Great news! You also pay a lawyer at closing in the US. They are far, far cheaper than realtors but have much more liability.
You can list your home and refuse to pay buyers' agents, but it generally takes much longer to sell a home that way. Not uncommon for a home for sale by owner to later be listed by a realtor when the owner loses patience. As you can read elsewhere in this discussion, real estate agents hate homes for sale by owners because those people generally don't want to pay their commission.