First day here on forum. So nice to hear people committed to a respectful and kind dialogue. This is especially true for me having posted what might be a stupid question about where to find a new glass top for my 36 gallon tank.
Ps. Another neophyte comment. It occurred to me that I should replace all my plastic plants with real organic plants. I did that two years ago and, while this may sound silly, my fish seem happier, more lively and none have died in a long, long time.
I'm going to assume you have a FW tank, if your talking about plastic plants verses live plants.
I'm a big fan of planted FW tanks, but if your really going to get good results, you will need good light, good fertilization methods and a good substrata. This is not as bad as it sounds. I don't know if the light that you got with that tank is up to the task or not. You can always try it and if it doesn't work out, consider replacing it. Fertilization isn't difficult, but can be a tricky subject, since there are several generally accepted ways of doing it. Getting into this is a bit beyond a short reply here, but it can be continued in another thread. Substrata is whatever gravel or other material your using on the bottom of the tank. Depending on the species of plants you want, you may need to use root tabs to fertilize rooted plants. Amazon swordplants are noted for needing this.
Also with live plants, you want to be careful of the fish you add. Some are notorious plant eaters, other like to dig in the substrata, digging up you plants. One last thing to be careful of, some of plants sold today as being for aquarium use are not really true aquatic plants, and not really suited for use in a planted tank. Over time they will die. Careful check each species you plan to add.