You could co-author the article. Authorship will be shared so does cost. Perhaps co-author could have such cost free options. That will not only minimize your cost but will open you to collaboration. Of course there is a trade off in such a scenario but better than delaying the publishing or even not being able to publish.

You could co-author the article. Authorship will be shared so does cost. Perhaps co-author could have such cost free options. That will not only minimize your cost but will open you to collaboration. Of course there is a trade off in such a scenario but better than delaying the publishing or even not being able to publish.

Please look at my comment below. I did not mean it something unethical.