Less restrictive than it used to be. Among other things, you can use a virtual lock to trigger an Alexa routine, and you can create a simple virtual lock without having a SmartThings/Aeotec hub. So that’s the option that many people without a SmartThings hub use.
See option 2 in the community FAQ:
FAQ: Creating Virtual Devices with the new architecture (Without the IDE) (2023)
Also, as @Paul_Oliver notes, in the last few months Amazon has added a bunch of smart plugs and some switches as candidates for the “if” in Alexa routines, but it’s definitely on a model by model basis. Still, that creates some additional options. 
Also, I may be mistaken, but my reading of the original post is that the writer is using both the SmartLife platform and the SmartThings platform (as many community members do), and that the smart plug Their washer is plugged into is an energy reporting device on the SmartLife platform. So their idea was to bring it into SmartThings in someway and then use SmartThings to Change state on something that could trigger an Alexa announcement.
@Paul_Oliver (Who is one of those community members who uses both Smart Life and SmartThings) was pointing out that you don’t need SmartThings or IFTTT for this, with the recent changes you can now use the Smart Life plug directly as an Alexa routine trigger. Good news if the only thing you needed was an Alexa announcement. 