it really depends on the game, in the end it's just a business model.
also spending money is usually for people who are very unlucky/fall for the FOMO or are impatient. the whole design is that you play long term in chunks, not once every few weeks for hours, so if you do your daily stuff while taking a shit or on your commute, you usually get enough free crap (because you catch more flies with honey) that you don't have to spend that much or none at all. also depends on age, over time games usuall get more generous in free stuff and chances to make it easier to catch up etc.
TLDR: once you understand how it works the whole gatcha aspect isn't that big a deal.