There are many options in this space. But if you don't want to roll your own provider, the only way to use Microsoft's management solution is via Azure. Or try to manage it all via json files - which potentially require infrastructure to manage if you have a more complex architecture. Some developers prefer to avoid using Azure, and this provides the infrastructure they need.
There are tons of solutions to this problem, including from Microsoft/dotnet itself. Why should I ever pay 10$ per month for the service?
There are many options in this space. But if you don't want to roll your own provider, the only way to use Microsoft's management solution is via Azure. Or try to manage it all via json files - which potentially require infrastructure to manage if you have a more complex architecture. Some developers prefer to avoid using Azure, and this provides the infrastructure they need.