I don’t know that it’s really necessary to use both nextdns and pihole. You may look at a couple of comparisons and decide what’s best for you. I just use pihole (two of them actually, one in docker and one on an actual pi).

Not by default that I am aware.

Yep it’s for all my linux ISOs. I have it in my homelab. I probably WAY over-complicated things but I use OPNsense for my firewall and selectively route traffic from specific containers down a ProtonVPN tunnel. I’m using macvlans within docker to give those containers dedicated IP addresses which allows the selective routing to working.

It’s the same thing. There’s an option before you sign into the extension to choose a different server.

Yes it can, though it is easier to set some things up with the built-in addons. Most addons can be set up independently as docker containers (like z2mqtt or node-red) but may require additional configuration.

the watchlist sync feature is amazing, I dont even go to overseerr anymore I just browse directly in plex now and add to watchlist

thanks. I think I tried it some time ago but we end up never using it. we only watch it at home and my mother’s and she just text me when she wants something.

You can write custom automations between all your smart devices. So I can connect Home Assistant to my phone, a Google Home mini, and Google Translate TTS, so whenever I plug in my phone to charge at night while I’m at home, the speaker tells me “Remember to brush your teeth” in an Italian accent. Or whatever specific weird thing you want. It puts a lot more control in your hands.

Not all smart devices are intercompatible with each other, but Home Assistant is agnostic and tries to work with everything. Most people tend to have automations based on things that Alexa or Google Assistant can’t handle.

It may be overkill if you only have a few smart lights that Alexa can handle, but once you have a hundred or more different devices… yeah, managing all of that becomes pretty complicated!

Home assistant has plenty of use cases. it is not only controling devices but also a very powerful automation system. A couple of things I use it for:

-start my laundry only when I have enough solar power to power it

-notify me when my laundry is done

-track energy usage of many devices (heaters, washing and dishwashing machines, A/C,etc)

-let me know when to open or close my windows based on inside and outside temperature

-Force my water heater to turn on when I have solar power

-Expose non-homekit devices to homekit

I use Plex on a daily basis, but Im testing Jellyfin from time to time. so I keep it htere

Sometimes one or the other has a recent updates that causes problems, or a random movie won’t play right. It’s rare, but since both connect to the same NAS where all of my media is stored, running both is pretty easy and it’s nice to have a backup.