Wood! Much softer to stand on. I work in my kitchen a lot. Especially in the summer during canning season. My last house had tile floors over concrete subfloor. Thought I was going to die with back ache and hip pain. We have wood here and wood subfloors. Standing for long periods of time is still no picnic but soooooo much better. Don't need several days to recoup. And if you drop something it doesn't necessarily break. Always broke in the previous home. Also, we have maple floors which sustain very little dinging. I think that only bamboo is harder but I may be wrong. Maple is harder than oak. If you really want to do yourself a favor go with cork! Very soft to stand on and waterproof. Ann in TN