On ffmpeg, yeah. I can get close to real-time encoding with the new version of libsvtav1 and I save space with around the same visual fidelity as x265, at least, in my experience. If you want to try it out, I recommend using the ab-av1 tool, which automatically finds the best CRF to VMAF for encoding.
edit: Transcoding speeds, I don’t find that it’s slow, even if I’m using software for transcoding, though I’ve only been using it for my Jellyfin server for about a month or so.
Where’s the slaves?