Thats a good point. Looks like RedHat considered this and offer free company/professional developer RHEL images for non-production use[1]. In 2021 they allowed zero-cost licensing for individuals[2].

[1] https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2022/05/10/access-rhe... [2] https://developers.redhat.com/articles/faqs-no-cost-red-hat-...