The phrase "appears costly" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when discussing something that seems to require a significant amount of money or resources, often in a comparative context.
Example: "The new software solution appears costly, but it may save us money in the long run."
Alternatives: "seems expensive" or "looks pricey".
It may appear costly in the short term, but its value is felt for months and years after.
Even though this may appear costly, it is less costly than commitment to a design that proves to be inappropriate because of circumstances that could not be foreseen in the early stages.
We would like to work towards a Europe that fully meets people's expectations, so that rather than appearing costly, it appears first of all as progress, which our fellow citizens enjoy daily in the form of increased freedom, prosperity and security.
That miss appeared costly when Xavi released Costa into the penalty area and he fell under the challenge of De Vrij.
Based on intervention costs alone IPTc may appear costly, however, once the savings to the health system and to households are included IPTc appears more favourable.
As such it appeared costly to have a high complexity due to a limited number of beneficial mutations [ 11, 13, 15, 21], a limited rate of adaptation [ 7, 11, 21, 22], or a higher drift load [ 12, 16, 20, 23- 25].
Max appears somewhat costlier too, sleeker, as does 99 (leggy, pretty, harmless Anne Hathaway).
Accordingly, many sound ideas appear too costly to win approval.
At some point, the woes attached to a chief executive's tenure appear more costly than the talents he brings to the job.
She also conducts three in-depth case studies that support her contention that domestically and militarily weak leaders appear more costly to coerce than overthrow and, as long as they remain ubiquitous, foreign-imposed regime change is likely to endure.
