Can Capos replace barre chord entirely?

A friend of mine recently started learning guitar, and when I asked him about barre chords, he confidently said, "I don't need to learn those. A capo can replace all barre chords!" While I get the logic-shifting open chord shapes with a capo makes things easier -I can't help but feel like barre chords are still important. What do you all think? Is a capo really a full substitute, or is my friend missing out on something crucial? Would love to hear your thoughts!