Are store-brand gluten-free flours worth buying?

It really depends on what you want to use it for. Cheap gluten-free flours are often just a mix of cornstarch, rice, and some binding agent. It works fine for simple cakes or crepes, but don't expect the texture to be exactly the same as regular flour. If you're just making a chocolate cake where nobody's gonna notice the difference, yeah it's worth it. But if you're after really good bread or pasta, you'll need to spend a bit more.

The thing is, store brands often have a weird composition - not enough binder or too much starch. That means you'll struggle more to balance your recipe, you gotta add extra eggs or other stuff to make it rise. Then it stops being cheap since you're buying the bargain flour but throwing in a ton of other ingredients to make it work.

If you eat it regularly, it might be better to try a niche brand, even if it costs a bit more. But for a one-off try or a basic cake, the store-brand flour could do the job. Just don't expect miracles.