Leveling up on Steam is really worth?

5 friends per level and 1 profile showcase slot every 10 levels, i think

Where's the option for the people that do both?
I've sold hundreds of cards but I've also crafted a fair amount of badges.

Do you feel compelled to level up? Why?

It's a shame that they've monetized features that should be available within a community platform regardless. To gain levels you need badges, which you need cards, which are available on the Market for a price. I like the idea of trading cards in concept... cards for a game that you can collect and trade. However monetizing it has turned it into a bad thing. If it were not for cards, there might be less incentive to create the crap that's on Steam now.

I feel it could be worth it if you have something to advertise (like a youtube channel or trading service) or sell (like a card bot or whatever)- for visibility's sake. Fill up your friends list and get to a high enough level 200-800 and I'm sure you'd get quite a few page views. ...Maybe?

level up to lv 8 to participate in sales event
level up to lv 10 for a profile showcase + 20% booster pack drop rate
level up to lv 20 for another profile showcase + 20% booster pack drop rate
level up to lv 30 for another profile showcase + 20% booster pack drop rate
level up to lv 40 for another profile showcase + 20% booster pack drop rate
level up to lv 50 for another profile showcase + 20% booster pack drop rate
beyond 50 you'd just do it for extra friend slots and profile showcases
beyond 350 you'd just do it for the sake of leveling

Yes its worth it

yes you should level up, there are many benefits. its very important for people to level because how else am i going to sell my cards.

If you have a lot of games with eligible booster packs then I would say leveling to at least 50 is worth it over time.

I am not a really knowledgeable person of the platform, all I do is buy and play games and look for curators and updates for the games of my interest. So you should not take my words to the heart.
I think that a reasonable Steam account is around level 20, where you get all the benefits of the platform. You will be eligible to receive booster packs, you can customize your profile and you will have enough friend slots. Sure, if you level up until 50, you will get the maximum booster pack drop, which can generate some $ for you to spend on further purchases. But beyond that? nah, it is not worth it.

Cheers!

I like getting boosters every day.

Not really. Unless you have lot of friends or want to spice up the profile. Some levels however are good to have.

"worth"

It is reasonable to level up to level in order to 8 to participate in the sale events and sale card drops. If you have enough games, the account is old enough, and participated in the nomination events, you should be able to be level 8 without crafting a single badge.
Over that, the only reason to do it is to use the vanity showcases on your profile and to get more friend list slots. If you do not care about "myspacing" up your profile and having a large friend list, then there is little point in badge crafting besides viewing it as a collecting hobby. The booster drop rate increase is so marginally low in reality, once you know what that "20%" actually means, that it will never return any investment.

My main reason for leveling up was to get profile showcases (you get one showcase every 10 levels). I like to customize things to my preference or personalize them and my steam profile is no exception to that. So for me it was worth leveling up. I also spent some money buying backgrounds I like on steam market, I don't regret those purchases either.

I don't see much benefit after you have reached lvl 8'

Well, I do it for nothing more than my personal enjoyment. Having more levels allows you to have different customizable options in your profile to showcase different things, so that's why I do it. I like my Steam profile to be pretty and appealing to me because I enjoy doing so. But others do it for profit, for the cards (as your level has to do with the amount of booster card drops you randomly get), just for the number on their level. There's several reasons.

It's not "worth it" but is nice n.n

I don't really care about my steam level these days. Maybe back when the system was first introduced? But now I make badges as symbols of support for games/developers that I like or appreciate. Devs get a tiiiiny cut of every transaction regarding their game so I figure I can help the ones I like out a teensy amount while showing a badge of respect for their studio on my profile.

It depends on you who value each thing. If you don't want to waste time on other than playing games, you don't need to touch any. I guess it's the case for majority of steam users outside SG.

not worth it imho
also using the inventory or app is a awfully slow wasting you lots of time...

To some degree, but after a point it has no practical value.
The features it affords you honestly seem like they should just be available to begin with.
I was already using Steam and stuff before level related things were really introduced so I've never actually been effected by any of it much myself.

I like crafting badges for games I've really enjoyed - mostly just lvl one badges, I got two foil badges for the hell of it. Unlocking different showcases and getting backgrounds to spiff up your profile is nice.

Not necessary at all, though, and your mileage definitely varies.