Hand applique is hard for me because of the shape of my hands. I have extremely short little fingers and thumbs. I loved hand applique when I tried it, but found that my hands cramp up very quickly because I cannot hand sew with a normal hand position. Basically you just have to try it yourself. Assuming your hands (unlike mine) are normal size, I would rate hand applique as easy; however, it's also slow. Not everyone likes that slower pace.