Comparing CI/CD integration: GitLab native vs. SonarQube scanner CLI.

I'm setting up code quality gates for our Salesforce dev team. We use GitLab CI and I'm comparing two paths: using GitLab's native integration (the "include" template) vs. running the SonarQube scanner CLI manually in the job.

I've seen both mentioned, but the pros/cons aren't clear. The GitLab template seems easier, but I'm skeptical about flexibility. The CLI seems more transparent.

Has anyone run both in production? I'm especially curious about:
- Handling analysis of Apex/Visualforce
- Where you set project properties (sonar-project.properties vs. CI variables)
- Any hidden complexity with the GitLab template when things go wrong

Our goal is a straightforward pipeline that fails the job on new bugs/vulnerabilities.