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    Elastic IP Address:Billing FAQ

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    Elastic IP Address:Billing FAQ

    Last Updated:Jun 30, 2026

    This topic answers frequently asked questions about billing for Elastic IP Address (EIP).

    Can I downgrade a subscription EIP?

    You can only upgrade the maximum bandwidth of a subscription EIP. Downgrades are not supported.

    To downgrade a subscription EIP, you can use one of the following methods:

    Can I renew multiple subscription EIPs at once?

    Yes, you can.

    You can renew multiple EIPs at once on the Renewal page.

    Can I change the billing method of an EIP from subscription to EIP?

    Yes, you can.

    You can change the billing method of a subscription EIP to pay-as-you-go, which is metered using EIP. For more information, see Change the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go (pay-by-data-transfer).

    You can change the billing method of a subscription EIP to pay-as-you-go, which is metered using EIP. For more information, see Change the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go (pay-by-bandwidth).

    How am I charged if I change an EIP from subscription to EIP and release it on the same EIP?

    Important

    • A pay-by-bandwidth EIP is metered hourly and billed daily. Usage for less than one hour is charged as a full hour.

    • The bandwidth fee varies based on the bandwidth tier (with a 5 Mbps threshold) and line type, such as BGP (Multi-ISP) and BGP (Multi-ISP)_Premium.

    • Whether you are charged an EIP configuration fee depends on the type of associated resource. Click to learn more.

      You are not charged an EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) in the following cases:

      • The EIP is directly associated with an ECS or ECI instance in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and your Alibaba Cloud account's EIP quota (the maximum number of EIPs you can have) is 2,000 or less.

      • When you associate an EIP with an elastic network interface (ENI) that is Associated with Primary ENI, you are still charged a configuration fee (public IP address holding fee).

      • You are not charged an EIP configuration fee for an EIP allocated from an IP address pool. Instead, the public IP address fee is billed according to the rules of the IP address pool.

      • The EIP was created by migrating an on-premises public IP address to the cloud.

      You are charged an EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) in all other scenarios.

    Example: You have a subscription EIP with a maximum bandwidth of 300 Mbps in the China (Beijing) region that uses the BGP (Multi-ISP) line type. The EIP is not associated with any cloud resource. At 08:15:00 on November 20, 2024, you change the billing method of this EIP to EIP. After the change, you release the EIP at 22:30:00 on November 20, 2024. You will receive a bill for the pay-as-you-go EIP on November 21, 2024. The pay-as-you-go EIP fees for November 20, 2024 are calculated as follows:

    The prices in this example are for reference only. For actual prices, see the buy page.

    • Billing duration: 15 hours

    • Bandwidth unit price for a BGP (Multi-ISP) EIP in the China (Beijing) region: The unit price is USD 0.14/Mbps/day for the 1–5 Mbps tier and USD 0.5/Mbps/day for the tier above 5 Mbps.

    • Public IP address unit price for a BGP (Multi-ISP) EIP in the China (Beijing) region: USD 0.003/hour per IP address

    • EIP bandwidth fee (for maximum bandwidth > 5 Mbps) = (Unit price for the 1–5 Mbps tier) (USD/Mbps/day) × [Billing duration (hours)/24] (days) × 5 + (Unit price for the tier above 5 Mbps) (USD/Mbps/day) × [Billing duration (hours)/24] (days) × (N-5) = 0.14 × (15/24) × 5 + 0.5 × (15/24) × (300-5) = USD 92.625

    • EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) = Public IP address unit price (USD/hour) × Billing duration (hours) × Number of EIPs = 0.003 × 15 × 1 = USD 0.045

    Total fee = EIP bandwidth fee + EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) = USD 92.67

    Am I charged with an overdue payment?

    Yes. If your EIP has an overdue payment but your EIP is still active, you are still charged for the EIP. Billing stops only when the EIP service is suspended.

    If you want to continue using the EIP, add funds to your account. If you no longer need the EIP, we recommend that you release the EIP as soon as possible to avoid further charges.

    Why am I still charged after I release a pay-as-you-go EIP?

    Bills for pay-as-you-go EIP are generated after the usage occurs. Therefore, you will receive a final bill after you release the EIP, but billing stops at the moment of release. For example:

    • For pay-by-data-transfer EIPs, if you release an EIP at 10:30:00, you will receive a bill after 11:00:00 for the data transfer fees from 10:00:00 to 11:00:00.

