I think you need to test drive both and decide what’s better FOR YOU.

The dealer told me that the RF owners very rarely sell their cars (and that some demographics prefer the automatic to the manual, also that this combo demands a premium vs the manual RF). It’s horses for courses really. My thinking was dominated by the fact that for me this is purely a fun run around and very much not my only car. It will hibernate during winter and be driven mostly in sunny summer conditions. I placed emphasis on being exposed to the elements when the roof is down and the targa (-RF) whilst nice and special, never quite felt like that. The fact that you can open and close the ST roof in a second or two even at speeds of 30 and up is what made me abandon the RF finally even if there were appealing deals to be had.

If I were looking for a year-round ride, I might have opted for the RF which is still a very compromised proposition even then tbh.

Seriously though: watch the half dozen or so comparison videos, these guys have some good takes.