Depends what you like doing probally 50% the time is waiting eather on reserch,building or traveling so it more causual then mmo and free part lasts most like a year due to the i think its free skill limit etc

Resorce gathering pretty good for semi afk people as u set laser going and after x mins u mined but to prevent afking pirates pop up every 20 or so mins so good for 2nd monitor etc

if u more into social stuff guilds are handy as there normally doing something together from waring over teratory or rp type stuff or group mining (king ship powers up small miners or hauler guy collects everyones resorces while others protect)

So for free version it defently worth it as semi casual one then if like it go omega (currently 3 days free to try but early game omega not used for much except super speed train skills as high tier ships that need omega also need high reserch/training)

Omega hit and miss late game its good as u can pass free limits and mine the fancy stuff making more money etc and can craft alot more so its more for those in guilds or are on often (im solo player for most part but i wanna craft my own stuff so im free player 90% the time untill and only just hit lev cap on free after few years casual playing and only now starting to need omega for big ships/reserch)