If you don’t care about anything but having a controller, I always recommend the Logitech F310. It’s cheap and durable, it also supports both Xinput and DirectInput by changing a toggle switch on the bottom, so it can be used even in older games that don’t have modern controller support without any external emulation layer.

It doesn’t have rumble, a gyro, or the extra pair of buttons most modern consoles have in the center (like the touch pad buttons on a dual sense), though. It’s just a 16 button, dual stick controller in the PS layout.

Note: this controller not suitable for submarines.