Well, there are actually a lot of almost free platforms you could use.
For example, on Waves, it only costs 1 wave to create a token.  1 wave is around $2 right now.

There are some platforms with some pretty strong communities already built that you could jump into.
Steem would be a good one.
You wouldn't have to create your own website.
Just create a steem account and start publishing content for whatever your project is.

Tron is also picking up a lot hype, you could check that one out.

Or, if you really want to be hardcore, you could fork an existing blockchain, run nodes, create your own website to promote it, then build a community.
But nowadays, people just use platforms because its easier, cheaper, and faster.