This is why I'm sticking with pure vps/dedi providers - they'll give you fixed monthly costs per instance, plus network transfer, which is usually free below so

This is why I'm sticking with pure vps/dedi providers - they'll give you fixed monthly costs per instance, plus network transfer, which is usually free below some threshold (unlike the Big Three). If you know what you are doing, you can negotiate fixed price two/three years in advance and get a discount. There is an initial setup cost, but maintenance is usually cheap if you put things in place correctly, automate everything and put proper monitoring system (not the cloud version, of course).