Answering this question is a little problematic for this reason, Anything Grows does a ton more than creating fur. I have gotten some very good effects using strands plus transparency mapped 'hair' tip objects and haven't noticed much of a slowdown until I start approaching more than 50,000 strands. More strands does equal slower performance though. If your goal is to create fur similar to Monsters Inc. or Stuart, Anything Grows may not be a good fit because managing the geometry for 80,000+ strands becomes an issue for any software - especially if you begin increasing the number of sides on each strand. That's why LW does it as a pixel/post render effect. On the flip side of the issue, AGrows lets you create some animatable, very creative and controllable particle type of effects using the Tip Objects functions while hiding the strands. Creating fields of flowers at random heights is possible - easily. There are a ton of other uses too. Lastly, you really can't argue with the price. It is a really robust tool for not very much money. Hair is one of the Holy Grails of all developers... Mark