I've fallen down the rabbit hole of knock-off Lego products. For example, Lego recently put out The Great Wave by Hokusai as an art piece (kind of a 2.5d framed print). It looks fabulous. But there already existed recreations of this iconic painting by off-brand companies. The off-brand set is cheaper ($80 vs $100), has a similar part count, and looks to be larger.
I think the official Lego set looks better taken from the front (the leaf and bird pieces simulating the foam of the wave is far superior to the clip pieces used in the knock-off). But the knock-off DOES make this a 3D diorama, potentially offering more visual interest from multiple angles.
I find this stuff fascinating. It makes me think a lot about "value" and how we perceive worth. How much value does something being "Lego branded" actually add? How much does it even matter? There's a lot of seriously compelling knock-off sets you can buy off Amazon for pretty cheap. They generally have a slightly worse quality and the build process usually isn't as clean. But if you like Asian-inspired architecture or art, it's not a bad way to get some interesting display pieces.