You can make decent money runecrafting whether you are in Free world or Members. Of course, in Members you can make death, nature and law runes for decent profit even before you can make multiples per Rune Essence. But even in free worlds where basic Rune Essence is worth only 38 gp each, you can start making a profit on air runes as soon as you can make 3 runes per essence.
Of course, you will never break the bank by making 7 gp profit per inventory space, but it at least pays for the skill while level to even higher multiples.
But the real money in rune crafting is in Member's where you can double your money on at least 43 essence per trip -- and the trips are faster. I know many players who make a million gp per day this way.