Bubble is aware they have some major problems with their pricing structure. An even bigger issue than the one you stated, having the free tier simply be a “development” tier, is that the “development” tier has functionality that is paywalled which prevents you from fully developing the app before you have to start paying.
Fortunately, there are some smart minds working on the pricing issues. Hopefully, they come up with a solution that continues to make the platform available and affordable to more users.