Yes. It’s terrible for 99% of people. 1% can do the easy return.

Kind of, there are free services and the IRS is working on their free filing website/software. However, the easiest product to use TurboTax is focused on upselling. I believe it’s free for basic taxes but the minute you need to add something like contractor income it’s $120.

I’ve used FreeTaxUSA for the last 5 years and it’s very good with very minimal upselling (and they make it very clear when payment is optional).

Freefilefillableforms.com

Free for everyone, has links to all the necessary forms and literature, etc. Linked by the IRS on their how to file webpage.

You do NOT have to pay a service, despite tax preparation services acting like you have to.