ELI5: Is ETH a toll road?

None of my ETH owning friends can answer this so maybe someone here can. Catch me if im wrong here. Also Im not trying to be an ass i just genuinely dont know much and cant find info about this.
It seems to me that hypothetically
- Say I am a healthcare tech company looking to execute a smart contract business model.
- In order for me to execute and validate these information exchanges I need to pay in ETH as I built my system on this.
- For each transaction I pay a toll in ETH
If this is true, then do ETH owners effectively rent out their ETH to companies such as mine so I can use the ethereum network? Or do i buy and “spend” Eth permanently which drives the price up?
Why would i just avoid eth all together and make an application that doesnt use eth.
If im wrong eli5 why that is
submitted by /u/ManagementWild4684
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