This topic describes the billing method, billable items, and billing formulas of Security Center.

Billing method

Security Center supports only the subscription billing method. Subscription is a billing method that allows you to pay in advance for the use of resources. This billing method allows you to reserve resources at discounted rates and reduce costs. The subscription billing method is suitable for the following scenarios:
  • The usage period of resources can be estimated.
  • The resource usage does not frequently fluctuate.
  • Resources are required for long-term use.
The billing cycle of a subscription resource is the time commitment you make when you purchase the resource. The time is based on UTC+8. The billing cycle begins at the time when the subscription resource is purchased or renewed, and ends at 00:00:00 on the day after the expiration date. The beginning time is accurate to the second.
Note The unit for the billing cycles of subscription resources is calendar years or months.

Billable items

The fees of Security Center consist of basic service fees and value-added service fees. The following figure shows the billable items.
  • Basic service fees: You are charged for the basic protection features provided by Security Center, such as vulnerability management, baseline check, configuration assessment, and alerting. Each edition of Security Center supports different basic protection features. You can select an edition for Security Center based on your business requirements. For more information about the features that each edition supports, see Functions and features.
  • Value-added service fees: You can purchase one or more value-added features when you purchase Security Center of a specified edition. You can also separately purchase value-added features. The value-added features include anti-ransomware, web tamper proofing, and cloud honeypot.
Billable items - international site (alibabacloud.com)

Billing formulas

EditionBilling formula
BasicFree
Anti-virus
Fee = (Value of the vCore parameter × Basic service fees + Value-added service fees) × Subscription duration
Note The vCore parameter specifies the total number of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) for servers that you want to protect.
Advanced
Fee = (Value of Protected Servers × Basic service fees + Value-added service fees) × Subscription duration
Note The Protected Servers parameter specifies the total number of assets that can be protected by Security Center. The assets include Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances and third-party servers on which the Security Center agent is installed. The default value is the total number of ECS instances and third-party servers on which the Security Center agent is installed within your Alibaba Cloud account.

When you purchase Security Center, the value that you specify for the Protected Servers parameter must be greater than or equal to the number of servers within your Alibaba Cloud account. If the value is less than the number of servers within your Alibaba Cloud account, the system displays a message after you purchase Security Center. The message indicates that the number of servers that need to be protected exceeds the limit. In this case, your use of Security Center may be affected, and you cannot renew your subscription to Security Center. To resolve the issues, you must upgrade Security Center and increase the value of the Protected Servers parameter.

Enterprise
Ultimate
Fee = (Value of Protected Servers × Basic service fees + Value of the vCore parameter × Basic service fees + Value-added service fees) × Subscription duration
Value-added Plan
Fee = Value-added service fees × Subscription duration
Note

Security Center Basic is automatically activated for all Alibaba Cloud users. To enable more security features, upgrade Security Center Basic to the Anti-virus, Advanced, Enterprise, Ultimate, or Value-added Plan edition based on your business requirements.

Pricing

The billable items vary based on the edition of Security Center and the value-added features that you purchase. The prices in the following table are provided for reference only. For more information about the actual prices, go to the Security Center buy page.
Billable itemBasicAnti-virusAdvancedEnterpriseUltimateValue-added Plan
Basic service feesFreeUSD 1 per core-monthUSD 9.5 per server-monthUSD 23.5 per server-monthUSD 23.5 per server-month + USD 1 per core-monthFree
Value-added service feesWeb Tamper ProtectionNot supportedUSD 165 per server-monthUSD 165 per server-monthUSD 165 per server-monthUSD 165 per server-monthUSD 165 per server-month
Anti-ransomwareNot supportedUSD 0.045 per GB-monthUSD 0.045 per GB-monthUSD 0.045 per GB-monthUSD 0.045 per GB-monthUSD 0.045 per GB-month
Log AnalysisNot supportedUSD 0.1 per GB-monthUSD 0.1 per GB-monthUSD 0.1 per GB-monthUSD 0.1 per GB-monthNot supported
Container image scanNot supportedNot supportedUSD 0.3 per imageUSD 0.3 per imageUSD 0.3 per imageUSD 0.3 per image
Cloud honeypotNot supportedUSD 333.33 per honeypot-monthUSD 333.33 per honeypot-monthUSD 333.33 per honeypot-monthUSD 333.33 per honeypot-monthUSD 333.33 per honeypot-month
Subscription durationUnlimitedMonthly subscription supportedMonthly subscription supportedMonthly subscription supportedMonthly subscription supportedMonthly subscription supported
Important
  • On July 21, 2022, the basic fees for Security Center Ultimate is changed from USD 3 per core per month to USD 23.5 per server per month + USD 1 per core per month. You can no longer purchase the product expert service but you can still renew the product expert service that you purchased.
  • If you purchase Security Center Ultimate before July 21, 2022, you are charged when you renew, upgrade, or downgrade Security Center based on the original prices.
  • Starting from July 21, 2022, you are charged the basic fees for Security Center Ultimate in scenarios when you purchase Security Center Ultimate or upgrade Security Center to the Ultimate edition.Basic fees = USD 23.5 per server per month + USD 1 per core per month.

Overdue payments

Security Center uses the subscription billing method. Therefore, no overdue payments can occur for Security Center.

Refunds

For more information about refund policies, submit a ticket.

References