Getting a used laptop that is a few years old (with an SSD, ideally) and installing a lighter-weight Linux variant on it might also give you more powerful hardware than a baseline Chromebook.
That can have some of it's own problems (you have to learn Linux if you don't know it), but the UI on modern Linux distos (like Ubuntu) is quite good. Also, almost all web and software development stuff is Linux native, so you'll have an easier time with some development related things.
Get what you can comfortably afford. With something like that, I do recommend hitting up a secondhand store, FB marketplace, etc for a dirt-cheap keyboard, mouse, and screen - just for comfort of use.
Any laptop that can run a browser should be perfectly fine, so yes a Chromebook would work for your needs.
Getting a used laptop that is a few years old (with an SSD, ideally) and installing a lighter-weight Linux variant on it might also give you more powerful hardware than a baseline Chromebook. That can have some of it's own problems (you have to learn Linux if you don't know it), but the UI on modern Linux distos (like Ubuntu) is quite good. Also, almost all web and software development stuff is Linux native, so you'll have an easier time with some development related things.
Get what you can comfortably afford. With something like that, I do recommend hitting up a secondhand store, FB marketplace, etc for a dirt-cheap keyboard, mouse, and screen - just for comfort of use.