It hurts and it takes a while (at least on my face), and it costs a fair bit depending on where you're at... but when it finally starts kicking in, I would STILL say it's worth it.

I had Lazer done on face, chest, arms, legs, and genitals. You need to do like 8-12 sessions but I haven't had to shave in years. Though there are like 5 clear hairs now that I pluck.

I can’t speak for lasers, but if you want to try something less permanent but -much- cheaper, to see how well it works for you or how you like it before you commit to laser, pick up an IPL device (intermittent pulses of light). It works similarly, but if you stop using it for a long time, the hair eventually grows back. Mostly.

Once you get it to the point that it’s not growing anymore, which is like 2-4 months of use as directed by the device itself, depending on your hair/skin combo and the strength of light you use (which in full fairness, it does start as a several-times-weekly commitment) you only need to do spot treatments every few months, which I understand is something you have to do with laser anyway every 6-12 mths, this is just a bit more frequent. If you stop using it entirely, you’ll start to get noticeable regrowth after about 6 mths, but it could stay thin for years. I have some places I stopped doing and they are still noticeably thinner and finer than places that never got treated at all, 5+ years on.

The one I bought was like $125 usd a decade back, so they can be pretty affordable, and might be all you ever want to use since you can do it on your own time.

As someone with dark hair and quite pale skin, I was basically a perfect case for it. At 7 sessions so far, the number of hairs that still grow on my face are countable - 43 of them by my count - I still do have to shave but it takes like 30 seconds because they're all focused on my upper lip and one particularly stubborn spot on my chin. The important part is that when I shave, I have no beard shadow at all now. I may not 100% pass yet without makeup but it makes makeup way easier to not have to also collor-correct for beard shadow.

Others have answered with more detail but yeah, it also does take testosterone suppression or you'll have to go back every so often to address any new/rejuvenated hairs. A cis guy friend of mine has to go just about every year.

Just for your information, it only works in combination with suppressing Testosterone. as long as testosterone is present in high levels it will come back