sweepstakes casinos vs real money casinos, which is better?

so i keep seeing people arguing both sides but i'm not totally sold on either. the sweepstakes ones feel more like a workaround than actual gambling, but some folks swear it's just as good and you can cash out almost the same way if you know how to work the system. on the other side, real money sites have the usual deposit/withdraw stuff but also way more risk, and depending where you live, it's always a coin toss if your bank or card will cooperate.

personally, i mostly stick to live dealer poker, but i'm getting curious about if i'm missing out on some upside in the sweepstakes model. are the rewards really worth it, or is it just dressed up play money with extra steps? any regulars here who've really compared both?