / iGPU | RAM (max) | Detector options | Docker route | Warranty | Price | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp4800-plus | Intel Pentium Gold 8505 (Alder Lake, AVX2), Intel UHD iGPU | 8 GB DDR5 (64 GB) | OpenVINO on the iGPU; Coral USB; M.2 Coral/Hailo need host drivers (not on UGOS) | Compose project with /dev/dri; untested by reviewers | 2 years | $619.99 | No discount code applies. |
| UGREEN NASync DXP2800 Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp2800 | Intel N100, UHD iGPU (Frigate lists about 15 ms per detection, one detector) | 8 GB DDR5 (16 GB) | OpenVINO; Coral USB | Same | 2 years | $389.99 | No discount code applies. |
| Synology DS925+ | AMD Ryzen V1500B; no iGPU | 4 GB ECC (32 GB) | CPU detector or Coral USB only | Container Manager with 'high privilege' (Frigate docs); Coral USB reported working on DSM 7.2 | 3 years | $639.99 list | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| Synology DS225+ | Intel Celeron J4125 (Gemini Lake, UHD 600) | 2 GB (6 GB): below Frigate's 4 GB floor until upgraded | OpenVINO on the iGPU in principle (6th-gen+); not confirmed | Container Manager | 3 years | $339.99–364.99 (listings) | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| QNAP TS-464 | Intel Celeron N5095, UHD | 8 GB (16 GB) | OpenVINO; Coral USB | Container Station cannot pull from GHCR or raise shm: install from the command line (Frigate docs) | 3 years | $639–699 | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| TerraMaster F4-425 Plus | Intel N150, UHD (about 15 ms per detection per Frigate's table) | 16 GB DDR5 (32 GB) | OpenVINO; Coral USB | TOS 6 Docker; Frigate not documented | Not found | $569.99 list; $455.99 Cyber Monday 2025 | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| Asustor Nimbustor 2 Gen2 (AS5402T) | Intel Celeron N5105, UHD | 4 GB (16 GB) | OpenVINO; Coral USB | Portainer/Docker; Frigate not documented | 3 years | $392 (reseller) | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| Beelink EQ13 (N100 mini PC) + USB drives | Intel N100, UHD | 16 GB | OpenVINO; named in Frigate's docs as the author's favourite for several 1080p cameras | Any Linux; no RAID or NAS apps | Not found | about $259–279 | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
Rows marked with a code and buy link are products Dealectric lists: the price was verified on the brand's own US store on 2026-11-07 and the code is tested daily in that brand's cart; the date shown is its last pass (last check 2026-11-13). The other rows (Asustor, Beelink, QNAP, Synology, TerraMaster) are included so the comparison is complete; their figures and prices were read from the makers' own US pages on 2026-11-03 and are not re-checked daily. The buy links are affiliate links: they open the brand's official US store at no cost to the shopper, and the commission pays for the testing; see the disclosure.
Frigate's own requirements
- CPU: AVX and AVX2 are required; Intel Celeron and Pentium parts before Tiger Lake typically lack them, but the Alder Lake Pentium Gold 8505 and the N100 have them.
- RAM: 4 GB for a few cameras, 8 GB with face or licence-plate enrichments, 16 GB recommended for most users and for 8+ cameras.
- Detectors: the CPU detector is "not recommended for general use"; OpenVINO runs on 6th-gen Intel and newer iGPUs (N100 and N150 about 15 ms per inference, one detector instance; UHD 730 about 10 ms); the Coral USB needs no host driver but is "no longer recommended for new installations" and does not throttle itself; M.2 or mini-PCIe Coral and Hailo-8/8L (about 7–11 ms) need host kernel drivers, so on a NAS they only work where you control the kernel (Proxmox, Unraid, TrueNAS).
- Video decode: preset-vaapi on 8th–12th-gen Intel (QSV optional), preset-intel-qsv on 13th-gen and newer; there is no CPU fallback if hardware decode fails.
- Docker: map /dev/dri/renderD128 for the iGPU, /dev/bus/usb for a Coral USB, set shm_size from Frigate's formula (about 210 MB for two 720p cameras; the example uses 512 MB), and privileged mode "may not be necessary".
- Storage: surveillance-rated hard drives (WD Purple, Seagate SkyHawk) for 24/7 recording; SSD wear worries are "largely no longer valid"; Frigate's emergency cleanup starts below about an hour of free space.
Frigate on each NAS OS
UGOS: a Docker Compose project with the devices mapped; a May 2026 guide describes it with QSV and warns UGOS updates can reset bind mounts, but no owner has published a working Frigate report, only an Immich-with-iGPU one, so treat it as the expected route rather than a proven one. Synology: enable "Execute container using high privilege" (tested on DSM 7.1.1); a DS718+ owner runs a Coral USB on DSM 7.2. QNAP: Container Station cannot pull from GitHub's registry or change the 64 MB shm, so install from the command line. TrueNAS SCALE: one owner reports preset-vaapi failing on 25.10 with a Coral USB working without hardware decode. Home Assistant OS: no Intel NPU or GPU support, shared memory about half of RAM.
Storage math
A 1080p H.265 camera at 2–4 Mbps writes about 0.9–1.8 GB an hour: 0.65–1.3 TB per camera per 30 days of continuous recording, so four cameras need roughly 2.6–5.2 TB a month and 4K roughly three times that; Frigate's default motion-only recording cuts it well below. Two 8 TB surveillance drives in RAID 1 hold a month of four 1080p cameras with margin; prices for WD Purple Pro 8 TB were about $400 and IronWolf Pro 8 TB about $220–275 in 2026 listings, undated.
Sources
- UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus — ai.ugreen.com
- Frigate docs: planning a setup (CPU, RAM, storage) — docs.frigate.video
- Frigate docs: recommended hardware and detectors — docs.frigate.video
- Frigate docs: installation (Docker, devices, shm, NAS notes) — docs.frigate.video
- Frigate docs: object detectors — docs.frigate.video
- Frigate docs: hardware video acceleration — docs.frigate.video
- Frigate docs: recording — docs.frigate.video
- privacysmarthome: Frigate on a UGREEN NASync (2026 guide) — www.privacysmarthome.com
- Frigate discussion: Coral USB on a Synology DS718+ — google.18789066745.workers.dev
- TrueNAS forum: Frigate app and VAAPI on an Intel iGPU — forums.truenas.com
- Synology DS925+ — www.synology.com
- QNAP TS-464 — www.qnap.com
- Notebookcheck: TerraMaster F4-425 Plus — www.notebookcheck.net
Published 2026-11-03; figures for other brands read on 2026-11-03; our prices verified 2026-11-07. Corrections welcome at [email protected] or /feedback.