My local night sky is so bright that I can only see the Moon, so would a low-cost telescope be any use? Light pollution is so bad near our home that we can't see anything other the Moon in the night sky. For instance there is a street light on all night right in our lane and there are many other housing lights in the area.
Am I right to think that with a low-end telescope I won't be able to see anything else besides the Moon?
There is hope!
You may be able to see some stars through a telescope even though you can't see them with your eye.
For extended objects like sky brightness, nebulae, and the Moon and resolved planets, magnification reduces sky brightness, while aperture increases it.
For unresolved (point-like) objects like stars and unresolved planets, as long as focus is good magnification does not reduce its brightness but aperture still increases it.
However
If you can't see stars or planets by eye, it is going to be hard to point your low-end telescope at them, and searching randomly has a low probability of success.
In this case
I recommend first getting your hands on a pair of binoculars with low magnification (see if you can borrow some somehow, don't buy them yet!), something you can hold in your hands comfortably. Then get a star chart or use a website like in-the-sky.org and going to the planetarium page to view a simulated night sky, and find a bright star or planet and note where it is relative to the horizon. You might use a map or compass to find out where your North, South, East and West are so you can compare the sky map to your local surroundings.
Once you are able to find stars or planets this way, you can ask yourself if it's worth it to get a telescope and go through the same exercise.
You can also ask yourself if a pair of binoculars might be a better investment.
Also, please read answers to I live in an area with a lot of light pollution, how can I view the stars without building an observatory? for some more advanced options.