The cost for adding an extra 8GB would be insignificant for Apple, though. The only reason they don’t is to upsell higher tier models
To be fair– While 8GB is annoying– I've bought the M1 MacBook Air when it came out and it's remarkably resilient. I've only had it freeze a few times due to too little RAM.
I've also been using many different programs. I just have to be a tad mindful about closing tabs (especially Google tabs) and programs.