In my experience, I feel like Apple does a much better job curating and vetting their content, making things a lot more stable. Also, Apple at least tries to care about your security and privacy vs the alternative.

I’ve also given Graphene a (short) try and while the privacy features are nice. I don’t want to spend time fiddling with my phone, and trying to get things working.

Yes, the new iPhones are expensive. But if money is tight, you can still get it subsidized by your phone provider. Worst case scenario, get a slightly older/refurbished iPhone.

Good luck OP!

Edit: I also prefer 1Password, but that is another discussion altogether.

Oh, and you are asking in an Apple community. You aren’t going to get many people giving you reasons to use something else ;)