Homebridge works fine in such a setup as well for devices that aren't Homekit-compatible out of the box. I ran a setup like this for a while, but Homekit just wasn't flexible enough to do the automations I want. Also, everyone on Android is locked out, which can be annoying if you have guests and can't give them access.

I could just let people use the iPad. We have a couple lying around. What I'm interested in is how Homekit wasn't flexible enough to do the automations. What kind of automations were you planning to do?

I guess a good trajectory would be to start with Homekit like you did and then have the option of hosting that bridge yourself via Homebridge when you want to expand or go more advanced.