I do not know what happened with SnG but in the old days, when I tested 9-10-handed, I was mainly playing SnG where I had enough chips and good enough tournament structure to start with for example with 100BB and 10-minute levels. I never liked 50BB to start with or too fast levels. The lower amount of players is fine if you struggle with the player base (6-8), the only issue for me is the structure, starting stack size, and reasonable rake fees, so we can more than break even and move up in stakes.
It is the same problem with MTTs, I find them quite expensive to enter. I am looking for example at guaranteed freezeouts (so we all have the same chance, I do not like multiple re-entries): like 10k guaranteed $10 buy-in or 50k for $15, 100k for $20 buy-in....
Have a good day