With the introduction of ordinals to the Bitcoin protocol fees have skyrocketed. They have been as high as $190 US and currently are averaging $7 per transaction.
The fee rate now is around 23 sat/vbyte. Having 1 input and 2 outputs in your transaction will cost you not up to $2. Just like before the halving time.
Runes is gone for now. Maybe until the next bullrun.