I hate to say it, but the Pi is probably the only good option for a cheap (well, MSRP) ARM SBC with okayish software support. A lot of these no-name companies that produce ARM SBCs give them basically zero software support (save for maybe a buggy build of Debian or something) and expect the community do all the work. Have you checked out any x86 SBCs? The Rock Pi X is like $60 USD.