Effectiveness of disc brakes with brifters
As other have stated road discs are becoming more common. While hydraulic discs will give you the best performance, it comes at considerable cost. New shifters would be needed. Mechanical disc would reuse your shifters. I would put mechanical disc as a cost effective alternative. If this is an upgrade it is important to use road specific calipers. Mountain calipers and road calipers have a similar appearance but are not interchangeable.