What are the best providers these days that don’t worry about total traffic or hosting small services?
I switched to feralhosting (.com) a while ago.; Fairly happy with it. All I use it for is transmission though.
Not to sound shilly, this is my own personal experience. https://hostingby.design/ - specifically their “app boxes” are great for building buffer. About $11 p/m for 4TB HDD/10TB bandwidth (only upload is counted, download is not).
Never had issues with speed or overcrowding of services. Been with them on and off for 4 years now.
Do they give you root ssh access though?
Yes, although it is limited in what you can install/do as most shared boxes are. You can also buy a dedicated server from them if you want full control and setup to your own liking.
Links below will give you a better idea about their shared seedboxes.
https://my.hostingby.design/index.php?rp=/knowledgebase/51/General-usage.html
https://my.hostingby.design/index.php?rp=/knowledgebase/53/Installable-application-list.html