I think the "relative ease and minimal pain" option is usually picking a framework and working with it as it's intended to be used.

Unfortunately, "picking a framework" for which "working with it as it's intended to be used" actually matches with the user's intentions tends to be the excruciatingly difficult part. Best-case: the user happens to find the perfect framework for one's use-case. Common-case: the user gets by on hacking the framework to do one's bidding, regardless of how it's intended to be used, because the user can't find one that actually satisfies the user's requirements.

See also: the proliferation of Excel spreadsheets driving business logic pretty much everywhere outside of Silicon Valley (and in some cases even within).

I don't see the relationship there... end users choose Excel because it's the only thing that's available to them. For a professional programmer you should not only have better judgment but also have some familiarity with the frameworks available for what you want to do.