....definitely a believer in "
You get what you pay for".
I *have* used BlueGriffon. The "you get what you pay for" concept doesn't really apply to BG because it is Open Source software. That is, it is free for everyone because various members of the community pitch-in to develop the software for everyone's benefit. The project makes a bit of extra coin to help keep things running by selling extras, but I've never found any of them to be necessary. The extras are just about entirely for professionals who intend to make a living using BG. All by itself the free version of the program is phenomenal.
You can see for yourself what buying a license includes in the list on the product's home page under "What's Inside":
http://bluegriffon.org/
What is missing from the free version that you feel that you would ever need? (If you said "the manual", see below.) Are you going to be creating EPUB's or are you intending to become a professional Web site designer? If not, I don't see that you would ever need more than the free product.
But you don't have to believe me on this. It's a free program. Download it and use it. See if you need any of the extras that they offer for sale. What do you have to lose? If you don't find the program to your liking, trash it.
You don't even have to pay for the commercial BG manual. There is a free comprehensive tutorial (actually several) on YouTube:
(The tutorial does not use the Mac version of the program, but the program is virtually identical across platforms.)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC06B5890CFFF491C
Other free BlueGriffon tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bluegriffon+tutorials
Some tips for using BlueGriffon:
1. When you first open it, the interface will look terrible, with a black background. Don't get discouraged. Do this:
BlueGriffon menu --> Preferences --> General tab --> Theme -> enable "Light"
The interface will now be entirely Mac-like!
2. The sidebar in the program isn't active by default. In the Panels menu choose Style Properties, and you should instantly get a sense of the value of the sidebar.