If it is for defense/carry, something which you can manage recoil-wise is the most important. If it makes you flinch, and you can’t hit your target, it won’t do you much good.
For defense, I prefer double-action revolvers. If a round doesn’t fire, you go onto the next. With a semi-auto, you have to manually re-chamber the round.
Keep an eye out for used guns too. People find incredible deals on them from time to time, especially with people being hard for $$ these days.
Hope this helps.
Thanks