I personally find playing easier. I have no trouble in making characters and I can play them well but DMing for me I find quite hard. 

DMing so much harder. I enjoy it, though.

DMing is definitely much harder then playing. Personally, I prefer DMing though.

DMing is work. Enjoyable work, but still work. Playing is, well, playing. There's all sorts of things that can factor into how well you do either, I'm not saying playing well is completely effortless, but prepping sessions and adjudicating stuff that comes uprequires a minimum of work in order to be passable.

There is simply no question that DMing is harder. As a player, in between sessions, you don't have to do anything at all. As a DM, you have to spend prep time getting ready for the next session. As a player, you only need to know the rules that pertain to your own character. As a DM, you have to know the rules that pertain to every NPC you have to run, every monster, etc.

DMing is harder but it’s so much fun.

DMing can be fun at times but other times it really sucks

DM'ing is only easier than Playing if you're an obsessive Power Gamer who can't stand to have the game not go exactly the way you want it to, so it's better to just be the DM where everyone does exactly what you say and you can railroad your players and let your DMPC be the star of every interaction.

DM'ing is only easier than Playing if you're an obsessive Power Gamer who can't stand to have the game not go exactly the way you want it to, so it's better to just be the DM where everyone does exactly what you say and you can railroad your players and let your DMPC be the star of every interaction.

I'd argue that type of DMing is not worthy of being called DMing.

Also, it's only easier because the players will probably all leave, and then you won't have to do any prep at all, since your game will no longer exist.

Seriously people like this need to just solo a game.

Quote from BioWizard >>

DM'ing is only easier than Playing if you're an obsessive Power Gamer who can't stand to have the game not go exactly the way you want it to, so it's better to just be the DM where everyone does exactly what you say and you can railroad your players and let your DMPC be the star of every interaction.

I'd argue that type of DMing is not worthy of being called DMing.

Also, it's only easier because the players will probably all leave, and then you won't have to do any prep at all, since your game will no longer exist.

Seriously people like this need to just solo a game.

 They need to go back to playing World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls Online and leave the tabletop gaming to people who aren't control freaks.

If DMing is easier than playing, you're doing something wrong.  But it's a labor of love, as I'm sure you've gathered from the responses here.

Like everyone else is saying, DMing is much much much harder since its 1000% more work, but its also 1000% more satisfying to do. Don't get me wrong, playing is awesome and IMO much more fun, but there's something super satisfying when the players figure out hints you've been dropping for many sessions.

Time I spend prepping as a player: 1/40 of total game time per session (5 minutes). Time I spend prepping as a DM: 2 to 3 times the total game time per session (6 to 9 hours)

Prep time is less when not online (less map prep, etc.) but still probably 2 times the session length. I'm sure there are people who are more efficient than I am, YMMV.

If DMing is easier than playing, you're doing something wrong. 

^^^ This...

Because of ...

Time I spend prepping as a player: 1/40 of total game time per session (5 minutes). Time I spend prepping as a DM: 2 to 3 times the total game time per session (6 to 9 hours).

^^^ This.

Not everyone is going to prep 6-9 hours. But every DM is going to spend more time prepping than all the players combined, just because that is in the nature of DMing. Even the "No Prep DM" book still expects you to do some prep. It just tries to set you up to not have to prep things that then never get used. (I.e., you made a troll-on-a-bridge encounter, you find a way to use that encounter one way or another because not to do so wastes the work -- agree or not, this is still prep).

Although there are no universals, DMs tend to be responsible for a lot more things than any player is. In person, traditionally, the player supplies his or her character's miniature, painted if you please, and that's all. Maybe a mini for the familiar or pet as well. The DM supplies (and maybe paints) the minis for ALL the monsters. DMs often like doing this, but it's still a lot more work to paint an entire tribe of Orcs than to paint one Paladin or one Wizard and one Imp. The DM may also be making 3D dioramas, or battlemats, or what have you. And even if you're not into all that kind of artwork, there are still maps to make up, legendary boss monsters to design, and so forth. Running a published module? Welcome to 100+ pages of reading material. No you don't "have" to read it all before you start, but most of us do, because it is easier to run the start of the adventure if you have some idea where it is going. Running in FR or Eberron or Wildemount? Welcome to also reading those sourcebooks and getting to know them well enough to run that world, which your players can mostly ignore until the gameplay starts. Homebrewing everything? Now you are into drawing your own maps, making up your own kingdoms and duchies, coming up with factions for your world, and so forth. 

Most players can't even be bothered to read the 1-page summary you wrote up of your world, and plenty of players and even some other game masters (especially the online pundits) will berate you, as a GM, for having the unmitigated gall to make the players read a boring page or two about the lore of your world. The players don't even want to do the work to READ a page... while you as a DM are writing that page and a whole lot more.

Players: Write down stuff on their character sheet, buy and paint 1 mini, and read 1 page of lore provided by the DM (and some won't even read that 1 page).

DMs: Write down the stats for 100s of NPCs and monsters, buy and paint dozens or hundreds of minis, and either read or write whole books worth of lore, plus draw maps, detail dungeons, invent cities, etc.

Who works harder? Hmmmm... tough to figure that one out. LOL.

DMing is so much harder. Even with a lighter, improv heavy approach, there's a lot more prep and work to do. Playing one individual character is easy compared to setting up and running encounters, playing every NPC, describing environments etc. 

I honestly cannot fathom how anyone could find playing harder than DMing. Unless it's just in the sense of 'I don't like playing but I love DMing so playing the game is a chore and dming is fun.' But even accounting for that, it's hard to comprehend it being EASIER to DM than to play. 

I think Transmorpher has the right of it.... only someone who DMs as an omniscient "god" who just makes up any old bs that comes to mind and has it auto-happen with no prep, would think that playing was harder than DMing.

Also in my case (DM), it's hard to actually separate prepping as a conscious activity from just thinking and imagining.

I write anywhere between 3-5 pages of notes between each session and that doesn't take me so much time but there are times where I have troubles getting asleep because my brain is in overload mode thinking about D&D.

there are times where I have troubles getting asleep because my brain is in overload mode thinking about D&D.

Yup, hard to quantify this.

Quote from Lathlaer >>

Also in my case (DM), it's hard to actually separate prepping as a conscious activity from just thinking and imagining.

I write anywhere between 3-5 pages of notes between each session and that doesn't take me so much time but there are times where I have troubles getting asleep because my brain is in overload mode thinking about D&D.

 Same lol.

I think only someone who has literally never DMed, not even for a one-shot, would think playing was harder than DMing.

Even most players who have never done it don't think that, but you absolutely can't think it if you have DMed before.