It is the eternal debate. For intraday are futures or stocks better? In my opinion futures offer very little intraday range compared to an action that can reach 100% daily profitability or more. In my opinion with the actions the risk-return ratio plays in their favor. There are many actions to choose the best configuration. It's just my opinion, they think I'm wrong or I'm right ...
"The better one" will be the one with liquidity over the time you wish to trade. The shorter the intended holding period, the more important for volume→minBid_Ask spread. (And that means money in your pocket.) The longer the holding period, the more forgiving the trades will be to wide spreads, stuttering volume, jerky prices. Yes, all of this "market stuff" gets pressed against margin differences -- futures versus equities, CFTC versus SEC, commissions-by-venue, and all of that. But (IMO) the real mover is liquidity.
I say futures, nothing more frustrating than a short or long running out of steam because your target is good, you're waiting for a fill and you don't get it by cents. Futures has liquidity at whatever price it's trading.
there are people who can day trade stocks, or futures successfully. some futures have small day range. eg Jpy, AUD, US bonds and notes, CAD. not suitable for outright day trading. some futures have very wide day range. eg Heating Oil, RB gasoline, NQ, Italy BTP bond. these are suitable for outright day trading. some futures are good for spreading. eg corn, soya, bonds/notes ....