Blows everything else away. It will connect to Plex and Jellyfin servers. Or a standard SMB folder share if you prefer. No ads. It never lags. Has reliable frame rate matching. And you’re likely to get 5+ years of software update support.
The only thing it won’t do is Atmos from Bluray rips (it will do lossless 7.1 but not the atmos layer). If you need that, then get an Nvidia Shield Pro.
The apple tv looks good. But can I put software of my choosing on it and will I be able to do everything on the apple tv if I dont have other apple devices?
Plex user here, you install app on your receiver (tv/tablet/phone/whatever) and if you so desire you can host local content via plex server running on a machine on your network. Not used it as a home screen though, as i avoid paid players.