This looks like one of those "sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not" features. If you're using the Django admin, then the many-to-many relationship would be

This looks like one of those "sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not" features. If you're using the Django admin, then the many-to-many relationship would be preferable because it's a better way to manage lists. If you're not and you're just storing lists of simple data, then this might be better. YMMV.