I'm not a huge fan of landscape fabric. It works for a season or two but over time it forms holes that weeds push through. You still have to manually weed but now you are less likely to pull all the roots up.

The previous owner of my house used a ton of it as a quick solution to a weed problem so they could more easily sell the house. I've spent a lot of time ripping out their quick fix. I had a nice surprise of finding a bed of sad irises under one.

Certainly not cheaper if you include installation.