Built set or real location is one of the few production decisions that affects budget, schedule, image quality and sound all at once. Both answers are correct in different circumstances, so here is the comparison without a sales pitch attached.
Control
A built set gives you total control: wall placement, ceiling access, removable walls for reverses, and no daylight you didn't create. A location gives you authenticity and detail you'd spend real money reproducing — plus weather, neighbours, business hours and other people's schedules.
Lighting
Sets are designed around lighting. Walls come away, practicals get wired in deliberately, and you can put a light where the shot needs one. Locations force you to solve someone else's room, usually with less rigging access and always with less time.
Sound
This is where honesty matters. A certified soundstage beats both. A warehouse and a real location are broadly comparable: both need active sound management. Ours is not soundproofed, and we say so rather than let a production discover it on the day.
Continuity and reshoots
A set you can hold overnight is the strongest continuity insurance available. If a performance or a take doesn't work, the room is still standing. A location you had for one afternoon is gone, and matching it later is expensive or impossible.
Scheduling
Sets let you shoot on your schedule, including nights, and let you build while you're still casting. Locations bind you to availability windows and permission calendars that rarely match a small production's reality.
Permissions and risk
Locations bring agreements, insurance requirements, restrictions on what you can touch, and the ever-present possibility of being asked to leave. A booked warehouse is yours for the day, and you're allowed to put a hole in a wall you built.
Cost
Locations often win on a single scene. Built sets win when you need several environments, multiple days, night interiors, or heavy coverage — because the build gets reused and the day rate stays flat.
A simple rule
One scene in a distinctive real place: shoot the location. Several interior environments, controlled light, or any scene you'll want to revisit: build the set. Many productions do both, and that's usually the smartest version.