As far as the GE switches go, they can be very inexpensive, often at Lowe’s you can stack a couple of different coupons together and get them.
That said, they have a known issue where a relatively high percentage, maybe 15%, tend to go bad about six months after the end of the warranty. They aren’t technically defective because they’re out of warranty and many people feel that they save enough money that even if they have to replace some of the switches every couple of years they still save on the overall project. So they are still popular, you should just know what you’re getting into.
Also, the GE switches do require a physical traveler wire between The auxiliary switch and the master and they have to all be on the same neutral circuit, which limits the placement somewhat over switches that communicate wirelessly. But that only affects you if you are doing a three-way or four-way set up.
So as always, different things work for different people. discussion of switch features begins in post 35 of the following: