Given that it's the fighting game with the largest tournament scene, I'd say it's likely a decent competitive fighter, too.As a non-competitive fighting game it's pretty decent.
I think the barrier for entry to SF5 compared to earlier titles is lower; it's more forgiving with input and the training options are much improved (especially in AE). I'm sure some would see this as a negative, but being able to nail 1-frame links 100% of the time doesn't always make the strongest player.
The game emphasises different aspects than previous incarnations, for sure; SF5 is pressure heavy, with less of a neutral game, but they seem to be making changes to bring the neutral back with AE and season 3.
The online mode is great, and the cross-platform play makes the population large enough to get instant games at any time of day. The netcode is not without fault, but I get many more good matches than bad ones.
The DLC system isn't the best, admittedly; although, AE rolling up S1/S2 helps for any newcomers. You can buy characters with fight money (FM), and it is fairly easy to get enough for 2 characters (2 x 100k) still with minimal effort. I've bought the season passes when they've been released, spent c. 200k FM, and I'm sitting on ~600k FM to probably spend on stages and the new Extra Battle mode.
You really don't need to grind online mode for FM; in fact, winning a ranked match only gives you 50 (FIFTY!) FM, so it really isn't the way to go about getting FM.
Some of the AE character changes were suspect (Abigail did not need buffing...) but overall, it's fairly balanced; you can win with anyone if you know the matchups. I think it's a fun game, and, while I will undoubtedly buy the 30th Anniversary collection and be excited to play Alpha 3/3S online, I know I'll end up still mainly playing SF5.