Affinity is nice as a photoshop alternative. You also get some advanced editing in Apple Photos Extensions that work with RAW (more like a Lightroom experience.
DXO also makes a Photos extension as does MacPhun. This will really up there edit capabilities of Apple Photos if you want to go that route.
I do not like subscribing to software either. You could BUY Lightroom outright, but it is not as good as Lightroom CC at $10 a month (which includes photoshop).
Someone else, somewhere in this forum, pointed out that if you are spending thousands of dollars on gear, going cheap on your software seems kind of dumb. C1Pro is pricy, but really well regarded.
Personally, I like the way Apple Photos integration works. The cataloging system makes sense to me and is so much easier than Lightroom (I know, I know ... I blame it on me being left-handed).
Anyway, C1Pro is good. DXO is another option. If you like Photos, but want more power - Affinity and Pixelmatr are both options. Dark Table (open source answer to Lightroom) is out there and free, but I liked it less than Lightroom. Your mileage may vary. There are a few other options if you go looking.