There were C and Pascal compilers in the $50 - $60 price range for the C64, but they were often time consuming to use. The process of editing a source file, saving it, loading a compiler, compiling it to find errors, then re-loading the editor was tedious with a stock 1541 disk drive. ( Some editors had syntax-checkers built in to avoid having to exit the editor to find simple mistakes ... others used the BASIC editor to enter source with BASIC line-numbers. )

For me, tinkering with Forth on a C64 was attractive because I could interact quickly with the compiler, getting immediate feedback when I was toying with different concepts.