Thank you so much, Ava, this is extremely helpful! I’ll explore the options this afternoon and definitely hit you up with questions 🙏⚡️
i haven't used the namecheap builder so i can't speak to that.
for 10 years generatepress has been my goto for wordpress site building. they are free and open source (you'll quickly want the premium version though), lightweight, blazing fast (no bloat). check out the video of their block based builder
i haven't really found any privacy-focused builders per se, but gp has a clear privacy policy (so you can understand how to download the wp plugin, navigate their site, and communicate with them as privately as possible) and only require an email (use an alias). the other info is optional. i have the premium lifetime plan.
you can always use a visa card payed for with sats using #bitrefill or #thebitcoincompany. you can create a decoy name and address to make the payment.
i haven't had to convert a wp site to static before but i looked into it for a client. i am aware of a wp plugin that helps with this
"Simply Static is a static site generator that converts your existing WordPress website to a static website that you can host on your server, a static hosting provider, or a CDN."
there is also a course with scripts on freecodecamp
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/wordpress-to-hugo-scripts/
i have to run, but dm me a simplex invite and i can help get you started.
p.s. there's a privacy respecting analytics plugin for wp that's i like to use over google analytics called plausible. check it out