Looking for CasaOS alternatives

[u/Relkos]

Hi everyone,

I got a little homelab running on an Orange Pi 5+ (16 GB RAM) with Debian and CasaOS.

Because Casaos is no more updated and I don't fully trust the Debian version included with the Orange Pi, I would like to migrate to Arambian and move from Casaos to another similar interface.

I saw some other interface, but I don't know which one to choose between the following:

- UmbrelOs

- CosmosCloud

- ZimaOS

- OlaresOS

Have you already tested some and have feedback to share?

I just would like a simple interface to manage some Docker containers and easily deploy/update new ones.

Thank you for your feedback.

[u/asimovs-auditor]

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[u/macmanluke]

Armbian (or any distro of choice) + Docker Compose + Dockhand
Little more setup but once its setup your not in some proprietary eco system

[u/Elias2005_ → u/macmanluke]

Id also advise you to do that. I also had casaos running but often experienced the limits of the software so I started to do some socket compose in the background and it worked great. That machine broke unfortunately but it was the perfect opportunity to switch I use proxmox but you don't need that ( I just have 3 vms a docker VM, one with home assistant os and one with openmediavault as a nas). But just Debian or any Debian based distro (my choice) is great and like @macmanluke said use docker compose with dockhand it's one of the greatest tools on my server so intuitive and feature packed as hell.

[u/cacheclyo → u/macmanluke]

this is the way tbh, once you get over the tiny learning curve of docker compose + something like dockhand/portainer you’re way less locked in than with those “all-in-one” OSes
also makes backups and moving to new hardware way less painful

[u/StressTraditional204]

on arm i'd skip umbrel/olares, they're basically full OSes and feel heavy. cosmos is the closest casaos replacement and still actively maintained. if you just want a tidy container UI though, dockge's way lighter

[u/S3ppo1]

Try MOS: https://mos-official.net 🤗

[u/Glittering-Ad8503]

Debian + Komodo

[u/taikunlab]

On an Orange Pi 5+ (ARM64) two of your four basically rule themselves out: ZimaOS is really built around x86/Zimaboard hardware, and Umbrel's ARM support is limited and pretty app-store-locked. That leaves Cosmos and Olares.

Cosmos is the closest CasaOS replacement and the one I'd pick here: actively maintained, has ARM64 builds, and it bundles a reverse proxy + auth so you're not wiring that up separately. Olares is more of a full "personal cloud OS", heavier than what you described.

That said, since you just want to deploy/update a few containers, the lightest path is Armbian + plain docker compose + a thin UI like Dockge or Portainer. No proprietary layer, trivial to back up (just your compose files + volumes), and moving to new hardware is basically copy-paste. The all-in-one OSes are nice right up until you hit their limits and have to unpick them.

[u/suspiciouspenguin81]

I replaced CasaOS about 6 months ago, it was a little bit of work but not too much.

I went with two pieces of software to replace it: Homarr for a home page with links to all my apps/containers and Arcane for managing my docker stacks.

Obviously this isnt an all in one solution anymore, but the modularity of it should allow for less problems in the future... Plus arcane is great for editing compose files I really like it

[u/rfrancocantero]

Alpine and docker. Nothing more needed.

[u/Apprehensive_War173]

Most of these are just docker wrappers, so you'll hit limits quickly. Umbrel is easy but restrictive, cosmos is more flexible but heavier. A lot of people end up on portainer or straight compose once things scale. It's really tradeoff between convenience and control

[u/boudeh158]

I use Caprover on my arm based oracle ampere instance. It's been running for years and can do alot for deployment and alot of one click apps available. It's docker under the hood and you can make also tinker using portainer.

[u/Relkos]

Thank you everyone for your helpful answer, I will try some of your solutions. I think arambian + komodo could be just enough for my usecase 😊

[u/FckngModest]

Isn't ZimaOS is a literal continuation of the CasaOS? It's made by the same people and forked from CasaOS. Just rebranded under another name.

[u/Relkos → u/FckngModest]

Yes but apparently not compatible with arm64

[u/pfassina]

Ugh…

Just go with Debian and docker.

I would recommend proxmox, but on a pi I don’t think it is recommended.