In my experience, I am not a fan of any of the budget winches. They are all loud, have subtle little issues, have huge current draws, and are slow as hell. I see used Warns (XDi, 9.6Ti, 8274s, M8000) for 300-500$ fairly regularly with very minimal if any issues that are easy fixes. In the past 6 months I've bought a XD9000i on a cradle for 300$, a hardly used 9.5Ti for 400$, and an 8274 missing a motor for $100. Once you get used to 8274/9.5Ti/9.5XP speeds, you don't want to go back.
That being said, for the non-serious wheeler, or on a trailer, the budget winches are fine. They work and given the choice between a crappy 300$ winch or no winch because you can't afford or cant find a good Warn, I'd pick the shitty one. I guide for one of the bigger Jeep Jamborees and a couple other big events and I've seen pretty much all of them used. I think the older Tabors/Warn budget winches are probably the worst of them, before anybody accuses me of being a fan boy. I considered a HF winch for my trailer before I found the XDi.