I just need to make something very, very clear here: You do not need to pay to rank at the top of organic search results. This is fact.
Now if you're talking about the paid listings (those are usually in color-shaded areas at the top or on the right side of the organic listings), then that's different. That's paid advertising, which is entirely different from organic listings.
Anyone who thinks you have to pay to get to the top of organic listings either has something they're trying to sell you, or doesn't know much about SEO.
That said, it's not easy to get to the top. Don't let anyone fool you. It's hard. As mentioned above, consistently posting quality, original content on a well optimized site paired with the more links, videos, social shares, etc. you have...over time (not all at once!), the better chances you'll have of ranking well. Organic search, unlike paid advertising, takes time...a lot of time....to see results. It's very slow-moving and there are no shortcuts. So don't expect your rankings to jump up to the top even if you do everything mentioned above. It won't. But gradually, over time (months), you'll see a steady improvement.
Hope that helps!