Part of the equation in choosing defensive ammo is certainly the cost. Generally speaking, higher cost usually goes along with better terminal performance, higher reliability, etc. You can only do so much research online before you need to actually test it in your firearm. Sometimes the “best” online reputation just doesn’t feed well in your firearm (as you found with your XD-S).
My recommendation, if your budget allows, is to pick a good 3 or 4 types of ammo (Hornady CD, Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, etc) and try out a box of each in your firearm.
I’d also note that $25 for 20 rounds is insane pricing. That’s $1.25 per bullet, or 4x what you were paying before. You can get Federal HST from online retailers for easily half that. SG Ammo (my personal fav) has boxes of 50 for $29.95 (plus shipping) which is ~ $0.60 per round. Still more expensive than range ammo, but certainly better for the wallet. You might find other local dealers maybe have better pricing, if not on HST maybe another reputable brand.
Lucky Gunner has a great set of tests among common calibers that can give you an idea of what you maybe would consider in your next choice of defensive ammo.
There’s another thread with pricing here: