Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a promising technology for sustainable hydrogen production and decarbonization in the chemical industry. However, it is considered expensive due to the high cost of the stack components. Specifically, the titanium bipolar plates (BPPs) and porous transport layers (PTLs) are responsible for a large share of the cost. In prior work, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) addressed the cost issue by using stainless steel as a base material for manufacturing the BPPs of a PEMWE stack. In addition, a Nb/Ti macroporous layer (MPL) applied via plasma spraying enables the use of stainless steel PTL, which not only protects the PTL against corrosion but increases the cell performance significantly. A significant cost reduction with stainless steel components can be achieved but the high amount of iridium (2-3 mg(Ir) cm^-2  in the anode is considered a critical issue for this technology. In this regard, an anode with 10-fold reduction of Ir has been developed recently using a reconstructed Sr2CaIrO6 catalyst, showing practically no degradation in a 1000 h durability test. Therefore, a PEMWE with all low-cost components is possible. However, a complete removal of critical raw materials in PEMWE is a long-term development goal which can be achieved with anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE), as it does not require precious metals as catalysts. AEMWE combines the advantages of PEMWE and alkaline water electrolysis into the next generation of electrolysis technologies. The most recent developments by DLR in this field will also be presented.