Noob trying to make smart home

So I've been wanting to get into home automation, and my first step was going to be smart bulbs throughout the house. My house has a lot of lights, around 70 inside. I wasn't aware of the price of the Philliips Hue bulbs, which I've read great reviews about. At their price, that would be close to $4K, if not more, and that's not counting garage and outdoor lighting. Maybe I'm just naive to this space, but I didn't realize that it would be that costly. That seems absurd to me, and it got me thinking, is this what everyone else is paying to automate their home? Are there other options for smart bulbs that will cost maybe half of that, or is this just one of those things where if you want to do it, you have to pay for it?