They are different in kind. The Gold Card gift is money given to the U.S. government with no return and no project; EB-5 capital is invested at risk in an enterprise that must create jobs and may or may not repay. Comparing the headline amounts as two prices for the same product misstates both.
Compare what each dollar does and what happens to it
In EB-5 the money is placed in a commercial enterprise, must remain at risk through the conditional period, must generate ten jobs and may be returned if the project succeeds; the investor also pays administrative and legal fees and takes commercial risk. In the Gold Card framework the money is a gift, is not returned, and requires no job creation, but the processing fee is nonrefundable and the gift is only made after vetting on instruction. For a couple, both routes multiply: EB-5 covers the spouse as a derivative without additional capital, while the Gold Card terms attach a further gift and fee to each included spouse and child.
Put the two side by side with the family's actual numbers, then add tax: permanent residence under either route brings U.S. tax on worldwide income and Canadian departure consequences. Whichever route seems cheaper on paper should be checked against the official page and the current EB-5 thresholds on the day of decision.