Hypothetically, its conceivable to rank without SEO tools/Automated services. Be that as it may, it will take you a horrendous part of your time and endeavors. One can go crazy attempting to investigate a few thousand backlinks from diverse sources, checking where a site is standing is SERP, and so forth.
Concerning paid tools, you know, they simply permit you to automate some stuff effortlessly, however they aren't some enchantment SEO machine that would take your site to Google's top in a tick of a mouse.
What you ought to comprehend that SEO is an unpredictable procedure. Some of its parts ought to be done physically (composing astounding content, enhancing substance for decisive words, and so forth.), a few sections need to via mechanized to spare your time and to accomplish results less demanding (rankings check, backlink research, kwyword research, site review and so on.). Subsequently you will accomplish the top search placement.
Good luck!