after about 6 years of using OSMAnd, i’m pivoting to CoMaps for a hike through switzerland that i’m leaving for tonight. i don’t actually need all of the features of OSMAnd and just downloading maps costs a subscription now. id pay outright for it but i just can’t justify a subscription for how infrequently i use it

You can download Osmand~ from F-droid which doesn't limit downloads. Or you could even download the map from another provider like bbbike or geofabrik, use osmandmapcreator (needs java) to convert the pbf to obf and then import it into the phone.

Come on, OsmAnd's subscriptions are super cheap for the value you're getting.

maybe. i use it every other year though and otherwise simply don’t. i never said that it wasn’t super cheap, i just said it wasn’t cost-effective for my usage profile.