Any benefit of a "Hauler" over a "Fighter"?

[Tyler McRae]

So, I -finally- got my favorite Fighter craft up to S rank, max slots. It's my favorite ship of them all, thus far. I noticed it has as many slots as a Hauler does, in both technology and cargo. Is there a reason to keep my hauler?

[Ograus]

fighters get/have a bonus on damage output and maneuverability
haulers get/have a bonus on shields and hyperdrive range
explorers get/have a bonus on hyperdrive range

less obvious:
fighter-types with a "nose mounted" cockpit seem to offer the best field of vision

[Geldric™]

Along with what @Ograus mentioned each ship type has a “maneuverability” rating which means absolutely nothing until you take note of the rating of say your hauler & compare its flying (I equate them to flying giant unresponsive turds) to that of your fighter or even better any exotic.

Since the Expeditions update I’ve been keen on all the new (symmetric) Explorer class ships.

Edit: there used to be a difference way back when, before we could add slots. The hauler class was the only (legit) way of getting a 48/8 ship.

[Zod Rau]

The various ship types have their own advantages and disadvantages built in, but few of them amount to anything really.

Fighters do bonus damage, are the most maneuverable, but have minimal shields and the least hyperdrive range.

Bonus damage means nothing beyond C class, as even a B class Explorer, which has the least damage can murder swarms of pirates. Explorers, with the best hyperdrive range, also have slightly better shields than Fighters, and 3rd best maneuverability after Exotics, which could make the argument that they're almost as good fighters as fighters.

Haulers have the best shields, fall in the middle on damage and hyperdrive range, but maneuver like tortoises.

Shuttles have the lowest on everything except they have better damage than explorers.

Exotics are better at everything except the other types specialties, so they're 2nd best at damage, shields, maneuverability, and hyperdrive range.

One other thing both Exotics and Explorers have going for them is 1st person visibility. Also Explorers win on planetary exploration as they have such a low launch fuel requirement than once you've got all the launcher modules you never need carry launch fuel again.

I didn't need to write all this - I just wanted to. You can make all your comparisons here:
https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/Starship