Understand VOD Value-Added Services Pricing & Billing - ApsaraVideo VOD

You are charged for the following value-added services in ApsaraVideo VOD: ApsaraVideo Player SDK, Short Video SDK, video editing and production, transfer acceleration, and media security (DRM encryption). By default, you are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. This topic describes the pay-as-you-go billing rules, pricing, and examples for each value-added service.

Billable items

Note

The prices in this topic may differ from those on the ApsaraVideo VOD pricing page. The latter shall prevail.

Player SDK billing

the short video SDK billing

Video Editing and Composition Billing

Storage Transfer Acceleration billing

Media security

Player SDK billing

You are charged for the ApsaraVideo Player SDK based on the SDK version and value-added modules that you use.

Important

As of February 14, 2025, the ApsaraVideo Player mobile SDK (version 7.0.0 and later) introduced a Professional Edition in addition to the Standard Edition. To obtain the Professional Edition, contact your account manager. After obtaining it, you can integrate the SDK license.
If your spending on resources of ApsaraVideo VOD, ApsaraVideo Live, and IMS reaches a certain threshold, you can obtain a one-year license for the Player SDK Professional Edition free of charge. For more information, see Spend-and-Get promotion.
The newly acquired license for the mobile SDK Professional Edition supports only version 7.0.0 and later. Confirm the version of the integrated SDK before applying for a license.

For more information about the SDK features, see ApsaraVideo Player SDK feature details.

Pricing and examples

ApsaraVideo Player SDK pricing: Prices for value-added modules are listed below.
Module
H.265 playback for web
Price (USD per year)
7400
Billing example: If you purchase the H.265 playback for web module for one year, the fee is USD 7,400.

Purchase the official edition

To purchase the official edition of the ApsaraVideo Player SDK, go to the ApsaraVideo MediaBox SDK buy page, place an order, and authorize the SDK. For instructions, see integrate the SDK license.

Spend-and-Get promotion

To claim your free license, visit Apply for Player SDK Spend-and-Get promotion.

If your cumulative spending on ApsaraVideo VOD, ApsaraVideo Live, and IMS resources meets the required threshold during the period from T-30 to T days (the last 31 days), you can receive a Player SDK license of a specified tier. Details follow.

Important

T: Today (inclusive).
T-30: 30 days before today (inclusive).
The statistical period is the most recent 31 days, calculated on a rolling basis.

Consumption Type

Business Type

Purchase Specifications (USD)

Promotional Offer Details

Spend-and-Get (based on original price)

ApsaraVideo VOD,

ApsaraVideo Live

IMS

≥ 15,000

One-year license for the Player SDK Professional Edition.

Short video SDK billing

You are charged for the Short Video SDK based on the SDK version and features you use.

For pricing and feature details, see Short Video SDK feature list.

SDK version	Platform	Price (CNY per year)
Basic Edition	Mobile (Android, iOS)	1,800
Standard Edition	Mobile (Android, iOS)	30,000
Professional Edition	Mobile (Android, iOS)	50,000

Billable item	Billing Information	Billing method
Feature	Billing rule: You are charged for each feature that you use. Your total fee equals the sum of all feature fees. Billing cycle: You are billed annually. Fees are deducted from your account in real time upon order submission. Bills are generated within 2 to 3 hours. The subscription is valid for one year. Pricing: For specific prices, see the Short Video SDK pricing table below.	Pay-as-you-go: Not supported. Resource plan: Available for combinations of features.

Pricing and examples

Short Video SDK pricing: Prices for features are listed below.
Module
Recording module
Import module
Animated Sticker
MV
Captions
Price (USD per year)
4400
3000
7400
7400
7400
Billing example: If you purchase the import and frame animation modules for one year, the fee is USD 3,000 + USD 7,400 = USD 10,400.

Video Editing and Compositing Billing

ApsaraVideo VOD supports basic and advanced editing. You can edit audio, video, image, and text files in the cloud. More features will be added in the future.

You are charged based on the specifications and durations of the output files. Prices vary by region.

Billable item	Billing Information	Billing method
Editing and production of media files by specification and duration	Billing rule: You are charged for the sum of all editing costs. If you use both basic and advanced editing on the same video and produce outputs with identical specifications and resolutions, you are charged only for advanced editing. Billing cycle: You are billed hourly. Fees are deducted from your account in real time. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The exact time depends on the system. Pricing: For specific prices, see the video editing and production pricing table below.	Pay-as-you-go: Editing fee = Output video duration (minutes) × Unit price per minute. You are charged for the sum of all editing costs. Resource plan: Not supported.

Pricing and examples

Video editing and production pricing: Pay-as-you-go prices are listed below.

