REPL driven workflow allows me to put the application in a specific state, and then continue developing features against that state. If you have to restart the application each time you make a code change then you have to rebuild that state each time. This creates a much slower feedback loop, especially when you're working on large applications. Furthermore, the REPL is a fantastic tool for troubleshooting live systems in production, and in some cases even patching them with zero downtime.

I don't know a single person who's worked with this workflow on a serious project and would want to go back to compile/run cycle afterwards.

Meanwhile, Clojure leverages host ecosystem getting all the same benefits as any other language running on it.