I built my own for my later style bumper. They're pretty easy to do if you're into welding. I don't think you'll save a lot of $ going one way or the other. But it probably saves about 50-60lbs of weight vs a partial front bumper. I wanted to keep weight to a minimum and it was my daily driver, so I went with a hidden winch. I really liked the low-key design. The downside is that you don't get the protection from the steel bumper. And I did damage my front plastics a number of times on big rocks offroad that might have done better with a steel bumper. Nothing major - just scratched up plastics. I swapped front bumper skins twice in 8 years due to being chewed up by rocks. But I could usually find them color matched in new condition for around $100. So I was happy doing that. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it.
I have a little flip up license plate bracket you can buy on Amazon for $15 and then it's almost entirely hidden until you need it.
If you want to use it just as an emergency option - you could go with a front hitch mount and a hitch mount winch. Then you can leave all that weight at home when you don't need it. That's what I've done in past vehicles and on my current Tundra. It's not really an offroad vehicle, but I do get stuck a few times a year in remote places and a winch is really really nice to have when I do. The cost is probably not that much different, but it's a bit easier to install. The biggest downside is that it hangs pretty low and exposed out front if you want to go into more challenging terrain. For more like utility/ranch work or infrequent use as an offroad winch, I like the hitch mount.
Everything has it's pros and cons. That's just another option.
I would also say that if you're budget sensitive, buy a lower cost winch. I've owned about a dozen winches. My experience has been that the $$ Warn ones are not much different in reliability than the Harbor Freight ones. The only one I've broken multiple times is my 8274 on my FJ40, which is the most expensive one I've ever owned. But it gets used pretty hard. Even so - it's the least reliable one. The Superwinch Tigershark 9500 fit nicely in the hidden winch on my 4Runner and never skipped a beat and is a nice budget option if you can find them on sale. With synthetic rope I bought mine for around $500. I have a 17 year old Harbor Freight $200 cheapo 8k winch that is still in service on a utility trailer and still works. And on my current Tundra hitch mount I bought a super cheap Zeon 13k with synthetic rope and it pulls my big old tundra out of mud holes just like my Warn does on my Land Cruiser. The wiring inside the control box is definitely inferior to the warn or the Superwinch. The SW and Warn are very comparable. But it still does the job and has been reliable every time I've needed it.
Good luck!