Choosing between the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro 4-Bay NAS (Diskless) and the ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4 Gen3 AS6804T 4-Bay NAS (Diskless) is a non-Synology 4-bay fork. One side is a Core i3-N305 box with 32GB DDR5 and dual 2.5GbE on TerraMaster TOS. The other is a Ryzen Embedded tower with ECC RAM, dual 10GbE plus dual 5GbE, four M.2 slots, and USB4 on ASUSTOR ADM. Specs and street prices below come from manufacturer sheets and current Amazon listings, not a lab shootout.
This head-to-head sits beside What Is a NAS, RAID Levels Explained, and the Synology DS225+ vs UGREEN DXP4800 Plus comparison (that one is Synology vs UGREEN; this one is TerraMaster vs ASUSTOR). For quieter under-desk options see Quiet Under-Desk NAS for Plex and Backups. For a host-plus-switch kit angle see Proxmox Home Lab Starter Kit.
| Attribute | TerraMaster F4-424 Pro 4-Bay NAS (Diskless) | ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4 Gen3 AS6804T 4-Bay NAS (Diskless) |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Price | $730.99approx. · checked Sep 2026 | $1,747.74approx. · checked Sep 2026 |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-N305, 8 cores / 8 threads, up to 3.8 GHz | AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14, 4 cores, 2.3-3.8 GHz |
| RAM | 32 GB DDR5 non-ECC (non-upgradable per maker) | 16 GB ECC DDR5, expandable to 64 GB |
| Network | 2x 2.5GbE RJ-45 | 2x 10GbE + 2x 5GbE RJ-45 |
| Drive bays | 4x 3.5"/2.5" SATA (diskless) | 4x 3.5"/2.5" SATA (diskless) |
| M.2 | 2x M.2 2280 NVMe (PCIe 3.0 x1) | 4x M.2 2280 NVMe (PCIe 4.0) |
| USB / video | 2x USB 3.2 10Gbps, 1x HDMI | Not listed |
| OS | TerraMaster TOS | ASUSTOR ADM |
| Warranty | 2 years | 3 years (maker marketing) |
| USB | Not listed | 2x USB4 Type-C, 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A |
| Buy | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
Quick verdict
Most people should buy the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro. It delivers an Intel Core i3-N305 (8 cores / 8 threads), 32GB DDR5, dual 2.5GbE, two M.2 NVMe slots, HDMI, and TOS at roughly $730.99 diskless. The ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4 Gen3 (AS6804T) wins when you need dual 10GbE plus dual 5GbE, 16GB ECC DDR5 expandable to 64GB, four M.2 slots, USB4, and ADM, and you accept a street price near $1,747.74 before drives.
Price and value
Winner: TerraMaster F4-424 Pro. Recent Amazon anchors put the F4-424 Pro near $730.99 and the AS6804T near $1,747.74, both diskless. For a first serious 4-bay NAS that mainly backs up a few clients and serves media on a gigabit or 2.5GbE LAN, TerraMaster is the clearer dollars story. Pay the ASUSTOR premium when you will hang multi-gig or 10GbE clients, want ECC memory habits, or need four NVMe slots and USB4 on day one.
CPU, RAM, and Plex / media
Winner: TerraMaster F4-424 Pro for packed RAM and media transcode paper; ASUSTOR for ECC expandability. Maker sheets list an Intel Core i3-N305 (8c/8t, up to 3.8 GHz) with integrated UHD graphics and hardware transcoding claims (H.264/H.265 up to 4K), plus 32GB DDR5 non-ECC that TerraMaster documents as non-upgradable past that 32GB ceiling. The AS6804T uses AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (quad-core, 2.3 GHz base / 3.8 GHz turbo) with 16GB ECC DDR5 expandable to 64GB across two SODIMM slots. Ryzen V3C14 is a strong storage/virt SoC, but it is not the Quick Sync-style iGPU path many Plex buyers expect. If hardware-assisted Plex or Jellyfin transcodes matter more than ECC, TerraMaster is the easier paper pick. If long-running VMs and ECC memory integrity matter more, ASUSTOR wins that axis.
