ya i dont pay for it since i just search myself 5 free searches a day are plenty
there are quite a few things like pokertracker 3 holdem manager and what not that help a ton...
the software tracks every hand you play so you can look deeper into your own game as well as tracks the stats of other people you play with which is completely ok with ftp and ps
as long as your in the actual hand.. tons of people buy millions of hand histories from sites so they can use the software to find weak games..
but all thats to much for me i use pokertracker3 to look into my own game but again reading into others is something i dont really bother with at the moment.. i plan on it in the future though. tons of players on other forums swear anyone with a positive roi uses them and if you dont your at a serious disadvantage.. either way i play a few hours a night if i ever played all day all the time i would definately use them ..