Well, there are big differences with a Clone+Path Deform solution: Multiple segments based on rules, Height solving, automatic cloning/slicing and more. The idea is that you can define a complex parametric structure with a set of rules, store it in a library and apply it in your scenes with a single click.
As you pointed, many (or possibly all) of the RailClone samples would be created with Max tools, but how long it take to create dozens of different railings in an complex architecture scene ? Our goal is that you not waste time modelling the same objects again and again.
We have some ideas to solve the junctions, but probably we don't include it in the first version. For sure the plugin will evolve along multiple releases and new features (as Forest).