Discs aren't really the C&V crowd, but you're likely to get more level headed responses, for sure.

For what it's worth, disc pads are all really more or less the same, excepting compounds:

-Resin/organic (resin with copper flakes)
-Metal/sintered (soft metal with/without other metallic compounds added)
-Ceramic (ceramic compound)

Resin/organic are the most common on bicycles, and provide good initial bite with a cool system. They are also the quietest. Long rotor life, short pad life.

Metal pads are able to get hotter and still function without glazing the rotor, but usually require 1-2 applications before they get as responsive as resin pads. These are the loudest pads, typically. Long pad life, short(er) rotor life (than resin).

Ceramic are quite uncommon on bicycles, since the main point of ceramics is high heat capacity/performance under high heat. They sometimes appear on downhill bicycles or e-bikes, but they are still fairly uncommon since they have very poor performance until heated significantly. If you have high heat requirements, there are usually better braking systems that allow the use of the other pad compounds (Shimano's brakes with ceramic pistons/finned pads/finned rotors come to mind).

I usually find no benefit in buying 'premium' pads from a company like SwissStop. You're better off buying OEM steel-backed pads, if you're looking for a well performing budget option. Koolstop manufactures (as does some large OEMs like Giant) generic pads to fit many brakes that don't break the bank.