Not in my experience. A good high efficiency front loader tends to get the clothes cleaner - and notably with much less wear than conventional top loaders. The money savings also come from clothing replacement as well.
Water use aside it's just better technology. Complexity is an issue, but I've had good luck by staying brands and models proven for reliability.
The other problem is many top loaders today are garbage. In order to be effective they do need a good agitator and they do need use a lot of water. The water part doesn't really matter to me though as tap water is so cheap we're talking a few cents per load.
Also speed. A front loader takes a long time. A good top loader (like Speed Queen) is done in 30m.
Keep the door open. The water evaporates. Never had a problem avoiding mold.
I don’t know, it’s a major problem that people report and I’ve experienced myself. There’s even a fan you can buy and put into the machine. But hey if you haven’t experienced problems then that’s great.
My blue pants remained brown from the dust for a couple of cycles. My carpenter neighbor has had the same experience with HE machines and has gone to a Speed Queen top-loader. He finds it much more satisfactory as well.
I'm not in the anti top-loader Speed Queen cult at all... but it is that on the internet, a cult (when I hear things like mold is "unavoidable", and basically you'd have to be an idiot to consider anything other than a Speed Queen top loader that is my conclusion) -- but most people are simply better served with a front loader.