A general-purpose instance in the context of Amazon EC2 refers to a versatile virtual server that offers a balanced combination of compute, memory, and networking resources. These instances are designed to handle many applications and workloads efficiently. With a balanced ratio of CPU to memory, general-purpose instances can accommodate various tasks, such as web servers, small databases, development environments, and other applications that require a moderate level of compute and memory resources. This type of instance provides a cost-effective solution for applications that do not have specific or extreme performance requirements. General-purpose instances offer flexibility and scalability, allowing users to adjust their capacity based on demand and optimize their resource allocation within the AWS cloud.