I like both. I have some ceramic ones I put outside my front door and several others inside. I can't use real ones here in Fl with the heat and we have coyotes and cranes that roam our neighborhood and steal them or make a big mess with them.
I have cooked the small pumpkins in the past and made pumpkin pie and bread with them.
I prefer real pumpkins and usually throw them up behind the house. We have a forest up there with many wildlife. Years ago we would always roast the pumpkin seeds.