Dear Alibaba Cloud user,

Web Application Firewall (WAF) 3.0 is scheduled to adjust the billing rules for burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go) in the Subscription Edition and traffic billing protection thresholds in the Pay-as-you-go Edition, starting May 28, 2026, at 00:00 (UTC+8).

Changes

Subscription Edition

• Burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go) enabled by default: Subscription users will have the burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go) feature enabled by default. Charges for the burstable portion will be billed based on the actual QPS usage.
• Guaranteed capacity: The default guaranteed capacities for subscription instances in and outside the Chinese mainland are 100,000 and 50,000 QPS, respectively.
• Capacity increase: If your actual QPS is expected to exceed the default guaranteed capacity, please contact your business manager in advance for a capacity increase.

Pay-as-you-go Edition

• Removal of protection threshold: For pay-as-you-go users, the traffic billing protection threshold will be removed. Bills will be generated based on your actual QPS usage.
• Guaranteed capacity: The default guaranteed capacities for pay-as-you-go instances in and outside the Chinese mainland are 100,000 and 50,000 QPS, respectively.
• Capacity increase: If your actual QPS is expected to exceed the default guaranteed capacity, please contact your business manager in advance for a capacity increase.

Effective time

The billing adjustments will apply to all WAF 3.0 users (including new and existing users) starting May 28, 2026, at 00:00 (UTC+8).

Impact

• For subscription users: Starting May 28, 2026, at 00:00 (UTC+8), both new and existing subscription users will have the burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go) feature enabled by default. If your actual QPS exceeds your purchased specification (the sum of your base QPS and any additional QPS), burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go) charges will apply. For details, see Burstable QPS (pay-as-you-go). Instances whose actual QPS remains within the purchased specification will not be affected.
• For pay-as-you-go users: Starting May 28, 2026, at 00:00 (UTC+8), the traffic billing protection threshold will be removed for both new and existing pay-as-you-go users. Bills will be generated based on the actual QPS usage. For details, see WAF 3.0 pay-as-you-go billing details.