The query builder is yet another mini language that you have to learn and they change for each ORM so learning one is mostly wasted time.
Many times I’ve been stuck in a place where I knew exactly how to write the SQL for it but had to spend several minutes studying the ORM docs to learn how to express it.
SQLc also has the advantage of static checking your queries.
It has some other disadvantages so it’s not all rosy.
Last time I used a query builder, I accidentally used its orderBy in some invalid way that it didn't complain about. Just silently didn't ORDER BY the cols I wanted.
Many times I’ve been stuck in a place where I knew exactly how to write the SQL for it but had to spend several minutes studying the ORM docs to learn how to express it.
SQLc also has the advantage of static checking your queries.
It has some other disadvantages so it’s not all rosy.