I tried McDonald's $7 and IHOP's $21 breakfast platter. The fast-food chain impressed me, but its pancakes didn't compare.

For $7, McDonald's Big Breakfast with Hotcakes came with scrambled eggs, a hash brown, a biscuit, a sausage patty, and hotcakes (pancakes).

The meal was delivered to my table in under two minutes, which was convenient.

I think the McDonald's hash-brown patty tasted a bit crispier and greasier than the chain's french fries, which I loved.

The crunch was grand and the taste was amazing.

My scrambled eggs came plain, but McDonald's supplied salt and pepper packets.

The eggs also had a good consistency, and the portion size was larger than I predicted.

The only downsides were that they were a bit cold by the time they got to me, and I think they would've tasted better with cheese.

I couldn't ask for a tastier sausage patty. Its grease seemed to soak into other foods on my platter, but I didn't mind because it added flavor.

If you're going to McDonald's for breakfast, I'd recommend the sausage over the bacon or Canadian bacon.

McDonald's breakfast sides nearly resembled a deconstructed breakfast sandwich, so I made my own with the biscuit, eggs, and sausage patty.

The biscuit's dense and buttery texture held up well as the foundation for my impromptu sandwich.

I like fluffy pancakes, and McDonald's seemed a bit chewy to me, so I wasn't that big of a fan.

In the future, I'd avoid adding these to my breakfast order at the chain.

IHOP's Quick 2-Egg Breakfast was the most comparable platter to my meal at McDonald's.

For $14, the platter came with two eggs of any style, two pieces of sausage or bacon, hash browns, and two pieces of toast cut in halves.

I added a short stack of three pancakes, which brought my total to $21 before the tip.

The food took about 20 minutes to arrive, but I expected this at a more sit-down restaurant.

Unlike McDonald's oval-shaped hash-brown patty, IHOP's potatoes were thinly chopped.

On the first bite, they were extra crispy on top and had a great flavor.

My eggs looked and tasted overcooked, compared to what I usually like. They also would've benefitted from more salt.

I'd probably load up on different condiments if ordered IHOP's scrambled eggs again.

IHOP offered sausage links instead of patties.

They had a traditional flavor, but they didn't really stand out to me.

I successfully used IHOP's toast to soak up the grease from the sausage. But outside of that, I didn't find the side dish all that exciting.

IHOP's pancakes lived up to my expectations — namely because they were much fluffier than McDonald's.

I found myself halfway through the short stack before I even started on the rest of the platter, so the chain definitely won in this department.

Although McDonald's Big Breakfast included an amazing hash-brown patty, IHOP's pancakes won me over.

Other menu items were pretty comparable at the two chains. But McDonald's pancakes didn't have the fluffy consistency that I like.

Even though McDonald's platter was cheaper and quicker, IHOP's breakfast was better.