If you want it just for Time Machine - the Synology DS223j. Soon after you get it you'll see all the uses and which you purchased a better one. Answer from Bob_Rowing on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mac › what's the best time capsule / time machine replacement?
r/mac on Reddit: What's the best time capsule / time machine replacement?
February 26, 2026 -

Since Apple deprecated AFP and discontinued the Time Capsule, I’ve been looking for a simple, plug-and-play NAS something reliable and hassle-free. My experience with NAS devices is limited, so I really just want something dead simple and reliable without tinkering after setup.

I know I could use an external SSD with my Mac, but that’s inconvenient and requires me to remember to back up on a schedule. Modern NAS devices have become overly complex, with servers, Docker apps, and high price tags like Synology and QNAP.

The closest option I’ve found that fits my needs is the Ubiquiti UNAS 2, but even that is around $200 without drives.

Ideally, I want a NAS that can serve as both cloud storage and a Time Machine backup endpoint nothing more. I previously had a WD MyCloud, which was perfect except for the baked in security vulnerabilities.

With storage prices so high right now, I’d love to use the drives I already have: a new 1TB 2.5" SSD and a 1TB 3.5" WD HDD (shucked from my previous NAS) in a simple RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration. Secure remote access with a mobile app would be a huge bonus.

Is this really a niche ask?

