Been using Kemper for 1 year now and never paid for a profile. I don't believe you have to. Just do your homework. If you can't get a killer tone with the 1000's of free ones then you not going to get it by paying for it. How many of your favorite artists paid someone else to get their tone that you love so much? Zero? (Def Leppard excluded).
That's my philosophy.
I disagree that pros don’t ‘pay’ for their tone.
Every amp they bought, every pedal they tried.Every modification done to a circuit. Paid for.
Sometimes over and over to chase what they want.