Wow! Probably would have done this had I known earlier, but at this point I feel like if I lock myself in to their platform they'll eventually get rid of this option completely at which point I'd have to find an alternative anyways.
I don't think that's correct, they completely support standalone licenses, and you can use Dropbox for syncing across devices. I'm using 1password 6 on my Mac, and 1password 7 on windows, no problem, no subscription.
Are you using it on iOS as well? It "helpfully" migrated my upgraded $9.99 or whatever it was for the iOS license to a subscription plan. Would've been fine with the standalone version, but there isn't multiple applications for 1Password on iOS.