Basically it's way beyond just "typing a prompt and pressing enter" you control every step of the way
[1]https://blog.comfy.org/p/nano-banana-via-comfyui-api-nodes
I'd say that comfy UI is like Photoshop vs Paint; layers, non-destructive editing, those are all things you could replicate the effects of with Paint and skill, but by adopting the more advanced concepts of Photoshop you can work faster and make changes easier vs Paint.
So it is with node based editing in nearly any tool.
Think of it this way: spreadsheets had a massive impact on the world even though you can do the same thing with code. Dataflow graph interfaces provide a similar level of usefulness.
They’re about as similar as oil and water.