What's your objection to CO2? I have CO2 on my 45 gallon and its set it and forget it. I change the tank every year and a half. Excel IMO is more hassle since you have to dose every day. Well... ok... maybe not so much if you had a doser. I love minuta. So low maintenance, low growing, and yet grows like crazy.
My main thing is that I hate any hardware going into the tank that doesn't need to be there. Most plants I've found really don't need additional CO2 to grow- it does help though. I just don't want it in my tanks. My tanks of choice only have heater (if needed but cool water natives are great), a filter, and a light. Even better are no-tech windowsill jars and tanks.
A compromise of sorts for me are ripariums- absolute nutrient sponges that look great, limited/ basically no additional tech, and allows me to grow a much wider variety of plants. Including land plants