Somewhat true, yes. If you like googling and assembling and repainting, you could probably recreate 65% of this project on your own, for free. It would take weeks or months to do every hull repaint, probably, depending on your level of proficiency. Even then, there would still be about a half dozen classes of ships that you would be missing, maybe more (7 or 8 even?).
There is not a current version freeware version, to my knowledge, of the Reagan and George HW Bush carriers -- slight differences, but still. And there are two classes (flights) of Arleigh Burke Class DDG models. And there are two, not one, classes of LSD that are not available anywhere. Plus subtenders, oilers and resupply ships, the Blue Ridge class LCC ships and the LHA-6 America. Not sure, I might have even missed some others.
And there are animations, such as well deck doors and elevators, that function on demand, not ambient animations.
Plus a nice helping of saved flights on deck, and TP scenario files.
Plus whatever else we decide to add for free over time.