The reasons I prefer Meteor (in no particular order):
* Fully automated build chain. No matter what kind of preprocessors I use, all my code is compiled, bundled, and hot reloaded into the application. CSS updates are automatically live injected into running applications without a browser refresh. I don't have to write any build chain code, just application code.
* Isomorphic client/server APIs, with code sharing built into the build chain. I'm using the same language with the same APIs in both environments, drastically decreasing redundant code. Clients can simulate server RPCs using the same function as the server while it waits for the server's response. If I want, I can easily make the client's simulation code different from the server's such as when I want to obfuscate something, or simply disable client simulation for certain RPCs. The package system incorporates both server and client assets, allowing drop-in full-stack components, such as...
* The Accounts UI component. A drop-in, automated SRP+OAuth authentication system that's easy to customize and restyle, or build from scratch using the simple JS authentication APIs. It takes minutes to make a web application with a fully-featured and secure authentication system with password-based and 3rd party OAuth login methods. And logging in never requires a refresh.
* Already glued together. Endpoints don't have to be hooked up; they're hooked up from default. Publish data on the server. Subscribe on the client. Add authorization rules, and I have a fully functional web application with realtime data updates, with virtually no glue code.