Is coconut coir better than peat for starting seeds?

I'm going to put an increasingly popular peat alternative to the test - will my new seeds take off in coconut coir pellets as well as they do in peat pellets?
Gardeners love using peat to start seedlings. But, harvesting peat has big environmental consequences - peat is a natural carbon sink, so peat bogs and wetlands help to combat climate change. Harvesting peat is therefore worsening our climate crisis as well as destroying unique habitats. Peat is a renewable resource, but any renewable resource that is harvested faster than it can regenerate is in danger, and peat only reaccumulates at a rate of about 1mm/year! So, as a gardener who cares about biodiversity and protecting our atmosphere, I want to explore peat alternatives.
Coconut coir is not the only alternative seed starter to peat, but where I live it is the most popular and readily available - and it has some features that make it a more environmentally friendly choice. I picked up some peat pellets and some coir pellets and am going to start 5 different kinds of seeds in them in a head-to-head trial. I need to use less peat to feel good about my carbon footprint and consumer choices - if this trial works out the way I want it to, coir may be my next go-to seed starting medium.
Neither coir nor peat have enough nutrients for bigger plants to use, and need to be mixed with other soil amendments - but a seed is a nutrient-packed powerhouse, it doesn't need any nutrients until the seedling makes it's first true leaf (the halves of the seed make cotyledons, which don't look like the adult plant leaves). Peat is a little acidic and is sometimes amended with lime to make it more neutral, and coir is naturally pretty pH balanced - but beyond that, it's about how well they hold moisture. Is it wet enough for the seed to germinate? Is it too wet, and the seed will rot?
Spoiler - I have found peat to suffer the harms of being too wet much more than coir. Coir, I have to be careful not to let it dry out, but it's not that easy to overwater. Peat is popular because it's so easy to use, but it's also easy to overwater, easy to get mold growing on it, easy to have issues with fungus gnats, easy for the seed to rot. Point for coir. Watch the video to see which wins out in the end!

[@cristinabahov5107]

Even though I started most of my seeds with potting mix, I appreciate you making this video, I might give it a chance next season

[@ellseykaygardens]

Yay! I also filled some seed trays with potting mix and with some coir - coir also worked for me in that situation, but harder to compare head to head for a video!

[@nikkimcneill3283]

Can you buy coconut coir at any gardening centre? Or is it much harder to source ?

[@ellseykaygardens]

I’ve gotten it at Canadian Tire, Home Depot, etc. The pellets are from Lee Valley - but it’s more available this year than last year, and was more available last year than the year before