With tripod you have to determine three requirements set out in an order of priority.

1. the most important point is what's your intended use?
Even a $50 cheap plastic tripod is as useful as a multi thousand dollar sachtler tripod.
Even tho they don't compare in terms of ability, the cheapy freebie you may get off ebay as part of an extra package when you buy something else can still be useful.

eg. if you were shooting landscapes with a super lightweight mirrorless system and an extremely short focal length(eg. 7mm) having the best tripod is actually a bit of a waste!

OTOH!! if you want super high magnification macro images shot with a dodgy SLR type camera known for it's inability to contain mirrorslap(or shutter slap in a mirrorless system), then having the most rigid multi thousand dollar tripod is about the only way to go.

2. price! no point is wanting the best tripod money can buy coz it's going to cost you over $10K .. and that could be the fluid head alone! .. add a couple more for the legs.
A reasonable price point for a known good tripod will be in the $600 range for a carbon version(highly recommended) or closer to half that for a aluminium version. That should include a usable ball head.
And also note that this is one aspect where size does matter. Bigger is always better (for a given manufacturer tho).

3. Size, weight, portability, etc.
There's no point having a massive tripod built like a boulder if your purpose is to travel by plane, or hike into the places you want to go too.
On the flip side, a tripod too small for the task is probably going to disappoint as well.