If you are looking to get a fireplace for your home but can not afford a real fireplace, the next best thing would be to get a gas fireplace.
With a gas fireplace you can get a similar feel as a real fireplace with the gas flame that comes up with it.
It is a pretty blue flame which can be quite hypnotic and relaxing all together. In my opinion it is much better than an electric fireplace because with an electric fireplace it is much more expensive than a gas fireplace. And also with an electric fireplace you can not get a flame. It is more or less just an overly large heater that is shaped like and resembles a fireplace. And to me I think that is weak and a real waste of time and money to get one of those things. But with a gas fireplace you can get that for more than half the price of an electric fireplace and it gives much more joy and relaxing feeling to your home in my humble and most honest opinion on it all. I will never get rid of the gas fireplace I had purchased. The only way I might is if I happened to buy a house that is older and has a real authentic fireplace in it. Having a gas fireplace is the next best thing to having a real authentic real fireplace. And that is the way I feel and the opinion I will stick with no matter what anyone else has to say about the whole thing to me.