Hey there, I've got the same Zigbee dongle in HA through Zigbee2mqtt and it runs flawlessly.
Zigbee by design is fully local and can't phone home, and everything that uses Zigbee will be able to pair directly with your dongle without using the Hue hub. Check Zigbee2mqtt docs to ensure compatibility of the items you're planning to buy, but almost all of them should work.
I've got Hue and Ikea bulbs along with other Zigbee switches working perfectly. If Hue is too pricey, check Ikea Tradfri or any other recommended by Zigbee2mqtt docs.