I don’t know the quality of the Armor tools, but I believe they had the auto thickness adjust before Kreg. Now Kreg offers it on their kits. I have an older Kreg bench top, and it’s been great. Anyway, Armor is another option, if you’re trying to avoid Kreg.
As an even cheaper option, I have an old Kreg K4 with a 3D printed dust port. It’s not as fancy as the new models but it works perfectly fine. Use dust collection if you can to keep the mess down. You’ll also get cleaner cuts.
I don’t know if this fits here in this topic, but as a super cheap option I 3D print jigs to drill pocket holes. They are good if you only have to drill a few holes. However, printing the jigs does take time.