It's much cheaper and easier than you think to create your own server on here. You don't have to be a techy person, there are hosting companies which will do the technical stuff for you.

I run a site for non-techy people who want to start their own servers, and it has a section dedicated to Mastodon and the Fediverse:

➡️ https://growyourown.services/grow-your-own-social-network

There's also an in-depth step-by-step guide to starting your own Mastodon server through managed hosting:

➡️ https://growyourown.services/making-your-own-mastodon-server-in-10-steps/

#Fediverse