Networking and I/O
Winner: ASUSTOR AS6804T. Dual 10GbE plus dual 5GbE beat TerraMaster's dual 2.5GbE (link aggregation up to about 5 Gb on paper) whenever the LAN and clients can use multi-gig. ASUSTOR also adds dual USB4 (40 Gbps) Type-C plus three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports. TerraMaster brings dual USB 3.2 10Gbps and an HDMI out for local display habits. For multi-disk DAS-style expansion without buying another NAS, see Best DAS RAID Enclosures.
| Axis | TerraMaster F4-424 Pro | ASUSTOR AS6804T |
|---|---|---|
| Bays | 4x SATA (diskless) | 4x SATA (diskless) |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-N305, 8c/8t, up to 3.8 GHz | AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14, 4c, 2.3-3.8 GHz |
| RAM | 32GB DDR5 (non-ECC, non-upgradable per maker) | 16GB ECC DDR5 (to 64GB) |
| Network | Dual 2.5GbE | Dual 10GbE + dual 5GbE |
| M.2 | 2x NVMe (PCIe 3.0 x1) | 4x NVMe (PCIe 4.0) |
| Extra I/O | Dual USB 3.2 10Gbps, HDMI | Dual USB4, 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
| OS | TOS | ADM |
| Warranty | 2 years | 3 years (maker marketing) |
| Typical street price | ~$731 | ~$1,748 |
| Best fit | Value 4-bay with media headroom | Multi-gig / ECC / USB4 power NAS |
M.2 cache and storage layout
Winner: ASUSTOR AS6804T. Four M.2 NVMe slots on PCIe 4.0 give more room for cache pools, all-flash tiers, or mixed cache-plus-storage layouts than TerraMaster's two M.2 slots on PCIe 3.0 x1. Both still start as four-bay SATA chassis for bulk HDD capacity. Budget NAS HDDs separately (both listings are diskless). For array vocabulary when a disk fails later, see Replace a Failed RAID Drive and RAID Levels Explained. For tray language, see Hot-swap.
Software: TOS vs ADM
Winner: ASUSTOR ADM for maturity and SMB package habits; TerraMaster TOS for buyers who mainly want SMB shares, snapshots, and a lighter app set. ADM has a longer track record for apps, snapshots, and remote-access habits that feel closer to Synology for many buyers. TOS covers TRAID, snapshots, backup tools, and Docker-class workloads, but the ecosystem is often described as younger than ADM or DSM. If you want appliance polish and a bigger how-to corpus, lean ASUSTOR. If you are fine with a capable but less crowded app store and care more about the i3-N305 / 32GB hardware deal, TerraMaster is enough. For share protocol basics, see SMB. For remote access without opening random ports, see Set Up Tailscale on a NAS.
Who should buy which
Buy the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro if you want a 4-bay NAS with 32GB DDR5, dual 2.5GbE, and Quick Sync-class media paper at roughly half (or less) the ASUSTOR chassis price, and you are comfortable with TOS.
Buy the ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4 Gen3 AS6804T if you need dual 10GbE plus dual 5GbE, expandable ECC DDR5, four M.2 slots, USB4, and ADM maturity, and the ~$1,748 diskless street price fits the project.
Skip both if you want Synology DSM specifically (see the DS225+ vs UGREEN fork), or you only need USB-attached expansion without network shares (a DAS is simpler).
Bottom line
TerraMaster F4-424 Pro and ASUSTOR AS6804T solve adjacent 4-bay problems without Synology in the mix. The F4-424 Pro is the overall pick for most buyers: more RAM out of the box, stronger media-transcode paper, and a much lower diskless street price. The AS6804T is the pick when multi-gig networking, ECC expandability, four M.2 slots, and USB4 are the real requirements. Specs here are from maker sheets and Amazon listings, not a lab shootout. Confirm current street pricing, then View on Amazon for the F4-424 Pro or the AS6804T before you order.
For backup posture once the data matters, see The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy. For a quieter desk placement path, see Quiet Under-Desk NAS for Plex and Backups.
