one main difference is that the degree to which Prince drew on both white and black influences
my absolute favorite era of dance music is, as often previously noted, the post-disco pre-house early 80s
post-disco proper, disco not disco, new wave, post-punk, italo, boogie, electro
whatever records got played at The Paradise Garage, Danceteria, etc
Prince absolutely belongs to that, whether or not he literally got played at those places (idk)
he's drawing on Jimi, JB, Sly, P-funk, etc but also David Bowie, synth pop, etc
his feyness is that of both Little Richard and Jagger/Bowie
whereas MJ - despite his infinitely massive crossover appeal - is operating more strictly in the electronic black soul/pop continuum
doo-wop, R+B, soul, disco - epitomized in Off the Wall
as luka said, he was black pop royalty, Motown, Quincy Jones, the whole bit
this isn't an argument for superiority either way so much as explaining my own preferences
I love disco, expansively defined, in general, absolutely including disco proper, but I usually like the weirder stuff more
Prince is fucking weird and yeah, full of screaming guitars, but wed to flawless funk/R+B chops and a generational voice