I find this question confusing. Staking is a process where you need certain amount of tokens to earn from its timely maturation which classify also as type of investment.
Staking is a form of investing, you'd need to specify what form of investment to compare it with.
I mean, by investing, you place your currencies in investment sites that give you a percentage of daily or monthly percentage profits. I see that staking is very similar to these sites. Also, as you know, there are risks in this type of investment, and my question is what is the difference between staking and such sites, as well as whether there is such a risk.
Investment sites involve a lot of risk and you hardly know the truth about where your money is going for that are being used to pay you monthly. Staking is less resource-intensive alternative to mining. It is less risky but the profit might be less than what you are getting from investment site. Also profit from staking varies depending on the amount of coin you are staking and the coin itself. For me, I prefer staking over the other