A Kick Bike is $3000. It's never been $5000, unless we're talking funny money.
I've done the dumb trainer with powermeter pedals, direct-drive trainer, and smart bike. If you have the money then the smart bike is the way to go. Less fuss, smoother action, zero worrying about cassette, frame or drivetrain compatibility.
I use my Kickr Bike with Rouvy, then when my wife wants to ride together, it takes a few seconds to switch over for her while I use my backup bike on my Kickr. We set up a race on Rouvy can draft off each other. There are also training and group ride modes that let you tweak individual difficulty or get a rubber-band effect for weaker riders to more easily stay with a designated leader, respectively. You only need one subscription with Rouvy that can be shared with 3 other accounts, so it's cheaper than a competitor like FulGaz and for her, more compelling with real routes to ride vs the totally artificial virtual roads of Zwift and RGT. Rouvy runs on almost anything, although a computer or Apple TV seem to be the best options.