Are motorized shades worth the extra cost?

On the right windows, yes. Motorization earns its premium on hard-to-reach and very large windows where manual operation is a chore, and it removes accessible cords entirely — a genuine safety win in homes with young children, stated as fact rather than fear. The honest caveats keep it grounded: battery motors need recharging every several months to a year (a chore that multiplies across many windows), hardwired motors mean an electrician, and the "smart" features age with the app and hub rather than the shade. For a few reachable windows, a cordless manual lift covers the job for far less. For high, wide, or numerous windows — or a media room — the motor is a real reason to spend. Expect a meaningful per-window step up, quoted at analysis.