[Nexus 5 General] benkxda:
Generally I prefer AIO (All In One) ROMs, so I get my Privacy Guard, Hybrid Engine and all those AOKP customizations. Oh, I know a lot of ROMs, but I did not test them all. Also, their design, functionality and also stability chances too fast. You would need a fleet of testers to get a accurate list of which one is the best for you. More about that at the end of the following big text block.

On the Galaxy Nexus I liked the ROM Root Box, but its support ended with Android 4.2.2. This phone is my private one and I could do anything to it, like just now, I flashed the Dreams with KitKat taste, currently restoring all apps.

On the S3 LTE (company phone) I started with CM as Codeworx came up with this first. Now it's PAC, what I am using. I like PAC very much, it's maybe a bit better than Root Box imo BUT: The Root Box nightlies on the Gnex were solid, no prob at all. The nightlies for the S3 LTE are very "special", sometimes it's good and then I decide to get a newer nightly and this won't even let me use the interface, just popping up error messages, other nightlies rebooted while in my pocket and as I did not enter the PIN, it was offline. No customer can call me (ok, that's a benefit) but also no e-mails arrive. The available releases are too old for me.

On the Nexus 7 (2013) I use CM. CM again was the first ROM (currently installed M1, should be even more stable as the usually stable nightlies). I usually play games and surf the web with the tablet, the performance is enough.

Currently I am in fact changing a lot - I am most unhappy with the stability of the business phone. I would not blame PAC which ran nice on the Nexus 7 (2012), but I think it's maybe because of S3 LTE. It's a Samsung device and it's not a very common phone (not compatible to S3 without LTE). Next ROM might be the Omni ROM, I am curious about what this will be. If I try on the company phone... I guess not. First it must do a good job on another device.

Additionally to the ROMs I use the Xposed Framework for further customizations and adding functionality. Therefore I chose the modules Gravity Box, XBlast Tools and XuiMod. I highly recommend those for "basic ROMs" like the CM, as you can add the recent RAM bar, kill all button, list view animation and color settings and even more. But I also suggest to better use only one because if you change your battery symbol for eg, you might have two batteries in the status bar or two attached layers. Leads to at least graphical issues.

Beside all the stuff above, I think we have three big ROMs, AOKP, CM, PA. AIO ROMs usually are based off of those three. Maybe Omni could be number four, but that's definitely not sure. Those three big "basic" ROMs are not as customizable as the AIO ROMs, yes. But I don't like this "CM is for beginners only" bashing or stuff like this, cause without CM, no AIO, maybe even less other ROMs. But there are so many ROMs available for the Galaxy Nexus and there will be probably more ROMs for the Nexus 5. About the tester fleet: You must check out the Android 4.3 ROM custom ROM comparison database if not done already. This is a helpful tool to find the perfect matching ROM.

PS: Dreams with Android 4.4 KitKat on Galaxy Nexus, all apps restored now. Unbelievable snappy, smooth... wow.