knife sharpeners/ “leather” strop

looking into buying a whetstone to sharpen my knives at home, most people reccomend finishing with a leather strop but obviously as a vegan i would not buy this component. anybody in the chef world know if this is a necessity/ vegan alternatives i could use to get a good finish if so? or could i go without? i really dont want to buy an electric sharpener because i have some pricey german knives and i want to be able to fee my edge and not eat into the metal too badly. also, if anyones got brand recommendations under 60$ for whetstones, greatly appreciated.