If you don't already know SQL or dplyr, I think you would find dplyr significantly easier to learn. Some people who do know SQL well have commented that they to

If you don't already know SQL or dplyr, I think you would find dplyr significantly easier to learn. Some people who do know SQL well have commented that they too find dplyr easier. I think this is because the scope of dplyr is much smaller than SQL and it is designed specifically to facilitate data analysis.