In my experience it's not about purchasing authority. Otherwise free software should be available without issue. But in large companies IT won't let you install

In my experience it's not about purchasing authority. Otherwise free software should be available without issue. But in large companies IT won't let you install things on your own devices. The problem isn't money, you can get money at most companies fairly easily. The problem is that you actually need to be allowed to use it, which is far harder and far more costly than the cost of the product.