The main difference I see is that YARP is added right into the dotnet project itself. See the getting started :
https://microsoft.github.io/reverse-proxy/articles/getting-s...
From my understanding Kestrel passes request to this.
> The proxy server is implemented a plugin component for ASP.NET Core applications. ASP.NET Core servers like Kestrel provide the front end for the proxy by listening for http requests and then passing them to the proxy for paths that the proxy has registered.