Are you talking about teflon coated cookware?
Don’t buy cheap, thin non stick cookware and don’t overheat it and replace it if it starts to degrade. Replace it every several years.
I only use non stick for cooking eggs mostly. Buy good regular cook wear for most cooking and learn how to use it
You can use good cast iron skillets and they won’t stick if you season them well.
Caste Iron cookwear is made near here in East Tennessee. It is now pre-seasoned for the customer, so it is done right. Greatest cookwear available, if you have strong hands and wrists.
the important thing about teflon is it doesn’t stick to itself. It boils off when used on reentry capsules, but at lower temperatures it is a very stable salt. It breaks off of itself in very very small particles (smaller than pepper by about 100X). Because it is stable it doesn’t change the taste of food. It was developed in France for cookware, and adapted by NASA for space capsule reentry (not the other way around).
I couldn't have said it any better.
Cast iron is great at distributing heat evenly, and you can pass it down to your children. Lodge brand is good because it has a short handle opposite the large handle so you can pick those porkers up with two hands. Mrs. Chandler grills chicken breasts on both sides in her cast iron grill pan then sticks the pan in the oven to finish roasting the chicken. I swear they taste like they were grilled over a flame.
For those that don't know: The trick to keeping it seasoned is to avoid soap. Immerse it in hot water immediately and use a stiff brush to clean it. Dry it thoroughly and store it in the oven. Once you get the hang of it it's almost as easy to clean as teflon.
Stainless steel is great if is laminated with aluminum and/or copper to enhance heat distribution and it's better for acidic foods. Stainless goes right in the dishwasher.
Bottom line: Non-stick for eggs, regular cook wear for everything else.