If you install core - then you are pretty well on you own with “add-ons”. You must install the programs like node-red or Mosquitto, configure ports and connections etc. Everything is manual.
If you install the docker version, you could install docker containers for the add-ons…
Or you could do a “supervised” install on the one supported Linux OS and then you get “Supervisor”.
Unless you desperately want to configure something on the machine you are using that is not supported in HA, or for some reason want to “lock-down” everything, just install HAOS.
Here’s a rambling discussion about the pros and cons of Core.
Personally - I tried a few different install types and just like the simplicity of HAOS.