Nova launcher on the Pixel is a great combo for a non-rooted clean Android experience. You can disable many Google tracking/privacy things at that point, have a clean UI and quick security updates. One issue I have run into is Google breaking app switching on occasion because they want to use their launcher as the app switcher. Haven't seen this issue in the last year thankfully.

I have an old refurb pixel 3 I bought to put linage OS on but it was a verizon device and has a locked bootloader. sigh so no alternate android for me.. Anyway I am using it as a daily driver with the stock pixel android package and have zero google accounts. I mainly use f-droid and adb.

Check out Aurora store as an alternative to Play Store

No Google login yet have access to all apps without the hassle of adb

I personally use F-droid + Aurora Store.

For stuff that can't use fdroid, check out obtainium, it can pull releases directly from GitHub, etc. Shizuku is also useful for background-installing apps via some of the fdroid alternative clients (and some apps like Tachiyomi can use it for extensions and other local-adb things), as is App Manager for background-installing apps via local adb.

https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium https://github.com/RikkaApps/Shizuku https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager

There's also GrapheneOS as an option for Pixel phones for an even cleaner Android experience.

I went from a "flagship" Pixel to a midrange Motorola (the moto g100), and I'm very happy with it. I got a nice performance upgrade, a microSD slot, a headphones jack, battery for days, and an unlockable bootloader - all for less than half of what I paid for my Pixel.

(While most Pixels have unlockable bootloaders, including mine initially, Google screwed me when I sent mine in to repair a broken USB-C port. The phone I got back had a permanently locked bootloader, which basically cut it's usable lifespan in half. Annoyingly, I replaced the battery shortly before realizing this!)