My home in San Jose had colored stucco. probably less expensive to use colored stucco than uncolored and having to paint. I paid $6k about 5-7 years ago to have my home painted, prep for sale.

eta: the house was 40+ years old when painted

Painting stucco eliminates the inherent durability of the material. You'll likely require more maintenance to keep the painted finish looking good. I have always selected from the prefinished options from a variety of stucco suppliers (Dryvit, Senergy, etc.). There should be many options available so select a few colors and order physical samples.

Gee. My first house was stucco and brick and when we moved in, the stucco had been painted about 10 years before by the PO. We never touched it and it looked as good as it had the day we moved in when we sold it 6 years later.

@Seabornman you think even the premixed color will fade easily? I can ask my stucco guy to make me samples of few colors. I am thinking of going moody/dark-ish for exterior.

I don't know if it's improved over the years, but the darker colors required an acrylic topcoat be applied, and some of the pigments were not as stable. There's a reason all of the standard colors are muted.

I used a SW medium green and no change in the color after 4 years

Acrylic is the current most common finish with California custom homes. BM or SW colors can be mixed for more but will not look exactly like the flat paint chip as the texture reflects light different & there are mineral grains in it. Acrylic is a tough stretchy material that will likely last longer than paint.

We painted a lot of smooth finishes 96 to early 2000s until this material came online locally. Paint over smooth stucco is an easier touchup, more expensive due to the extra layer but likely won't last as long.

Production builders often paint textured stucco finishes to save $$.