Frame or hoop is totally personal preference. I have been cross stitching since I was a teenager, and have tried Q-snaps (I have small hands/fingers so find them large and awkward to hold for me) scroll frames both handheld and floor stands (I found that they didn't give me enough tension on the sides of the work for my preference unless I redid them every day, sometimes two to three times a day if I was stitching a lot) and now I have a large collection of plastic hoops - the wood ones can be a bit slippy, but I like them for framing small projects for gifts! I like the grippy plastic ones, but I know other people hate them, so it's completely up to you.
I like to have a hoop that leaves most of my stitching area open, so I don't have to clamp down over finished stitches. If I get to that point on a large project, I make sure to remove the hoop every time I finish stitching so as not to warp the previous stitches. So my suggestion would be to figure out the stitched area of your project and buy a tension device according to that size. Good luck!