> It's a bit of shame that the pricing seems to be rather steep for frivolous use
The pricing norms for RTK correction networks were set 20 years ago, when operating your own base station meant buying a second $20,000 dual frequency receiver, and taking an extra guy any time you go out to do a survey, whose job is just to guard the base station.
This made a $2000 a year network correction service seem like great value for money!
Some networks offer more affordable options these days - such as weekly and hourly licenses for drone pilots.