I think people should get a straight up VPS with root and learn how to use a terminal. Learn once, use forever. This will be the more frustrating route if you have 0 experience with linux or using the terminal. In a long term view, it will reward you constantly. I use linux daily, so I barely notice any difference. My server is just a ssh servername away 😉. You can get root access so if you wanted to do more, you can. Not limited to some kind of arbitrary 3 website max. You can run as many sites as you want to handle and believe won't overload the server, run services, have control.
I'm using ramnode and from what I've read (and my personal experience so far), they're pretty solid.
Cheap is as low as $15/yr for 128MB.
I looked at the namecheap ones which displays a $9.98/yr for first year which was surprisingly low. Then I noticed this
Renewal price $38.88/year
Make your own decisions, but if you're looking for long term, make long term financial decisions. Also, look for places that don't offer unlimited everything. They're not. You should be specified a fair allocation of resources for what you pay.