    • If you release a pay-by-bandwidth EIP on December 30, 2020, you will receive a bill on December 31, 2020 for the bandwidth fees incurred on December 30, 2020.

    Why do I need to set a maximum bandwidth for a pay-by-data-transfer EIP?

    For a pay-by-data-transfer EIP, you can set a maximum bandwidth to prevent excessive outbound data transfer and control costs.

    The maximum bandwidth for a pay-by-data-transfer EIP is a cap, not a guaranteed throughput. For example, if you set the maximum bandwidth of a pay-by-data-transfer EIP to 200 Mbps, the actual peak bandwidth may not reach 200 Mbps. If you need a guaranteed maximum bandwidth, you must purchase a pay-by-bandwidth EIP or an Internet Shared Bandwidth instance.

    Can I switch the metering method for a pay-as-you-go EIP between pay-by-data-transfer and pay-by-bandwidth?

    Yes, you can.

    Note the following when you switch the metering method:

    • An order to switch the billing method for Internet traffic takes effect at 00:00 (UTC+8) the next day.

    • Before the new billing method takes effect, you cannot submit another order to change the peak bandwidth.

    For more information, see Switch between billing methods.

    Is the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) charged upon application?

    • For a pay-as-you-go EIP:

      • You are charged an EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) immediately after you apply for an EIP. You are not charged this fee if the EIP is allocated from a specified IP address pool.

      • After you associate the EIP with a resource, the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) is waived only if the EIP is directly associated with an ECS or ECI instance in a VPC and the EIP quota for your Alibaba Cloud account is 2,000 or less.

      To avoid unnecessary charges, we recommend that you apply for an EIP only when you need it.

    • For a subscription EIP: You are not charged an EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee).

    Is an EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) charged for an EIP in a shared bandwidth instance?

    The configuration fee (EIP holding fee) for an EIP is independent of whether it is added to an Internet Shared Bandwidth. The fee is primarily determined by the type of resource to which the EIP is bound and the number of EIPs that you hold. For more information, see pay-as-you-go.

    Is the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) charged if an EIP is indirectly associated?

    You are charged the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) if an EIP is indirectly associated with an ECS instance, such as when the EIP is associated with an ENI that is attached to an ECS instance.

    Is only outbound data transfer charged for pay-by-data-transfer EIPs?

    Yes. For a pay-by-data-transfer EIP, you are charged a data transfer fee based on the actual outbound data transfer over the Internet per hour.

    • Outbound data transfer (charged): data that flows from an EIP to the Internet. For example, an ECS instance uses an EIP to provide services to external clients, or a client downloads resources from an ECS instance through an EIP.

    • Inbound data transfer (free): data that flows from the Internet to an EIP. For example, an ECS instance uses an EIP to download resources from an external network, or a client uploads resources to an ECS instance through an EIP.

    If cloud resources within the same VPC or across different VPCs communicate with each other using EIPs, you are also charged for outbound data transfer. However, data transfer between an EIP and its associated cloud resource is not charged.

    image

    How does a data transfer plan offset the fees for a pay-by-data-transfer EIP?

    After you purchase a data transfer plan, it takes effect immediately without requiring additional configuration. The plan automatically covers data transfer from pay-by-data-transfer EIPs (excluding data transfer for BGP (Multi-ISP)_Premium EIPs).

    • If your EIP billing is upgraded to CDT

      The data transfer fees for pay-by-data-transfer EIPs are billed by CDT. The data transfer plan offsets fees only for the first pricing tier (0 to 10 TB) of outbound data transfer that is billed by CDT. Data transfer that exceeds this tier is billed by CDT. For more information about the billing rules and discounts for CDT, see Public data transfer.

    • If your EIP billing is not upgraded to CDT

      The data transfer fees for pay-by-data-transfer EIPs are still charged based on the EIP data transfer billing rules. The data transfer that they generate can be directly deducted from your data transfer plan until the data transfer plan is exhausted or expires.

    What causes a sudden increase in EIP data transfer fees?

    A sudden spike in EIP data transfer can lead to an increase in fees. You can troubleshoot the issue based on the following information:

    Possible causes

    • Business-related issues: Increased traffic due to system updates or business growth.

