Will I still get the cardio exercise I need?

A regular rope is all they had for 100's of years. Why do you think there is a need for a special rope>

You can get them with ball bearings in the handles, and spend 100 dollars for one. Or you can jump the 2 dollar one made from a rope.

One may be easier, but it is you jumping up and down that does the work out, guess what, if you just did the jumping and moving arms, with no rope, same work out.

You could get the cardio from just standing still jumpiing in the air.
Of course you can use normal rope. Before I had all this fancy equiptment I used a thin rope weighted with a few plastic rings so it was easier to swing.