I have been using Open EVSE for years and love them, They have a nicely documented API so i can control them with just about anything.

I came here to say that

Now you get a 10 minute ad for a 2 minute video

Don’t forget Wayland and security into the mix as well. That seems to have caused some of the biggest issues with apps. Don’t get me wrong though, security was desperately needed. X11 had no concept of security.

It depends on where your priorities are. For me i would go for cheap\shitty place so long as it was safe enough and i wasn’t going to be robbed all the time. Save the money and then go buy a place you really like when you can afford it better.