It is better than WoT for me. The Russian tree hasn't been implemented yet but the Russian premium ships are pretty good so I don't know if that is an indicator of what's to come in their line. Progression is fairly quick until tier 8 if you use premium. I can't comment on what it's like completely free to play grind-wise but I imagine it isn't that bad, certainly not as bad as warthunder, I gave up on that game. Everything that can give advantages in a battle can be bought for credits or gold (doubloons) as it stands.