Best plants for an aquarium

A tank/bowl with no real filtration won't stay clean.

My son just got a Betta fish in a bowl for his birthday from a neighbor. I used to have tanks when I was younger and have been having an itch to get one. I went ahead and got him this Marineland 5 gallon for his single Betta - LINK. Added some live plants and a snail to do a little cleanup. Pretty simple setup and it is small enough for a counter piece as well.

Bowls are not suitable for goldfish, especially 2-4.

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Goldfish are the dirtiest fish.

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I was always told goldfish actually secrete ammonia turning the water toxic, so it's not just their poop.

They make small round undergravel filters for fish bowls that work like any other. Had an Uncle that used to raise beta's and sell them to a local retailer and the fish bowl undergravel filters do work.

Based on my decades of experience keeping freshwater fish (never ventured into brackish/salt) the "best" plants for a bowl/aquarium are artificial ones.

Mini Java fern, anubias, cryptocoryne.
Java ferns and anubias shouldn’t be planted in the substrate. Glue or tie them to a piece of drift wood. All of those are low light and pretty low maintenance.

Anubis, crypts, some ferns and buces are easy plants to grow, and require no maintenance... the issue is they grow slowly and do not absorb nitrites and nitrates at a fast rate

Goldfish in a bowl will be a ton of maintenance if you really care about their longevity... remember "the solution to pollution is dilution"

Goldfish produce a high amount of waste, so it's best to have a larger tank than a bowl... it's also good to have a "clean up crew" in the tank with the fish... snails, shrimp, fish, etc..... (this is important)... the clean up crew stirs the bottom to allow the filter to do its job... also, it helps clean the tank of algae from overfeeding

If you really want the best water available for a long term setup, I highly recommend steam plants and floating plants to accompany the decorative plants

There are many types of Rotala species that happily feed on waste nutrients, as well as mini water lettuce that will help reduce waste and suck up excess nutrients in the water column...

Remember, it's a balance, it's is own ecosystem... act accordingly... plan it well, and you will have minimal upkeep... plan it wrong and you'll be water changing every week