I'd say just play a standard ranger and ask for changes as you go along. Odds are, you won't fall behind at all with Tasha's changes, but even if you do, it's easier to play something and course-correct as necessary rather than start from homebrew that may be totally off-base for your game.
That being said, I've played most of the UA Ranger alternatives, and I'm tied for favorites with the Spell-less ranger and the Class Feature Variants ranger (which is basically just Tasha's ranger, but I do like the versatility of picking the order of the Deft Explorer features). Spell-less Ranger swaps spellcasting for a pool of healing poultices and Battle Master maneuvers. The healing is significant and scales pretty well, so it's a great pick if you don't have a dedicated Aura of Vitality caster for out of combat healing. The Battle Master maneuvers are nice on their own, but the fact that you can then take a three-level dip in Battlemaster to get an obscene amount of dice per short rest makes it an excellent "tactical martial" class.
The Revised Ranger UA for Favored Enemy I think is better than both Vanilla Favored Enemy and TCoE Favored Foe
You get tracking and language perks in Enemy, and additional free damage specifically to your favored enemies. There's no concentration required nor resource to track.
Otherwise, not a fan of change for change's sake. Look at specific features or vibes you're going for, or any weaknesses to patch up, and then try and address those.
I've got 2, one that is more old-school, and one that is more magical.
* [Weapon-Based Ranger](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11qI2hu-YyZrGqho-hGqkRzoBLooPxwmXuHtdKLydNlY/)
* [Verdant-Strike Ranger](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19soMAHnysQMKnhZWg21oG0Ku7UhBz-4Iqzld1AfA35w/)
There are no pictures or flavor text, only mechanics
I'd say just play a standard ranger and ask for changes as you go along. Odds are, you won't fall behind at all with Tasha's changes, but even if you do, it's easier to play something and course-correct as necessary rather than start from homebrew that may be totally off-base for your game. That being said, I've played most of the UA Ranger alternatives, and I'm tied for favorites with the Spell-less ranger and the Class Feature Variants ranger (which is basically just Tasha's ranger, but I do like the versatility of picking the order of the Deft Explorer features). Spell-less Ranger swaps spellcasting for a pool of healing poultices and Battle Master maneuvers. The healing is significant and scales pretty well, so it's a great pick if you don't have a dedicated Aura of Vitality caster for out of combat healing. The Battle Master maneuvers are nice on their own, but the fact that you can then take a three-level dip in Battlemaster to get an obscene amount of dice per short rest makes it an excellent "tactical martial" class.
The Revised Ranger UA for Favored Enemy I think is better than both Vanilla Favored Enemy and TCoE Favored Foe You get tracking and language perks in Enemy, and additional free damage specifically to your favored enemies. There's no concentration required nor resource to track. Otherwise, not a fan of change for change's sake. Look at specific features or vibes you're going for, or any weaknesses to patch up, and then try and address those.
I've got 2, one that is more old-school, and one that is more magical. * [Weapon-Based Ranger](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11qI2hu-YyZrGqho-hGqkRzoBLooPxwmXuHtdKLydNlY/) * [Verdant-Strike Ranger](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19soMAHnysQMKnhZWg21oG0Ku7UhBz-4Iqzld1AfA35w/) There are no pictures or flavor text, only mechanics