I agree they are a pain sometimes. The wonder, however, is just how robust they are. They have been in use for some 45 years, and for the most part are still operating just as designed. Of the 60 relays, only one was replaced over the years, and only two others appear to have failed (but are on "ghost" circuits that don't affect anything inside the house).
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I’m trying to follow but I’m slow. As long as a light is “zigbee 3.0” it should pair with the hue bridge? I’ll lose that power state feature tho?
I suppose nothing is 100% guaranteed, but most Zigbee Light Link (ZLL) or Zigbee 3.0 bulbs should pair with the Hue Bridge. Ones I've tried include the Ikea bulbs (not a fan of most except the CT-only or white bulbs), Cree Conneted, Gledopto, and likely a few more I can't remember (most of mine are Hue now). There are undoubtedly many more.
However, you are correct that third-party/non-Hue bulbs will not support the Hue-only "default power restore state" feature (and also not at lest one other feature, native HomeKit support).
I've tried very similar bulbs (perhaps the same, except they came with a remote in a single pack; lots of people posted about them here a couple years ago). Technically, they can pair to the Hue Bridge. They do have some oddities, like turning on to a higher level before dimming down to a low level even if you turn them on to a low level, but from a compatibility perspective, they work. Again, you won't get some Hue-only features like default power restore state or HomeKit.
I'm not sure how they fare when paired directly to Hubitat, as that is a configuration I never tried with mine. Given mixed luck withdrawal Zigbee bulbs, I'd still probably avoid that setup if you can.
What color bulbs would you recommend that aren’t $50?
Maybe Inovelli's if you don't mind Z-Wave, but they're out of stock now (and still have some shortcomings, like not working well on a C-7, at least not unless you pair them without security, which requires either a firmware update on the bulb or a secondary controller). Some people have good luck with Sengled, but I've never had very good luck with most directly paired Zigbee bulbs, even when I tried a hub dedicated to that purpose. Your luck may vary, and that's probably the cheapest option; I'm just not a huge fan compared to the near 100% reliability of a Hue Bridge. They used to be $60 each, so I'm actually pretty happy with $50 now, even though that price is still pretty out there and I had to build my collection up over time. 
If you don't need color, there are color-temperature (shades of white) bulbs for a a bit less and fixed white-only bulbs for way less, even Hue ones. That being said, I enjoy at least color temperature control in most rooms (but really have color almost everywhere, CT in select locations, and fixed white in areas like most of my unfinished basement where this matters far less). But again, your preferences may vary.
I have a few of these and they have worked well. I prefer the warmer CT of the Sylvania bulbs over the Sengled (which have a redish hue I dislike at 2000K), but the only reliable Sylvania are the rt5/6. If going with Sengled, you have to remember that you’re adding end devices.
Like you, most of my lights are now Hue, and most are color even though I rarely use colors, but they have a wider CT range that I like.