    • System vulnerabilities: Flaws in your applications that inadvertently generate a large number of network requests.

    • Malicious intrusions or scanning: Increased traffic caused by malicious attacks, web crawlers, and other forms of unwanted access.

    • Improper network configuration: Misconfigured rules for security groups or firewalls that allow a large number of unwanted requests.

    Troubleshooting guide

    1. Check monitoring data

      You can use CloudMonitor to view the traffic and bandwidth usage of your EIP and analyze the patterns and trends of abnormal traffic. For more information, see Monitoring and alerting.

      You can also take the following measures to more quickly and accurately identify abnormal traffic in the future:

      • Configure fine-grained monitoring: You can monitor changes in Internet service traffic in real time and adjust the maximum bandwidth of your EIP accordingly.

      • View traffic analysis: You can view top traffic information consumed by communication between your EIP and external IP addresses.

      • Create an alert rule for bandwidth usage: When bandwidth usage abnormally increases, CloudMonitor can send prompt alert notifications, allowing you to quickly investigate and address the issue.

    2. Locate the abnormal process

      • Use CloudMonitor: Use the process monitoring feature of CloudMonitor to identify the abnormal process that occupies network resources based on the time period of the traffic spike. For more information, see Process monitoring.

      • Use network monitoring tools: Use the appropriate tools based on the operating system of the server associated with the EIP to view traffic usage and identify the abnormal process that occupies network resources.

    3. Analyze log files

      By viewing and analyzing server log files, you can identify the source of the traffic and the type of requests.

      Command examples: View server logs

      View logs in Linux

      • View NGINX access log: cat /var/log/nginx/access.log

      • View Apache access log: cat /var/log/apache2/access.log

      View logs on Windows

      The specific path of NGINX and Apache access log files depends on the installation and configuration.

      • If the NGINX access log path is C:\Program Files\nginx\logs\access.log, run the following command to view the access log: type "C:\Program Files\nginx\logs\access.log"

      • If the Apache access log path is C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.4\logs, run the following command to view the access log: type "C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.4\logs\access.log"

    4. Check security group and firewall configurations

      Check your security group rules or firewall configurations to close unnecessary ports and services and strictly control access permissions.

      For information about how to configure security groups, see Add security group rules. If you need customized or more fine-grained access control, configure your system firewall based on the following information:

      • Linux firewall configuration example: Block suspicious IP addresses and ports

        # View firewall rules (iptables)
sudo iptables -L -n -v
# Add a firewall rule to block a suspicious IP address
sudo iptables -A INPUT -s <suspicious-ip> -j DROP

      • On a Windows system, you can configure firewall rules by using the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security interface.

    5. Check your applications

      Use antivirus software or security tools to check for malware. Scan your servers for vulnerabilities and promptly update your systems and software.

      You can use Alibaba Cloud Security Center to detect and block various security threats, including virus propagation, hacker attacks, ransomware encryption, vulnerability exploits, AccessKey pair leaks, and malicious mining.

    Why is my pay-as-you-go EIP bill 0?

    A pay-as-you-go EIP incurs two types of fees: the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee) and public network fees. If your bill shows a charge of 0, the possible reasons are as follows:

    • The EIP is added to an Internet Shared Bandwidth instance

      After an EIP is added to an Internet Shared Bandwidth instance, its original bandwidth or data transfer fees are included in the bill for the Internet Shared Bandwidth instance. The EIP itself no longer generates separate public network fees. Check the bill for the Internet Shared Bandwidth instance for fee details.

    • The EIP billing is upgraded to CDT

      After the billing for a pay-by-data-transfer EIP is upgraded to Cloud Data Transfer (CDT), the data transfer fees are billed by CDT. CDT provides a free tier of 220 GB of public data transfer per month (20 GB/month in Chinese mainland regions and 200 GB/month in regions outside the Chinese mainland). If your actual usage is within the free tier, the data transfer fee is 0.

    • The EIP is directly associated with an ECS or ECI instance, and your EIP quota does not exceed 2,000

      If an EIP is directly associated with an ECS or ECI instance in a VPC and the EIP quota for your Alibaba Cloud account is 2,000 or less, you are not charged the EIP configuration fee (public IP retention fee).

    To confirm the specific reason, go to the Billing Management console and filter by product to check the billing details for each item.