Some educational licenses or workshop bundles occasionally include Alpha Trees Pro. Check if your university has a Blender Cloud or asset library subscription.
Add procedural movement to entire forests with a single click. Free vs. Pro Version Alpha Trees - Render massive forests, fast - Page 8 Alpha Trees Pro 2.3.3 for Blender Free Download
Absolutely. The time saved and render quality justify the $30 price tag. You get consistent results without fiddling with texture maps. Alpha Trees Pro 2.3.3 for Blender Free Download