Right you're still going to need a module at each end, that's what really drives up the cost compared twisted copper pair. That means either direct attach cables (starting at $13 for a half meter) or standalone modules (starting at $38 for a pair of 10G modules).

But that also applies to a spool of fiber, and I was talking about the specific cost difference between fusing and premade.

The price of modules was built into the first post mentioning fiber up here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41891559

The worry was that the actual fiber would be "stupid expensive", and nah it's fine.