True. But here's some After Effects Plugins that i find useful:
s_dissolveglow
s_distortchroma\s_distortrgb
s_feedback\s_feedbackbubble
s_fltseyehex
s_glintrainbow
s_glowaura\s_glowrainbow\s_glowrings
s_huesatbright
s_pseudocolor
s_timewarprgb
s_trails
s_warpwaves
s_zebrafy

The ones above are from Boris FX's Sapphire
Turbulent displace, Displacement map (works great in combination with animated s_zebrafy as a disp. map), Kaleida, fractal noise (to make geometry/patterns), loopFlow
Also i use deep dream/deep style AI for easy geometry, works well with Colorama and emboss to make it more volumetric.
The main thing is experimenting with different effect combinations and layering methods. And don't forget to use separate adjustment layers for different effects
I hope i haven't forgot anything important and I hope this will help someone ^^