I'm with Jim on this... I have several amplifiers (although I am envious of Jim's collection<G>!), and a ton of pedals, way too many really. Lugging all that gear around has become less appealing over the years, and yet that's how I get the sounds I like.
I picked up a used PodXTPro or whatever the rack version was called, used it for a couple pit bands, it was ok, and it made life easier for the production staff, so, well, ok.
A friend who has trustworthy ears, and who is a mighty fine player, had been raving about the Helix. He traded a stack of very nice amplifiers and cabinets for the Helix. Hmm... might be something to this (or he had become even lazier than me?)
I've had my Helix for about six months now. I'm in no way a guru, and if I am recording something I still fall back to my amps, pedals, and microphones. But if I were going to play out I think I'd give the Helix a try.
The biggest improvement, for me at least, was the ability to have two amplifiers, two signal chains really. I do that in real life, and was very disappointed that I could not do that with the Pod. The models themselves seem to have been tweaked - to their advantage - as well.
I haven't gotten so deep that I'm using my own IRs, but my impression is that it will be a big help, I've tried a couple that I found on the net, and I will certainly try Jim's (and while that might make me sound a little like Jim - which would be a benefit), but clearly I'm going to need to use my own.
The thing with any of these modelling devices/software is that we need to remember that we didn't plug into our complete rig the first time and think it was perfect. No reason to think software will remove the time and effort required.
So, to the OP, for $100 I am sorely tempted to try the native version. Even if it only lets me experiment with patches more quickly it is probably worth it. Downloaded the installer this morning and will take it for a spin over the weekend.