COBRA quote is huge, any alternatives? - 11 months and counting

I was offered COBRA and the monthly cost is more than I expected as a project coordinator. Any experience at all would help. I saw that marketplace plans might cost less.

I priced both side by side: total yearly cost, doctors in network and the deductible. Marketplace was cheaper for us, but only because our doctors were covered.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 11 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.