They do different jobs, so it is not really a versus. A coating will not stop a stone chip. If budget forces one, start with the coating, and here is when we tell you to do the opposite.

35 percent front, 20 percent behind the driver, and the rule almost everybody misses: the limit applies to your factory glass and the film together, not the film on its own.

There is no single number, and any shop that gives you one is guessing. What actually decides how long film lasts on your car, and the two situations where we tell people not to bother.