"404: URL doesn't get indexed; it's an invalid URL, so this is fine. Just to be clear: 404s/410s are not a negative quality signal. It's how the web is supposed to work. 410: It's a 404, essentially. Homepage redirect: URL doesn't get indexed. Maybe it stays soft-404 & gets crawled (not great, not terrible). Category redirect: URL doesn't get indexed. Potentially a short-term support for the category page, but still confusing to users."
"Homepage redirect: URL doesn't get indexed. Maybe it stays soft-404 & gets crawled (not great, not terrible). Category redirect: URL doesn't get indexed. Potentially a short-term support for the category page, but still confusing to users. (If you do this, at least display something on the page explaining how they got there.) Longer-term soft-404. 200 with 404 page content: definitely soft-404."
A 404 response marks a URL as invalid and prevents the URL from being indexed. A 410 response functions like a 404. Google does not treat 404s or 410s as negative quality signals. Redirecting to the homepage prevents the original URL from being indexed and can act as a soft-404 while still being crawled. Redirecting to a category page also prevents indexing, may temporarily support the category page, and can confuse users unless explanatory content is shown. Returning HTTP 200 with 404-page content results in a soft-404. Fix status codes only when a page should not return 404.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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