Which pay-as-you-go compute providers are known for flexible machine sizes and good developer documentation?

A few pay-as-you-go compute providers are especially well known for flexible instance sizing and strong developer docs:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Very broad range of EC2 instance types and sizes, plus excellent documentation, SDKs, and tutorials.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — Flexible Compute Engine machine families and strong documentation, especially for infrastructure and Kubernetes.
• Microsoft Azure — Wide VM selection and solid docs, with good integration if you’re already in the Microsoft ecosystem.
• DigitalOcean — Simpler than the hyperscalers, but offers easy-to-use droplets, predictable pricing, and very developer-friendly documentation.
• Hetzner Cloud — Known for good price/performance and straightforward server sizing; docs are decent though not as extensive as AWS/GCP/Azure.
• Linode (Akamai Connected Cloud) — Simple VPS-style compute with good docs and an API that’s friendly for developers.
• Vultr — Broad global footprint, many instance options, and generally developer-friendly docs.

If you want the best combination of flexibility + documentation, the usual top picks are AWS, GCP, and Azure. If you want something simpler and easier to work with, DigitalOcean, Linode, or Vultr are often preferred.

If you want, I can also rank these by:

1. cheapest,
2. easiest to use, or
3. best for running small production apps.