Nickle based alloys come in numerous types .

Type is determined by secondary alloying element Inconel - these are Cr alloyed Nickel based products with Fe ( iron ) Popular examples are Alloy 600 ( 75Ni , 15Cr ) alloy 625 (61Ni 22Cr 9Mo ) etc Applications are high temp exhausts , pulp and paper, aircraft engine parts etc . It has outstanding high temp strength and resistance to oxidization These are the most popular of the nickel based alloys Monel - these are Cu ( copper ) alloyed Nickel based products . Popular examples are Monel Alloy 400 ( 66Ni 31Cu ) , Alloy K500 Applications are corrosion resistance in salt water, most acids and other funky chemicals Incoloys - these are Cr and Fe alloyed nickel based products Popular examples are Incoloy Alloy 825 ( 40Ni 21Cr 31 Fe ) Applications where high temp creep strength is required. I have seen Incoloy glowing red hot and still have strength ( up to 1800deg ! ) Hastalloy - these are Mo alloyed and Mo Cr Nickel based products Popular examples are B2 ( 30Mo ) C276 ( 16Mo 15Cr bal Ni and trace) Hastalloy has incredible resistance to chemical corrosion even at high temperatures. Typically used in pulp and paper, chemical processing, aircraft engine parts Pure Nickle - these materials have very little alloys and are primarly Ni Examples are Alloy 200 . The have realtively poor strengths and corrosion resistance than all the above Weldability All high nickle products TIG weld ok ( bit gummy and sluggish puddle ) but have poor MIG charcateristics. The reason is alloys such as nickle have are difficult to get from end of wire to the weld pool. It is not unusual to have a ropy ugly high nickle MIG weld . If you have a convex nickle alloy bead you most likely will crack the weld Typical gases for MIG are Ar He blends Stainless Steels How does stainless fit in all this. Typically stainless is definied as iron based alloys that have at least 10% Cr How they differ from Nickle based The nickle content of a typical Austentic stainless like Type 304 is only 8% . Compared to a Inconel which is typically over 60% Even a Mo alloyed stainless such as Type 316 only has 2 to 3% Mo addition. Compared to a Mo

alloyed Nickle based product like some Hastalloys have 30% ! So to answer your question Nickle alloy electrodes and Stainless electrodes are nowhere near the same since the alloy contents are drastically different . You shouldnt weld a Ni based alloy with an austentitic stainless filler unless you were just bubble gumming parts together . You could weld austentic stainless with Inconel 625, 82 or 686 . These electrodes are used to weld nickle alloys to carbon steels and stainless steels Downside of Nickle based alloy is the cost is insane. Its humbling to see a coil of Hastalloy MIG wire that is over $1000 There are a ton different nickle alloy wires and stainless wires . It would be impossible to mention all of them