From what I have read the GC option is the best, and includes very good camber plates. If you are tracking once a month that is fairly frequent, I do a similar rate and settled on KW CS for my purposes.
If you buy used V3's or something for under $2k they'll hold their value too, that is the way I looked at my situation. Good suspension is an investment (though not an appreciating investment
).
To address your question of whether the kits are better performers than just springs: The GC kit definitely is because it includes aggressive camber plates that cost $500 alone. Your car will turn in much better and wear the tires more evenly with some negative camber dialed in. If I was choosing between those 3 options only, GC.