I pretty much exclusively play modded, where I set up a server in my homelab for me and my friends to play on. There’s just so much new content to explore than the base game!
If I get invited to a Vanilla server, I’ll always use some form of lightly modded client with some QoL stuff (e.g. a Fabric instance with performance mods like Sodium/Lithium/Phosphor, OkZoomer to mimic the handy Optifine zoom, and a map like Journeymap/Xaero).
I dislike playing pure Vanilla without at least some performance mods on. I don’t get low frames, but the fact that I’m missing out on efficiency irks me.