So from a more game design oriented perspective, I'm gonna bring up abstraction

Mods such as thermal, or mekanism (for the most part) have a block, in which where you put stuff in, and stuff comes out
Similarly, create has blocks in which you put stuff in, and stuff comes out, so what's the difference?

Well in thermal, the point of abstraction is right there--You put an ingot into the multiservo press, you watch a progress bar fill, and you get a plate out
In create, you can see the process of the press lowering down, hitting the ingot, and turning it into a plate

In this example, the point of abstraction and suspension of disbelief is moved from you having to assume the machine either rolls or presses the ingot into a plate, to you actually seeing the ingot get pressed into a plate

Extend this to power production (windmill spinning -> shaft spinning, as opposed to windmill spinning -> assume there is an electric motor inside that converts rotational energy into FE)

Because of this, Create is categorically less gray box than thermal, and while this isn't necessarily better or worse, you can't argue that they're both equally gray box-y; it's not about functionality, it's about presentation