Top menu vs Side menu on dashboard

I'm designing an admin dashboard and this came to my mind.

  • Should I use a side menu or a top menu?
  • Why? What's the main difference for the user experience?

When using a top menu it looks more consistent when analysing it cross browsing, since it's always on top, even though this dashboard is going to be responsive, it's something users will not use very often on mobile, at maximum on a tablet. This is real information based on the previous version of this dashboard.

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On the other hand, the side menu seems to be more consistent on a desktop, with a more intuitive way to change menus.

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So, based on this information, what type of menu should I choose? Currently I have no criteria on what type of menu to use besides of layout and appearance.

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