First, I think Hue bulbs are great--no need to regret that. 
While the bulbs can work paired directly to Hubitat (as can most Zigbee devices), I would recommend using the Hue Bridge integration that Hubitat provides (Hue and most Zigbee bulbs are "repeaters" that extend the range of your Zigbee network, but unfortunately many bulbs, including Hue, seem to repeat poorly for non-bulb devices and might cause problems--not if you don't have non-bulb Zigbee devices on Hubitat, but easily avoided with the Hue Bridge, a separate Zigbee network, regardless). Hue also has some nice features only available via the Bridge, like default power-on settings. There aren't a lot of Z-Wave bulbs on the market, though you do have a lot of switches and dimmers to choose from if you don't need bulbs (for color control, etc.).
I second the above: while I had an easy time getting started with Hubitat, I had already used SmartThings (and Hue) and had some familiarity with how Zigbee and Z-Wave networks and devices work. Hubitat has some of this in their documentation, which can help explain how the admin UI works (the "Getting Started" section and the section below it) and give you tips on setting up your "Z" devices if you aren't familiar (see How to Build a Solid Zigbee Mesh - Hubitat Documentation and How to Build a Solid Z-Wave Mesh - Hubitat Documentation, in particular). But because I'm already familiar with this, I'm not sure how good of a judge I'd be on how they read to someone who's newer.
After getting the hub itself set up (location, time zone, etc.), the two main things you'll probably want to do are add devices (sticking to "officially" compatible ones is the easiest path, but lots more work with built-in or community drivers too--but still don't expect any random IOT device you find to necessarily work) and create automations, which Hubitat calls "apps" (things like turn lights on when motion detected, etc.). Hubitat has lots of built-in apps that are sort of templates you can fill in devices and other parameters for, but it also includes a powerful custom automation creator called Rule Machine. As tempting as it is, my advice is not to start there but to read the docs if/when you decide to dive in.
I can say that if you do get stuck anywhere, lots of people here in the community are willing to help! So, if you think that Hubitat is at all a good fit for you, I'd encourage you to be stick around and ask (or search for existing threads on) any questions you might have. A bit of patience can help during the learning phase, too. Good luck, whatever you choose!
