PIC programmers? More generic programmer? Port?

[Scott Quinn]

Looking for suggestions on hobbyist PIC setup. So far I have just used
Arduino type direct-connect microcontrollers (back in the day
programmers for general devices were expensive), but the currently
existing SGI proprietary system to PS/2 keyboard adapter is PIC (and I
have a couple different systems that all use my single SGI proprietary
keyboard).
Any gotchas with the PICKit-3 clones out there? I have the feeling that
sticking with PIC would be better than trying to port to Arduino, and
imagine that as things continue to age there will be more applications
for interfaces. Any better but still cheapish alternatives for
programming?