Is Linked List similar to recursive binary search?

If you used recursive methods operating on linked lists will it be simpler to write and easier to understand then their iterative counterparts (I become familiar with recursive methods link binary search). For example, recursive methods operating on linked list have a base case of an empty list; most have a recursive call on the next instance variable, which refers to a smaller list: one that contains one fewer node. Probably the simplest recursive method is one that returns the number of nodes in a linked list (the length of the list). Does the list node often store no state or use any state change operators?