GoKawiilWaze is for people who want to get where they are going, fast.
It prioritizes the quickest route and will automatically reroute you the second traffic gets messy. There's no asking for permission. It just does it, but, unfortunately, that means it may end up taking you down a weird side street.
That said, Waze has begun rolling out personalized navigation globally on Android and iOS. It uses your previous trips and local traffic patterns to suggest routes that better match how you prefer to drive, such as favoring highways over local streets. You can still choose another route or turn personalization off.
Google Maps, on the other hand, is far more measured. It considers things like road types and even fuel efficiency for different vehicle types to decide the best route. Google Maps can also use landmarks to provide navigation directions instead of just distances, so you might hear "Turn left after the Shell station," rather than "Turn left in 600 feet." It warns you about traffic jams or closures ahead too, even before you start your route.
Also: Master your navigation: 41 hidden Google Maps settings you should know
More recently, Google launched Immersive Navigation, which adds 3D route previews, Street View context, parking cues, entrance guidance, and clearer route trade-offs to your driving experience. This helps if you want to better understand a route before you commit, but it also puts a lot of the onus on you to decide a route.
Personally, I do like having the final say. If an app wants to reroute me at the last minute, I'd rather know where I'm headed and approve it before I take the turn. But if your top priority is shaving off seconds and arriving somewhere quickly without having to overthink the route, Waze is the way to go.
I'll give this one to Waze for that, but it's close because of the sheer number of features Google Maps offers.