ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server supports three billing methods: subscription, pay-as-you-go, and serverless. Total cost depends on computing resources (instance type or RDS Capacity Units) and storage capacity.
Billing method comparison
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Serverless | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment model | Upfront for a fixed duration | Hourly based on resource usage, deducted every hour | Hourly based on RCU consumption |
| Best for | Long-running, predictable workloads | Short-term or variable workloads. Release instances when no longer needed to stop charges. | Intermittent or unpredictable workloads |
| Switch billing method | To pay-as-you-go. See Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go. | To subscription. See Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription. | Not supported |
| Specification changes | Price difference charged or refunded. See Specification changes. | Billed at the new specification price. See Specification changes. | Specifications cannot be changed manually. The system automatically scales RCUs based on workload. |
| Expiration or overdue | Renew within the grace period. After the grace period, instance resources (CPU cores, memory, and disks) are released and all data is deleted. See Renewal policy. | If your account has overdue payments, all non-subscription RDS instances become overdue. See Overdue payments. | If your account has overdue payments, all non-subscription RDS instances become overdue. See Overdue payments. |
Serverless instances
Serverless instances are billed based on actual resource consumption per hour, measured in RDS Capacity Units (RCUs). One RCU provides performance equivalent to an RDS Basic Edition instance with 2 GB of memory. For details, see Overview of serverless ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances.
Billable items
| Billable item | Description | Applicable billing method |
|---|---|---|
| Instance type | CPU cores and memory provisioned for the instance. | Subscription, pay-as-you-go |
| RCU | Computing resource unit for serverless instances. One RCU equals the performance of an RDS Basic Edition instance with 2 GB of memory. | Serverless |
| Storage capacity | Charged for all instances in your database system, including primary, secondary, read-only, and disaster recovery instances. Price varies by storage type. | Subscription, pay-as-you-go |
ApsaraDB RDS offers value-added options beyond the items listed above. For details, visit the ApsaraDB RDS pricing page or see Billable items.
If Billing Method is set to Subscription, configure Subscription Duration. Longer durations cost less per unit of time.
Check prices
Go to the ApsaraDB RDS buy page and configure the basic parameters such as the following. The price and applied discounts appear in the lower-right corner of the page.
Billing Method
Region
Database Engine
Edition
Architecture
Storage Type
Zone
Deployment Method
Instance Type
Storage Capacity
View billing details
To view billing details for an RDS instance, see View your bills. Costs are broken down by billable item, such as instance type, performance monitoring, and SQL audit.