Although I am not the most experienced player here by any stretch of the imagination, I was baptized as "pick-less" in Aug '23! I literally dropped my pick during a song, did not have another pick in reach, so continued the song finger picking. I have not used a pick since! For me, the attraction is multi-faceted. The idea of not having to hold on to a pick is one of them. Not that I had a problem doing so. I would say in all the years I have played, I have dropped my pick maybe half a dozen times. But not having to hang on to a pick, or reposition it in my fingers, or worry about it slipping, godsend for me. Then there is the idea that I have basically 5 picks on my right hand (all of which can move simultaneously or independently), which IMO is better than one pick ;~)) One of the coolest things I have found over the past 8 months or so is, when I play a chord, it sounds a lot more "piano like" because of the fact that I am plucking those strings more simultaneously than when I drag a pick across the top of them. This piano like sound I think adds a really cool flavor to some parts that I play on some songs! Now all this said, I did play a bit of fingerstyle over the past decades, but I would guess less than 1% of my guitar time was spent on that method in all those years. Now, I shake my head when wondering why I did not adopt this sooner!
As for players who do not use picks, the only one I was ever aware of was Jeff Beck, but I did not choose to go this route because of him or anyone else, it just seemed so much more natural on that fateful day and I don't know that I will ever pick up a pick again ;~)) Yes, they have their place and give you a set of different tones, but I am in my happy place and others can occupy the pick space!
