Key on a tank like you are planning is nutrient export and algae control. Predator tanks, in my opinion, are actually more labor intensive since you can't keep regular cleanup crews as most of the fish will eat the crews so you are left to do a lot of that yourself instead of letting them do it for you. Also, you will want to beef up your protein skimmer and up your water changes to keep your nutrient levels in check.
A well designed reef tank combines nutrient export into the design, but a predator tank also needs that. Some people utilize a combination of routine and equipment to accomplish it. Equipment would be a beefed up skimmer, one sized one or two notches above what your tank would use with a reef along with wet skimming setting. They also use nitrate reactors and PO4 reactors to help keep algae at bay.
Really in my reefs, the maintenance is rather simple. I change water once a week, takes about 20 minutes and clean the glass every few days. Aside from dosing to keep parms up, that's all there really is to it. Its when you slack on changes, over stock or use undersized skimming etc that you get into long hours of work on the tank.
To me, aside from coral costs, the setups can be pretty comparable.
