I wonder if the high prices you're seeing are because you're looking at black & white film.

B&W film is quite forgiving of under/over-exposure, and it allows for push processing. On the flip side, every type of film has its own developing time & some mild chemical preference.

Color film isn't very DIY friendly, but it does have the benefit of being very consistent from a processing perspective.

From what I've seen, it's usually a difference of 2x or 3x in price for black and white vs. color (C41).