The thin touch plate is pretty ideal. I mean you can use any piece of metal, just need to change the thickness when probing.
I first want to note that a pendant is not necessary for using the machine. It might make sense to not use one starting out. You can connect and use the WebUI from a phone, tablet, or computer. Up until the FluidDial came out which was maybe a year or a year and a half ago, basically no one used a pendant with FluidNC. It’s weird to me that a lot of new builds are starting out with one. I have a FluidDial pendant but I don’t use it. It has a bit of a learning curve. Others like the CYD version which has a separate larger jog wheel. These are wired pendants so it does mean having a wire running to the Jackpot controller in the beam.
And I suppose I should mention my own pendant. I am super biased but I like it. It uses a 7 inch touch screen wirelessly. You buy a screen with a case and maybe a battery, upload the firmware using a web installer. It’s still pretty new, just released about a month ago. I still use the WebUI frequently.