When comparing The Near Future Pack vs Kerbal Engineer Redux, the Slant community recommends Kerbal Engineer Redux for most people. In the question“What are the best Kerbal Space Program mods?” Kerbal Engineer Redux is ranked 1st while The Near Future Pack is ranked 3rd.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro A great selection of stock-like near future parts that blend well with other stock parts
It's a pack that doesn't really change the theme of ksp but it adds some new shapes and designs. NONE OF THEM ARE OVERPOWERED
Pro Includes 8 subpacks
Includes 6 subpacks: Propulsion, Electrical, Construction, Solar, Spacecraft, Aeronautics, Launch Vehicles, and Exploration
Pro Not at all buggy
The mod is extremely stable, and often is not the reason the game crashes.
Pro Probably the best-looking parts made for KSP
The author, Nertea, is one of the most talented 3D artists to mod the game.
Pro Synergistic with just about everything
Since NFT is the gold standard in the KSP modding scene, most mods you will encounter play very well with NFT.
Pro Multiple play directions
Near Future can be used with a basically stock playstyle, or you can use the parts to go in a direction tangental to the rest of the game, with capabilities that allow more stuff to do.
Pro Helps with designing functional and efficient ships
Pro Shows important statistics when building crafts and in-flight
Shows important statistics when building crafts (mass, deltaV, thrust, ISP - while on Kerbin, in vacuum, or on other atmospheric bodies) and in-flight (all of the above + periapsis, apoapsis, orbital period, time to ap, time to pe and many many more).
Pro Provides customizable in-flight readouts of flight data
Pro This is not an autopilot
As opposed to MechJeb, which is considered "cheats". KER helps a ton by providing already available info in a very accessible manner.
Cons
Con Less readable than some alternatives
The same information is presented in a more intuitive and readable way by DMagic's "Basic Delta V" and "Basic Orbit".