Compared to a tokamak, the stellarator bring engineering efficiency while matching performance. Though ideas for the tokamak and the stellarator may have emerged together, the main reason tokamaks were built first is because they COULD be built. Without computer-assisted magnet design, stellarators simply couldn't be properly built; the magnetic geometries are just too complex.

In the long run, it's not known stellarators will be the eventual winner in the long race for a viable fusion reactor. The attributes in a winner will be net-positive operational efficiency and superior energy harvesting abilities. Perhaps multiple approaches will be viable.