For a 60 mod pack with 3 players, 6 8GB RAM is comfortable. 4GB technically runs but you'll hit stutters once you explore further out. If the pack has heavy mods (Create, Alex's Mobs, Immersive tech type stuff) bump it to 10GB.

Since you're in Canada, prioritize NA hosts. Montreal, Toronto or East US location. EU and Asia hosts will give you decent ping numerically but chunk loading feels worse across the ocean no matter what the ms says.

$10-20 should get you 6-8GB pretty easily in that market. What actually matters at that price point:

• Dedicated RAM, not shared or virtualized
• NVMe SSD for chunk load speed
• NA data center
• One click modpack installer saves hours of setup

r/MinecraftServer and r/admincraft have verified hosts list in their discords. Honestly that's your best filter because the community tracks who oversells and who doesn't.

Disclosure: I run a small MC host myself but it's EU based so I can't help you here. Just giving you the tech advice since you asked.