Is renting a server worth it?

For sure. I used to rent a server. i made about $100 in a month after having the server up and running. I no longer run the server due to real life things and just being too busy to keep up with it. I made about $300 total after about 2 months. Make sure you can keep it up to date, well maintenance, learn the ends and outs of LUA coding. You will have to learn how to use a control panel, a console, everything.. It isn't easy at all. It's difficult. Getting a server up and running with mods (legally owning them) can cost like 100-200 dollars. Luckily there are forums like Nulledbb with leaks on it! I think you should invest into it. Put $150 into at the start, make sure you have trusty friends who will play 24/7. Always take advice from random players and don't be sad when they shit on your server. It will ALWAYS happen. Just learn to deal with it.