Originally I wanted to go with a composite type decking such as
Trex or
TimberTech. I narrowed down to TimberTech since the railing dimensions fit my deck better. Each brand sells all sorts of different rail sizes so its like assembling a big puzzle. When I finally got to see a real composite deck in person, my mind changed. I just thought it seemed fake, especially the rails, and could not justify paying literally 2.5 times more in price than solid wood. Other complaints I read were that after some years the color fades and some people paint at that point, but wasn't that defeating the whole purpose of getting composite? Also in direct sun it can heat up really fast and when its wet can be real slippery. Installation can also be more time consuming if you use hidden fasteners which are recommended for some brands. These are minor reasons, but do exist nonetheless. On the flip side you don't have to worry about it ever chipping, rotting, warping and/or splitting like wood, and no bug infestations. That is a pretty huge advantage, along with NEVER having to stain it!
Bottom line I decided on going with good ole fashioned pressure treated lumber. Altho I am happy, I would be lying if I said I never once thought about how sweet it would be if I never had to stain the deck again. In any event, every time I see a composite deck I now reinforce my decision by saying how fake it looks. I also think of all the money I saved without having to switch to Geico and feel even better. But money should not be the sole factor in this decision, if you are old or plan on hiring someone to stain your deck it is way cheaper in the long run to get composite. Staining is not a cheap job and takes 2 visits at least. One to power wash and then one to apply the stain and not to mention the cost of the products itself. So if you don't plan on staining yourself, composite is actually the better buy and I would only get wood if you strongly prefer over the plastic decking. Wood will actually cost you more to maintain in the long run, but if done properly looks way nicer in my opinion. If you don't maintain will look like total shit and you should have just gotten composite. They also have exotic woods such as Ipe and cedars and redwoods, but I don't know anything about these. I am sure some of them can only be used in certain regions. A friend of ours has Ipe and it does look pretty sweet.