Kodi has very deep UI skin system. If you didn't like Confluence, there are literally hundreds of others.
Kodi official remote app is not great. Agreed. No one is forcing you to use it. I use Yatse app for remote, but most of time just this wireless keyboard:
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Enhanced-Multimedia-Backlit-Keyboard/dp/B005L2NTTQ
I think I bought it on sale on lenovo site for $30-35
$50 is not that much for media software, but then why, then kodi does everything just as well for free.