I own a basic helicopter and part own a modern LAA permit aircraft. i got my PPL(A) about 33 years ago so quite frankly can't remember how hard it was to learn, but I do know that the hardest part of the PPL(H) some 20 years later (and 20 years older) was learning to hover. Once I had cracked that the rest was not too difficult.
I keep the helicopter in a shed in my back garden and the fw aircraft is about 10 mins away. As a consequence I fly the helicopter far more by a factor of about 10. In fact I struggle to keep sufficient fixed wing hours even though the cost is by comparison almost nothing.
The fw is very docile and easy to fly. As others have said, the helicopter is not difficult, but is far more intolerant of any error. If you get into an unusual corner of the flight envelope in the fw, it is normally very simple to put matters right, but try the same thing in a small dynamically unstable two bladed helicopter and you will be lucky to survive. There is very little room for error but it is great fun to emulate the flight of the bumble bee!
As I get older the helicopter is the first one that I will very reluctantly drop but at the moment it is certainly the one that I prefer.