I usually use what’s available, and has the best file size for the quality. h265 is usually the best in this regard, but I look forward to more av1 encoded content. My Jellyfin server runs on my old school computer, whicj I could buy cheaply from my school, but since it has a sub-1080p screen, it works best as a server with built in UPS for me. It also has quicksync, so I’ve never had to think about which codecs my clients support.

I have not gotten cloudstream to work, so I don’t know it’s similar, but I’ve used popcorn time and my friends use it regularly and are happy with it.

Also, they’re not exclusive. I have a nas with more space but essentially no ability to transcode media, so I’ve mounted that volume via NFS on a laptop I run jellyfin which gives me excellent transcoding and a very smooth experience.

Obviously not applicable to OP since they want to pirate but I’ll add my two cents and say that BTRFS would cause Steam to freeze my computer. Disabling CoW on impacted directories made the problem lesser. I have since switched to ZFS and couldn’t have been happier with it.