Not sure there is anything to directly compare them to. It’s a heck of an achievement to create the Decent and make a commercial success of it, especially going direct to market regardless of how much IP he used or did not use from the failed KS project. It’s an interesting but moot point; you and I will never know.
Perhaps the fact that the Decent has no direct competitors (at least that I am aware of) means he can charge a premium.
As a side note, some proud owners have no doubt hyped the Decent (as proud and pleased owners of anything the world over are want to do) but I’d say that Buckman is definitely not one to hype his products. Incredibly laid back, budget style videos and very rare lapses into “worlds best” type claims. If anything his stance is very anti-slick marketing.
In terms of whether or not it’s too expensive for what it is, my Dad was fond of saying that a thing is worth what someone will pay for it. And more than 5,000 people to date have paid a pretty penny for it.
Last thought: an expert can work miracles with the most basic of espresso machines. The Decent puts advanced options into the otherwise bumbling and unskilled hands of newbies like myself.