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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 256240590
Time Capsule replacement options - Apple Community
February 7, 2026 - (Time Machine backup to NAS via ... with an ancient and wildly insecure SMBv1 only.) Available hardware alternatives include: Ubiquiti UNAS, Synology NAS, UGREEN NAS, TrueNAS, ZimaOS, a Mac running macOS 11 or later and sufficient local storage, and various other options (also) ...
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MacRumors
forums.macrumors.com › macs › networking
Time Capsule/NAS alternatives | MacRumors Forums
January 1, 2024 - The best solution, at least in 2025, appears to be the TP-Link BE9300, aka Archer BE550. It has a USB3 port on the back that you can plug in any drive and it appears on the network and works with TimeMachine.
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Apple Hulp
machulp.nu › home › nieuws › apple is discontinuing time capsule: these are the best alternatives for your time machine backup
Apple is discontinuing Time Capsule: here the alternatives
August 31, 2025 - Time Capsule and Airport Extreme are permanently disappearing as backup options. Users must therefore NOW choose another backup method to prevent data loss. We recommend choosing a QNAP solution, and as a budget option, you can consider a USB ...
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 253483681
What can replace Apple Time Capsule? - Apple Community
No other manufacturer ever offered the same type of product, so there is really no direct replacement at all for a Time Capsule. The closest that you can come to a Time Capsule at this point is a router from Synology or Asus that includes a USB port that will support Time Machine backups to ...
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HubPages
discover.hubpages.com › technology › time-capsule-alternative
Best Alternative to Time Capsule - HubPages
March 27, 2024 - Losing my data got me to look at backing up with Time Machine, and reliability concerns prompted me to look at Time Capsule alternatives. Research brought me to Western Digital's My Book Live Duo, which has a number of big benefits over the ...
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-best-replacement-for-an-Apple-Airport-time-capsule
What is the best replacement for an Apple Airport time capsule? - Quora
Answer: * there is no real replacement for an original Apple Airport Time Capsule… * but: - any external HD (Harddisk) can be used as a backup with an USB-cable conncted to a Mac and using the built-in Time Machine app in macOS https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250 https://www.imore.com/how-...
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This brand has a long-standing of reliability and trustworthiness in this category. They have excellent long-term support. Feature updates (e.g. the newest DSM WebOS) are often even pushed out for 10-year-old hardware - you'll find it hard to find that level of support elsewhere. This NAS has 2-bays, storage up to 2x108 TB (theoretically speaking), companion apps, and its UI runs in a WebOS-System within the browser (and is therefore not bound to any operating system).This brand has a long-standing of reliability and trustworthiness in this category. They have excellent long-term support. Feature updates (e.g. the newest DSM WebOS) are often even pushed out for 10-year-old hardware - you'll find it hard to find that level of support elsewhere. This NAS has 2-bays, storage up to 2x108 TB (theoretically speaking), companion apps, and its UI runs in a WebOS-System within the browser (and is therefore not bound to any operating system).Single-button press backup functionality (ports and button on the front): This function is called USBCopy. You just need to attach your media to the front, press the Copy button (labeled C on this version) and wait untill it's done (no need to have it attached to any PC and no need to login to the NAS as well). By default, the backups get compressed to a single archive per backup and are named after their device name and timestamp attached (changeable within the settings). Older/other versions also had an SD-Card reader, this one doesn't (but it seems to have an eSATA port) so you might search for an alternative if you need the SD-Card reader. | DiskStation Manager OS is rock solid: DiskStation Manager OS is by far the best commercial NAS-OS out there when it comes to expandability, usability, and stability. No other system comes close, unless you build one yourself and use an Open-Source NAS-OS that you fine-tune to your needs. | Synology has by far the best LTS of any comparable manufacturer: Even 10-year-old NAS storages still get updates for their OS (called DSM). The only thing that limits you is the hardware. | Full flegged x86 CPU: See this for tech-spec. | AES-NI hardware encryption engine: Encryption performance at over 113.01 MB/s reading, 111.66 MB/s writing. | Too many variants, pricing is not always logical: With, without an SD-Card reader; with, without a copy button and front ports. Model numbers also don't seem to follow any logic so you have to be careful when buying here. Also with some, you can switch the RAM model yourself while on many others it's soldered to the mainboard. You don't need the latest model. Be careful selecting one to fit your needs and pocket when buying (they're pretty good even when they're used - just use new HDDs and you're fine). | Not made for 4K streaming addicts (PLEX): Yet so are typical other NAS from other manufacturers unless they are tailored for the purpose. Synology calls these NAS boxes "play" e. g. DS216play. They often have other drawbacks. · You have to spend more to get hardware level support for proper media-streaming. This is, however, not the usual task for a NAS and is only interesting if you need to stream 4K files (most often other bottlenecks are in-place like a slow network connection anyway). For streaming 1080p this NAS should be fine. · If you need serious streaming look elsewhere. | Requires a bit of work if you want to get the most out of it: It's clearly not made for people that want to buy a device and just use it but those that take some time to set it up. Once you're done, it runs, and runs, and runs (till you want to do more, which you can since it has Package-Management built in that enables you to download new packages and extend the functionality of your simple NAS). | Company-level advanced BTRFS file system with built-in data integrity check: See further details on Synology's page | Usability (WebOS): Product and software work seamlessly with any operating system (since it's a WebOS running in the browser). Product software has easy to follow icons and GUI that allow users to use it as a VPN, time machine, media server, etc. | Expensive: While the cost is not as high as some, there are similar storage size options for cheaper prices. This price tag, like most, is for branding and the high quality product you get from Synology. | Slow support: Technical support is not the go to option for a solution, with long wait times, and open cases taking up to weeks to resolve (that is with persistent follow up). | Options: Do you need 2 bays, 4 bays? Diskless, or up to 32TB? While prices will vary between size options, there are enough combinations to choose from for your storage needs.
