Ya, I'm trying to understand what the downside to github pages is compared to this strategy. Can anybody elaborate on what I might be missing?

I’d rather be a paying customer and know I’m not going to lose my setup because of some reason.

That's absolutely a valid reason. All my static sites are not generating income and don't need support. I've also got my own backups, so if GH decides I shouldn't be there I'm not losing much. If a site is important to your business then support is certainly more critical.

Thanks for the very valid counterpoint!