Have Facebook ads become more expensive recently?

Advertising costs will vary—sometimes higher, sometimes lower—depending on your product; it is best to start with a small budget.

Yeah, they've definitely become more expensive in competitive niches, but they're still worth it if you test properly. I'd start with $5–10 a day for your first campaign, let it run for 3–5 days, then scale what actually works instead of increasing the budget too early. Average CPC is still around $0.50–$2 in many niches, but it depends on your audience and industry.