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The QNAP TS-451+ is a four-bay NAS capable of running up to a RAID 5 configuration. You can even transcode and stream 4K video files with the TS-451+. For home-based uses, you the QNAP will pretty much cover everything you need.The QNAP TS-451+ is a four-bay NAS capable of running up to a RAID 5 configuration. You can even transcode and stream 4K video files with the TS-451+. For home-based uses, you the QNAP will pretty much cover everything you need.Great for surveillance systems: This unit comes with two free surveillance camera licenses that can be used with special surveillance software. If you want to use more than two cameras, you can scale up your surveillance network by purchasing additional camera licenses. Up to 40 IP surveillance cameras can simultaneously stream data to this unit. It supports more than 3000 different kinds of camera. | Excellent for home entertainment: This NAS unit performs brilliantly in terms of multimedia transcoding. It can stream Full HD videos to multiple client devices simultaneously without any lag. | Saves power when not in use: This unit has a scheduled power management system. Rather than always staying on standby, when the NAS isn’t being used, it will switch to a system sleep mode which only consumes 0.57 W. | Easy to configure by using it as a standalone station: You can hook up a mouse, a keyboard and a display to this unit and use it as a standalone station to setup and configure it. This is possible because it has four USB ports and a HDMI port. | Expandable storage: You can expand the storage potential of this unit up to a 96TB with an eight-bay extension unit. A cheaper five-bay extension unit is also available. You can also expand the RAM from 2GB to 8GB of DDR3 RAM.
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 252680603
Is there an alternative for Time Capsule … - Apple Community
April 24, 2021 - So, instead of an "all in one" solution consisting of a router with a built in hard drive.....(the Time Capsule).....you will have a "two-piece" solution consisting of a separate router and hard drive.
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 253651650
what should replace my airport time capsu… - Apple Community
February 9, 2022 - The closest that you can come would be a router from either Synology or Asus that will support Time Machine backups to a separate USB hard drive connected to the product. So, instead of a one-piece solution like the Time Capsule, you will have a two-piece solution......a separate router and ...
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MetaFilter
ask.metafilter.com › 383501 › Replacement-for-Apple-AirPort-Time-Capsule-for-backup
Replacement for Apple AirPort Time Capsule for backup - storage | Ask MetaFilter
One option mentioned in that discussion was the Synology BeeStation, which is their new consumer-level device. I can't tell whether it supports Apple's Time Machine protocol, but it might still be a good backup solution.
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 255039861
Replacing my Airport Time Capsule - Apple Community
August 2, 2023 - There seems to be no equivalent to the AirPort time capsule, and if I understand correctly, there may be 2 alternative setups that could work:
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Ivanexpert
ivanexpert.com › 2020 › 08 › the-simplest-time-capsule-replacement
the simplest Time Capsule replacement
August 18, 2020 - The Western Digital My Cloud Home is an excellent replacement for a Time Capsule, as it's easy to set up and works wirelessly.
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-best-replacement-for-the-Apple-Time-Capsule
What is the best replacement for the Apple Time Capsule? - Quora
Answer: Good question. I’ve been using Apple Airport Extremes for a long, long time, and prefer them over your garden-variety router because they are inherently more secure. I prefer Apple Airport Extreme routers for a few reasons including: * Apple provides firmware updates for many more year...
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 254790261
I need to replace my time capsule - not s… - Apple Community
New Network and Time Capsule backups I have installed Nest video cameras around my home, and exceeded the range of my "last available" Time Capsule unit from Apple. As a result, I got "first available" Nest Wifi Pro units to expand my network and they work exceptional.
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Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 256133134
What is the best Time Capsule replacement? - Apple Community
September 11, 2025 - None actually. Remember that the Time Capsule was unique product......a Wi-Fi router with a built in hard drive designed to handle Time Machine backups from multiple Macs over Wi-Fi.
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MacRumors
forums.macrumors.com › macs › alternatives to mac hardware
Alternatives to Time Capsule | MacRumors Forums
November 8, 2019 - Click to expand... As far as I know the best alternative to Time Capsule is a NAS (Network Attached Storage). Effectively Time Capsule was also a NAS (but named 'sexier' by Apple).
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Stack Exchange
hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com › questions › 15716 › backup-for-mac-alternatives-to-apple-time-capsule
data storage - Backup for Mac? Alternatives to Apple Time Capsule? - Hardware Recommendations Stack Exchange
I used to backup my MacBook to the Apple Time Capsule. It saved me several times in the past ~5 years. Since Apple is not manufacturing this device anymore, I wonder what is the current most effect...
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SoftwareHow
softwarehow.com › home › blog › 8 time machine alternatives for mac
8 Alternatives to Apple's Time Machine for Mac in 2026
June 15, 2025 - If you need to go back to an earlier version of a spreadsheet or word processing document, for example, you can. Better still, because Time Machine is integrated into macOS, you can do that easily with any Apple app by selecting File / Revert ...