I now use exclusively (at least until something better pops up) the Jade product line on all my vehicles and most of the immediate family's motors. Been using Jade ceramic products for many years. However, they are not sub $100. It has been our experience that sub $100 products do not last. One sub $100 product hardened in the bottle before I could use it. They did offer to sell me another bottle at a 50% discount to remedy. No thanks.
My $.02 is to pay a bit more and get an excellent product. Do you really want to do all the prep work and such to only have to repeat again on short order?
Most recently we are using their Graphene Pro (so called 10h hardness). It is so hard and slippery that sometimes when I close the car door, my hand slips off and the door does not get enough force to close completely. So far nothing will adhere to it.
Have tried other popular brands out there and most with less than optimal results. Some of them are very poor quality and last a short duration. My goal is to apply once and not deal with it for at least a few years.
I would normally agree that a ceramic coating will do nothing to stop scratching. However, I had this unusual experience with my 21 CX-5. Vehicle is coated with Jade Graphene Pro. The other day, due to user parking error, the rear was too close to the garage door and when the tailgate was opened the bottom of the tailgate impacted one of the metal connectors on the garage door. Unfortunately, this has happed with previous year CX-5s I have owned and it scratches the tailgate (deeply) and you know how thin Mazda paint is. You would think that, by now, I would learn a lesson form this
Anyway, I watched in horror as this unfolded knowing that I would soon be repairing this minor damage. To my surprise, there was zero damage. I had to check several times. I was scratching my head in disbelief. So based on this one time super scientific controlled experiment, maybe certain coatings can assist in scratch avoidance?