Even though they are expensive, cold wallets are way better and safer. It's almost impossible to hack a cold wallet, as it's a physical wallet that goes offline.
Hot wallets are a type of online cold wallet. Some people buy a cold wallet and offer to store your Bitcoins on them online creating a hot wallet.
If you want to store more than 1 million Satoshi, then it's better to go with the cold wallet. Buy one and use it.
If you want to store less than that, then go with the hot wallet. They are everywhere.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5421039.0To some extent, I believe you are technically misinterpreting the difference between a hot wallet, a cold wallet, and a hardware wallet. Based on what you are explaining, that's what I see.
Hot wallets are wallets that are connected online, while cold wallets are offline wallets, which are considered one of the safest since you don't connect them to the internet.
A hardware wallet has a separate device (software), which provides you with extra security compared to a normal wallet; it's not easily compromised, and its hardware wallet might be referred to as being expensive.