Apologies, I would recommend checking out https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/ to get an impression of what other vendors offer. You can look up the brands and models on your local Amazon, Alibaba, your local brick dealer, ...
These prices are a lot lower that LEGO sets, so you might be able to try different vendors and see what's on the market.
My kid got a non Lego set as a gift and what a letdown that was. It's a frustrating excersise as the construction simply doesn't holds up like the real thing.
Yeah, the tolerances are looser so it doesn't click into place and stay in place easily. The plastic is less rigid and more pliable, making fitting even more difficult. The colors also fade more quickly.
I have a Mould King 13112 RC Excavator. All parts are on par and compatible with Lego bricks. Excellent quality, a bit tighter fit than regular Lego and the model itself is way more interesting and fun to build than anything Lego has produced in the Technic line in the past years. On top it is much cheaper than a comparable Lego set and it has an excellent building manual.
Try looking for Mould King or Cada - those are usually the ones that are considered to deliver great quality for a reasonable price.
It should be mentioned that both companies are gearing their products much more towards an older audience - so they aren’t really an alternative when talking about kids playsets.
I usually shop around on https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/ Their Specials didn't disappoint so far. They carry other vendors too, but you might want to browse reviews on the web to see what's really good. Quality does vary between vendors, but LEGO bricks aren't as perfect as people believe either.
I know, and I have loved Lego since getting that 8880 for Christmas that one year! But that is in the past, and spending 500€ on a LEGO set, when I can get a much more enjoyable experience from another vendor at a fraction of the cost, just doesn't feel right to me these days. But to each their own, and I still love the LEGO sets I do have.
My homemade 3D printer that makes one of these rackus just because it's not very good can make lego tolerance. It can't cut metal though so I don't know wtf he's dreaming about lol.