[tptacek]

I wouldn't bother with the free version of Burp. If that's where you're at, use Fiddler or mitmproxy.

For software developers doing routine integration-test security checks, I think there's probably a lot of value in the scanner. For professional testers, though, I think the scanner does more harm than good: if it's routinely spotting things you don't spot manually, you should revise your technique.