"Taking a step back, I think this is one of those situations where it doesn't really directly matter for SEO (hence the various opinions), but it does have a strong usability effect. Even with a 1-page website, people will reach your site with invalid URLs - the bigger & more popular the site, the more often it will happen. Do you want to help those users to find the gems within your site, or do you want to shoo them away?"
"As to why does it not really matter for SEO? Here's my thinking: * 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)."
Proper 404 and 410 responses prevent invalid URLs from being indexed and are not a negative quality signal for search. Redirecting invalid URLs to the homepage often results in soft-404 behavior, may be crawled but not indexed, and can confuse users. Creating a helpful, well-designed 404 page improves usability and helps visitors find relevant content. Redirecting to a category page may provide short-term support but can also confuse users. Overall, prioritize user experience on invalid URLs; choose responses that guide users to useful content without relying on redirects that obscure the original intent.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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