Cost is going to vary widely because both sod and artificial turf are available in qualities from awful (Brady Bunch artificial and bargain basement sod) to excellent. Plus you could seed and save a lot of money over sod.

You do have to maintain sod, including watering, feeding, mowing, and so on. So either DIY or hire somebody.

However, artificial turf isn't eternal either. It wears out, bleaches out (although that's gotten better in recent decades with anti-UV pigments and coatings), gets dirty (rain will clean it or it can be hosed off), and so on. Current lifespans are listed at 25 years for the really good stuff.

Visually...artificial turf to my eye used to look awful. It still looks fake, but not as bad as it used to. Usually it's the evenness of the color that sets it off. Natural grass usually has more variance.

Neither will take extremely heavy wear well, like a parked car or driveway surface. Tackle football is probably not going to be a good idea on either. :-) Dogs are going to strongly prefer sod over the artificial stuff, and...leavings...will not as easily decay naturally on artificial turf (they will eventually on the natural stuff, variable rate depending).

Artificial turf is way more expensive than sod. To do it right you're essentially building the same base as you would for a paver patio, so it's a lot of labor. Like morpheus said the quality these days is pretty good, but I still prefer my artificial turf to also involve silly obstacles, a putter, and 18 holes.

I prefer nature. I don't like fake things, like extra exhaust pipes on the Corvette just to make it look cool, or fake iron hinges on regular garage doors to make them look like barn doors. To me, the interest in maintaining a lawn and other landscaping is working with nature to grow things well. IMO, I have to say that a perfect, lush lawn in the middle of the desert doesn't look right. I'd much rather maintain an interesting xeriscape.

i don’t like fake things either, however, at desert home we aren’t allowed to plant water thirsty sod due to water conservation efforts. I do have a beautiful yard ( xeriscape ) but have used a smaller area of artificial turf to provide a visual relief from the pavers & rock, etc. during our blazing hot summers.

OK, K, you're forgiven, lol. I mean, if you want a patch of soft ground cover for the dogs or babies and nothing will grow in that area then you have a "legitimate" reason to have it. If you use green fake grass as an accent then that could make sense, too. It's all good, and I think you got my point.

@klaurence What was the brand of sod that you used? How do you know if it's high quality? Are there some characteristics that I should know about? Appreciate any info! Thank you!

Just got your message ...will look it up.

I'm also curious about the brand of turf you used K, if you're keen to share. Thanks!

Yes, I would love to know the brand, too, K. Many thanks!!

Will do. I’m at my second home right now, I will definitely look it up when back Monday. You just reminded me of a comment a passerby made last week. She was admiring our “beautiful lawn” & was shocked when I told her it was artificial turf. She seemed a little embarrassed, so funny.

Guys, great thanks for sharing your experience in this sphere, that is very interesting to read your answers.