It might just depend on your set up!

I've tried hermit-less in the seahorse tank and it just didn't work. I even tried chitons! For the type of algae and specifically the location of the algae the only thing that worked for me were Mexican Redleg hermits. They can climb the mangrove roots and love to eat my hair algae ( even when it's kind of long-ish and snails no longer touch it and more so than blue legs actually).

I could see being able to go without hermits in my reef tank now though