Depends on what you are trying to do. Are you looking for wear resistance, decorative finish, corrosion resistance, etc. You may have a problem masking for electroless nickel. In my experience it was a process used to plate all over and is pretty costly as the chemicals are expensive. We used to run the process once a week which was a pain if the parts were needed immediately. You can electroplate nickel selectively just like chrome and you are correct it won't be as decorative but it will provide a good hard surface and some corrosion resistance. My use of nickel was mostly as a maskant for subsequent nitriding. Nickel was applied, removed from surfaces to be nitride, nitride, then the nickel was stripped off.
Some chromes have been banned (hexavalent chrome) as it is considered an extremely hazardous material. So options are getting fewer.
How electroplating thickness relates to the electric field created in the part as a rule of thumb it builds up excessively on exterior corners and will be much thinner on interior corners.