Finc,
Career custom cabinetmaker here. Did refacing for Home Depot for a year and a half when my wife and I relocated years ago. I can only speak of HD as it is my only experience. But I have done or been involved in hundreds of kitchens over the years.

There are pros and cons. First, if you are satisfied with the layout, the countertops, etc then refacing makes some sense. I used to take an average sized kitchen and turn it around in one week. It would normally include taking the doors, drawer fronts, slides, moldings off. Then fixing any cabinets that might be loose, cracked frames, etc. I would then apply/glue a veneer to all faces and sides of the cabinets. No interiors or interior edges were included. New moldings throughout, new slides, drawer boxes, then put on doors and drawer fronts that you selected, new hardware. Most people were pretty satisfied but it came at a price. An average sized kitchen was about $20k. I did one, a good sized kitchen, that was $32k.

Here is the semi-scam though. (Note, this is all from 10 years ago but may still be relevant, not sure?) HD has people in the store with a clip board that work for a subcontractor. They want your phone number. They will then call you incessantly to get an appointment. They will make the appt for the early evening and the sales person will NOT leave until you sign. They were notorious for wearing people down, especially the older crowd. If you do sign, you have three days to cancel. If you do, they will immediately drop it 10%. You have three days, you can cancel again and they will drop another 10%.

The contractor for HD then has guys like me who are private subs to them. We made a percentage of the job. It was okay money, but it was a lot of work, a tight time frame, a messy invasive job and if the measure guy makes a mistake like screwing up the door or drawer sizes, I had to go replace on my time.

The subcontractor pays HD 13% of the job, and then has to order all the parts from HD who had a factory in Virgina making the doors and drawer fronts. They all make a lot of money doing this.

You as the customer have a lot of decisions to make; color, door style, hardware, moldings, slides, drawer boxes, etc. Can be a bit overwhelming. The prices for the refacing are high so people usually just get the "standard" drawer boxes which are plywood with no tape edge. Or side mount drawer slides (cheap lousy brand). This is stuff that was done in the 1990's and is very average quality, but you as a customer seldom know the difference when trying to decide and have a salesperson lying to you how great this or that is. But if you upgrade to dovetail drawer boxes and Blum undermount slides, they upcharge you an arm and a leg.

But compare that to an all new kitchen? Probably looking at double the price of refacing for all new decent cabinets. Plus new countertops can really jack up the budget. New cabinets will be at least $20k for low end (depending on the size of the kitchen), but usually good cabinets will be in the $30-40 range. (Note, there will be guys that will say they got great cabinets for a ridiculous low price,...that is an exception, not the rule. Good cabinets come at a price. If you go new cabinets, sometimes custom works because you are not paying one or more middle men?)

If you just go with paint-grade and have someone fit new doors, you are still looking at $10-15K? (At least $150 per average sized door, likely new slides, hinges, organizers, maybe new drawer boxes, other, then labor?) Again, tough to say not knowing the size of your kitchen. Replacing the doors and drawer fronts is possible, then getting a painter in there to clean, fill, sand, prime, and a few coats of a top end paint can give you a pretty nice job.

You have to think about how long you will be in this house, how important is the kitchen to you whether it is enjoyment or resale value, and what is the max budget you can do? And what does your significant other want? (A friend of a friend not long ago had me price out respraying his large kitchen on site. Gave him a price, he said no. Did it himself. Wife was pissed because it was a lousy end result. Um, she will probably remind him of it for the next 10 years.)

I know this is a lot of info, but cabinets are a huge cost, and there are contractors/companies out there who make a lot of money on marking things up on something that is already a big-ticket item. Bottom line, get multiple bids and compare apples to apples. Also, don't go with a low priced person if they are just starting out. Kitchens are complicated at times and you need/want someone with experience.

Let me know if you have questions.