I paid $1600, for a small commercial grade Honda, that uses what they call a cycloconverter. It isn't an inverter, but it is an electronic control, that eliminates the alternator completely. It utilizes the flywheel to generate. I bought it, because I had a huge Generac, that had more failures than I could deal with and needed a backup. The Honda saved me during Sandy. It made life much better here for that week.In the long run you will save money by buying the Honda. Those 'other brands' may be fine for a few years, but then they become unreliable and need to be fiddled with and parts replaced (which takes time, and time is money). Then after four or five years those 'other brands' generators die and you need to replace them with another new 'other brand' generator.
Honda's do cost more but they last a REALLY long time. I have several Honda's including a 2000 watt 'suitcase' one that I bought new in 1986. It still works perfectly and fires right up whenever I need it. That's 38 years and going strong. Pretty sure you won't find another brand with that kind of longevity.
I gave away that Generac that needed a stator and replaced it with other things. I still have the Honda and will never get rid of it, just for peace of mind. But, it only has 120V output and is small. So, I rely on my other stuff, until I can't.