Doesn’t matter if it’s paid or free.
I recommend Vital. Different UI but it’s free and can do most (if not all) of the same stuff, from what I can tell (I’ve not delved deep into Alchemy). Surge XT is apparently more powerful but I find Vital offers plenty of complexity and there’s a much steeper a learning curve, so I wouldn’t start there.
Camel Audio Alchemy used to be available as a VST for Windows and Macs but then long ago they were bought out. You can find an old version (1.55 is the last) that will work in other hosts but is missing some features. I’m not sure about other VST as I’ve been out out the virtual game for a while.
That’s something that I haven’t know until recently. I used GarageBand (that also has the Alchemy synth) since 2018 and I thought that it was made by Apple rather than being acquired by them.
Most of Apple’s Pro Apps were software they acquired from other companies. Logic Pro was originally developed by C-Labs, Final Cut Pro was originally developed by Macromedia, and Pixelmator was its own company.
I don’t use Alchemy, but you might list what features you want so that people have a better idea of what to recommend. They aren’t going to know what “like” means in this context.
