It’s totally worth it. this is my 2nd month as a VIP member, and I can tell you that it’s great. No one bothers you, and its very rare that another guy is doing the same machine as you. You can also reset the boxes as many times as you need. You also get the retired labs which you can work on and learn on easier boxes.
I am very busy during the day and by the time I get some time to work on boxes to learn I don’t want to and I can’t waste time, so this was worth the money for me.
I remember having to take 3 days to root Swagshop (on the free server) because people kept ruining the box. Swagshop is too easy and doesn’t require more than a day for a noob.