Basic editing (Billing unit: USD per minute)

Output specification	Output resolution	Chinese mainland	Japan	Singapore	Indonesia	Germany	United States
Video (H.264)	≤ 4K (3840 × 2160)	0.0427	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.045	0.045
Video (H.264)	≤ 2K (2560 × 1440)	0.0213	0.0375	0.0375	0.0375	0.0338	0.0338
Video (H.264)	≤ HD (1920 × 1080)	0.0099	0.025	0.025	0.025	0.0225	0.0225
Video (H.264)	≤ SD (1280 × 720)	0.005	0.0125	0.0125	0.0125	0.0113	0.0113
Video (H.264)	LD (640 × 480) or lower	0.0033	0.0094	0.0094	0.0094	0.0084	0.0084

Advanced editing (Billing unit: USD per minute)

Output specification	Output resolution	Chinese mainland	Japan	Singapore	Indonesia	Germany	United States
Video (H.264)	≤ 4K (3840 × 2160)	0.1922	0.225	0.225	0.225	0.2025	0.2025
Video (H.264)	≤ 2K (2560 × 1440)	0.0959	0.1688	0.1688	0.1688	0.1521	0.1521
Video (H.264)	≤ HD (1920 × 1080)	0.0446	0.1125	0.1125	0.1125	0.1013	0.1013
Video (H.264)	≤ SD (1280 × 720)	0.0225	0.0563	0.0563	0.0563	0.0509	0.0509
Video (H.264)	LD (640 × 480) or lower	0.0149	0.0423	0.0423	N/A	0.0378	0.0378

Billing example: During 08:00–09:00 in the Chinese mainland, you perform basic editing on a video and generate an H.264 video in LD resolution (640 × 480) with a duration of 100 minutes. The editing fee is 100 × 0.0033 = USD 0.33. Then, you perform advanced editing on another video and generate an H.264 video in 2K resolution (2560 × 1440) with a duration of 100 minutes. The editing fee is 100 × 0.0959 = USD 9.59. Your total editing bill for 08:00–09:00 is USD 0.33 + USD 9.59 = USD 9.92.

Storage Transfer Acceleration Billing

ApsaraVideo VOD supports upload and download acceleration across regions. You are charged for transfer acceleration based on the volume of accelerated traffic generated in different regions.

Note

Transfer acceleration fees are calculated separately but appear together with outbound traffic (oss_flow_out) fees on your bill. For example, if you enable transfer acceleration for a bucket and use an acceleration endpoint to download 1 GB of data from that bucket, you are charged for both 1 GB of download acceleration and 1 GB of outbound traffic.
Transfer acceleration fees for uploads and downloads to and from the ApsaraVideo VOD bucket appear on your ApsaraVideo VOD bill. If you enable transfer acceleration for an Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket in ApsaraVideo VOD and then upload and download resources to and from that OSS bucket, the transfer acceleration fees appear on your OSS bill.

Billable item	Description	Billing method
Upload acceleration traffic Download acceleration traffic	Billing rule: Upload or download acceleration traffic refers to the cumulative traffic generated when you upload content to or download content from ApsaraVideo VOD over the Internet across regions. You are charged based on the volume of upload and download acceleration traffic in different regions. Billing cycle: You are billed hourly. Fees are deducted from your account in real time. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The exact time depends on the system. Activation method: Submit a ticket submit a ticket or contact Alibaba Cloud sales to request activation. Pricing: For specific prices, see the transfer acceleration pricing table below.	Pay-as-you-go: Transfer acceleration fee = Upload and download acceleration traffic (GB) × Unit price per GB. Resource plan: Not supported.

Pricing and examples

Transfer acceleration pricing: Pay-as-you-go prices are listed below.

Billable item (Billing unit: USD per GB)	Chinese mainland to Chinese mainland	Chinese mainland to outside Chinese mainland	Outside Chinese mainland to outside Chinese mainland	Outside Chinese mainland to Chinese mainland
Upload acceleration traffic	0.12	0.2	0.12	0.2
Download acceleration traffic

Billing example: During 08:00–09:00, you upload 900 GB of content from the Chinese mainland to a region outside the Chinese mainland using upload acceleration. The fee is 900 × 0.2 = USD 180.

Media security

DRM Billing

The ApsaraVideo VOD DRM service encrypts videos. DRM encryption is implemented during video transcoding. When you transcode a video, you are charged only for transcoding—not for DRM encryption. You are charged for DRM encryption every time a device requests a license to play a DRM-encrypted video. The fee is calculated per request.

Billable item	Billing Information	Billing method
DRM	Billing rule: You are charged per request for a DRM-encrypted video license from a device. Billing cycle: You are billed hourly. Fees are deducted from your account in real time. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The exact time depends on the system. Enable DRM encryption: Enable the feature in the ApsaraVideo VOD console. For more information, see Configure DRM encryption. Pricing: For specific prices, see the DRM encryption pricing table below.	Pay-as-you-go: DRM fee = Number of DRM-encrypted video license requests × Unit price per request. Resource plan: Not supported.

Pricing and examples

DRM encryption pricing: Pay-as-you-go prices are listed below.
Region
Pricing
China (Beijing) and China (Shanghai)
$0.0012 per call (USD)
Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), and Japan (Tokyo)
$0.0015 per operation
Billing example: In the China (Shanghai) region, you send 1,000 requests for DRM-encrypted video licenses. The fee is 1,000 × 0.0012 = USD 1.2.

Module	H.265 playback for web
Price (USD per year)	7400

Module	Recording module	Import module	Animated Sticker	MV	Captions
Price (USD per year)	4400	3000	7400	7400	7400

Region	Pricing
China (Beijing) and China (Shanghai)	$0.0012 per call (USD)
Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), and Japan (Tokyo)	$0.0015 per operation