I have a swarm of bots but the highest voting bot is a person whom I know. He included me in his bot when he got to 800SP or whatever the amount is. I am cool with it until I am there too. The "Nice info" or "F4F" or whatever comments get old fast but the buddy-bot is cool with me.
Yes, this is a much better and organic way to grow on Steemit, and you don't have to pay.