I started with free plastic plants. They were ok, so then I tried java moss and java fern. I really didn't like cleaning the extra pieces of moss floating all over my tank, so I took it all out. Java fern was ok, so I may use some of the slower growing plants in the future. My fish is known to uproot plants, so I needed to consider that fact. For now I'm hooked onto silk plants. I have some silk Amazon sword and Hygrophila. They move like real and look very realistic. I don't care if my fish uproots them because they have weighted bottoms.
I can't completely get away from plants since they improve water quality. If you do thorough research about planted tanks, then you'll end up have a pretty easy time with your first tank being planted.