Looking for a NetApp Alternative? 

SoftNAS Might be the Better Fit for Cloud and Hybrid Workloads

When it comes to enterprise storage, NetApp is often one of the first names that comes to mind. Known for its robust hardware appliances and long-standing presence in the data center, NetApp has served countless organizations with dependable storage for years. But today’s enterprise IT landscape looks very different. Cloud adoption is accelerating, hybrid environments are the norm, and storage needs to be far more flexible, scalable, and cost-effective than ever before.

This evolution has left many IT decision-makers asking a crucial question:

Is there a modern, cloud-native alternative to NetApp that can deliver similar enterprise features without the overhead and vendor lock-in?

The answer is yes—and the solution is SoftNAS by Buurst.

What is SoftNAS

SoftNAS is a software-defined NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution designed for performance, flexibility, and cloud portability. Unlike traditional storage vendors that originated in the hardware space, SoftNAS was built from the ground up as a cloud-first platform, designed to run on major cloud providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). It also supports hybrid and on-prem environments via virtualization platforms like VMware and KVM.

SoftNAS gives enterprises full control over their storage environment, enabling them to customize everything from performance to redundancy, replication, and data tiering. It supports familiar protocols like NFS, SMB/CIFS, and iSCSI, and integrates easily with popular cloud-native compute and storage services.

Why Companies are Searching for a NetApp Alternative

NetApp remains a strong choice for many on-premises workloads, but its transition to the cloud has introduced a number of pain points for organizations: 

• High total cost of ownership (TCO) due to licensing, hardware dependencies, and complex cloud service pricing 
• Limited portability between clouds or regions without vendor-managed service entanglements 
• Performance bottlenecks when using shared cloud-native storage options 
• Complexity in managing hybrid architectures across multiple environments 

If you’re feeling these challenges, you’re not alone. IT leaders, cloud architects, and DevOps teams are increasingly looking for more agile, cloud-optimized storage platforms that won’t break the bank or lock them into a proprietary ecosystem. 

SoftNAS Vs. NetApp: A Detailed Comparison

Key Advantages of Choosing SoftNAS

✅ Cloud-Native by Design 

SoftNAS was purpose-built for the cloud. Whether you’re running workloads on AWS EC2, Azure VMs, or Oracle Compute, you can deploy SoftNAS directly from each cloud’s marketplace and begin provisioning storage in minutes. It supports bring-your-own-disk (EBS, Azure Disks, OCI Block Volumes). 

In contrast, NetApp’s cloud solutions—such as Cloud Volumes ONTAP—are essentially extensions of its traditional appliance stack, repackaged for cloud use. While functional, they often come with limitations on flexibility and cloud-native integration. 

✅ Transparent Pricing and Better Economics 

With SoftNAS, you pay only for what you use. You can size your compute and storage resources independently, avoid costly over-provisioning, and reduce long-term expenses by leveraging object storage for cold or archival data. 

NetApp’s pricing model, on the other hand, often includes multiple layers—license fees, capacity tiers, performance charges, and additional costs for features like HA or replication. This complexity can make forecasting cloud storage costs difficult and frustrating. 

✅ Simpler High Availability and Replication 

SoftNAS includes SnapHA, a built-in high availability capability that provides automatic failover between nodes, with real-time block replication and no additional software licenses required. SnapReplicate also enables scheduled replication to secondary environments for disaster recovery. 

In NetApp environments, setting up HA or DR involves more components, additional configurations, and potentially third-party services. In some cases, you’ll also need to purchase licenses or use NetApp’s managed service model—adding cost and operational friction.

✅ Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Ready 

SoftNAS supports the exact same image and configuration across AWS, Azure, and OCI—making it an ideal fit for multi-cloud strategies, migrations, or hybrid cloud architectures. You can replicate data from one cloud to another or maintain active-passive clusters across providers for failover and business continuity. 

NetApp’s cloud solutions, while functional in each provider’s ecosystem, are not built for seamless interoperability across them. This can create fragmentation and hinder your long-term flexibility. 

✅ Root-Level Control and Customization 

With SoftNAS, you control the entire environment. Want to tune performance for a specific application? Modify caching, tiering, or block sizes? Schedule snapshots hourly or by policy? You have full root access and customization. 

By contrast, many NetApp cloud offerings are abstracted behind managed service layers, where visibility and fine-tuned control are restricted. That may suit simple use cases—but for enterprise workloads that demand performance tuning or strict compliance requirements, it’s limiting. 

Use Cases Where SoftNAS Excels

Here are a few scenarios where SoftNAS delivers standout value compared to NetApp: 

• Lift-and-Shift Cloud Migrations: Run legacy apps that require NFS or SMB file systems on any cloud, without re-architecting. 
• Media and Entertainment Pipelines: Ingest, edit, and archive media with low latency and S3-compatible tiering. 
• SAP, Oracle, and Line-of-Business Apps: Host databases and enterprise workloads that require high IOPS, failover, and data integrity. 
• Dev/Test and CI/CD Environments: Quickly spin up environments with configurable storage for faster development workflows. 
• Edge-to-Cloud Backup and DR: Sync edge or on-prem sites to the cloud using built-in replication and scheduling. 

Who Should Consider SoftNAS as a NetApp Alternative

You should consider SoftNAS if: 

• You’re planning or executing a cloud migration 
• You want to reduce cloud storage costs while maintaining enterprise-grade performance 
• You’re deploying multi-cloud or hybrid strategies 
• You need full control over storage configurations 
• You’re tired of opaque pricing or overbuilt solutions 

Getting Started with SoftNAS

You can find SoftNAS on: 

• AWS Marketplace 
• Azure Marketplace 
• Oracle Cloud Marketplace 

Launch it in minutes, configure your volumes and protocols, and start serving storage to your applications—all without the delays or procurement cycles of traditional storage vendors. 

Final Thoughts: NetApp has History. SoftNAS has Agility

NetApp has a proven legacy, no doubt. But if you’re embracing the cloud, scaling globally, or aiming to simplify your storage footprint, SoftNAS offers a modern, flexible alternative that puts performance, cost control, and portability at the forefront. 

In today’s enterprise, agility is the differentiator. And for storage, SoftNAS delivers that agility—without sacrificing the features you need. 

Still Evaluating Your Options?

Let’s talk. Schedule a Free Consult with our storage architects and see how SoftNAS can streamline your data operations in the cloud.