"I'll just bite to bullet and go do the subscription thing like everyone else"
Don't do that. That's why these nags exist, that's why vendors do nags: to annoy and frustrate you enough that you give up and pay a subscription. I'm not paying for a sub, I'd rather start putting my passwords in a spreadsheet than pay a subscription. Subscriptions exist because people let them. If we refused subs, they'd go away.