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As with most flooring choices, there really is no right or wrong.
You always need to consider your house use and the pros and cons of the flooring in the area concerned.
Firstly, people go up and down all day (high traffic area) so you need something hard wearing, which if choosing carpet may affect your choice of fibre.
Secondly, without sound insulation stairs can be noisy, again something to consider when choosing.
Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, you need the flooring choice on your stairs to be safe, and not slippery.
What to choose
Carpet is undoubtably one of the most popular choices for stairs flooring:
It is warm and insulating underfoot.
It also absorbs sounds so you won’t have the echos and the banging that you may experience with say a wood floor.
Carpet is a safe option as it offers a degree of grip. Obviously it isn’t fool proof and you should always have a good banister or handrail but generally speaking it is a safe option.
With carpet, bear in mind that stairs are high traffic areas so we would advise a wool carpet rather than a man made fibre as it will be harder wearing and over time it will continue to look good as wool won’t flatten in the same way that a man made fibre might.
Wood looks beautiful, there is no doubt. It can be finished in a range of colours and nosings and looks super when finished.
Wood is hard wearing so won’t suffer damage from heavy footfall.
Wood doesn’t have the same soundproofing as carpet so the noise generated from going up and down the stairs won't be absorbed as much as if you had a carpet installed.
Wood is slippery and a less safe option than carpet.
With a wood floor there is always the option to add a carpet runner.
A carpet runner can be from Off the Loom or Alternative flooring, where they make beautiful flatweave wool runners, or any carpet can be made into a stair runner which the edges can be whipped or taped.
The brilliance of a carpet runner is that they look fantastic. You can still see the wood either side of the runner, but due to it being a fabric, means you get the safety and sound proofing benefits of a carpet.
It is a great option to consider if you want a wooden staircase.
LVT is relatively inexpensive to fit.
It is easy to clean
It has a degree of grip so is a safe option for stairs.
It doesn’t offer the level of sound proofing or comfort underfoot that a carpet would offer.
Carpet is the most obvious choice for stairs as it ticks the comfort, soundproofing and safety boxes but stairs can be fitted with any of the floor types discussed about so once again it comes down to your choice!
Good luck!