General Purpose
Balanced compute, memory, and networking. Ideal for web servers, small databases, development environments, and microservices. Examples: AWS t3/m5, Azure B/Dv5, GCP e2/n2.
Compute Optimized
High-performance processors for compute-intensive tasks. Best for batch processing, gaming servers, scientific modeling, and media encoding. Examples: AWS c5/c6i, Azure Fv2, GCP c2/c3.
Memory Optimized
Fast performance for memory-intensive workloads. Ideal for in-memory databases, real-time analytics, and large caching systems. Examples: AWS r5, Azure Ev5, GCP n2-highmem.
Burstable
Cost-effective for variable workloads. Provides baseline performance with burst capability. Great for dev/test, low-traffic websites, and small applications. Examples: AWS t3, Azure B, GCP e2.