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PolarDB:Billing method 2: subscription

Last Updated:Dec 01, 2023

If you use the subscription billing method, you must pay for the compute nodes when you purchase clusters. You are charged for the used storage on an hourly basis. Fees for the storage that you use are deducted from your account on an hourly basis. Pay-as-you-go bills are still generated when you use the subscription billing method.

Scenarios

If your server workloads are heavy, change infrequently, and fluctuate little, for example, scale-out is not required in a year, we recommend that you purchase subscription clusters. If workloads are heavy, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method, even though you pay for compute nodes when you purchase subscription clusters.

Combination with storage plans

The storage capacity of PolarDB is automatically scaled based on the amount of stored data. You do not need to specify the storage capacity. You are charged for the storage capacity that you use. The storage of each PolarDB cluster is billed based on the data volume and retention period of time. If you require a larger storage capacity, such as 1,000 GB or more, we recommend that you purchase storage plans to reduce costs.

A storage plan is a subscription-based resource plan provided by PolarDB. Storage plans can be used to offset various costs related to storage usage in PolarDB, including cluster storage, level-1 backup storage beyond the free quota, level-2 backup storage, log backup storage, cold data storage, and Serverless storage. Storage plans can reduce costs. If you select a larger capacity and a longer duration for the storage plan that you purchase, you can receive a higher discount.

For example, a monthly storage plan provides 10%-45% savings when compared with the price of a comparable pay-as-you-go cluster. The longer the duration of the plan, the more savings you get. If you purchase annual storage plans, you can save an additional 15% off the monthly price.

Note
  • Storage plans can be used by all PolarDB clusters in the regions that are specified by the Plan Type parameter. You can select Chinese Mainland or Outside Chinese Mainland for this parameter.

  • If the capacity of your storage plan is insufficient, you can purchase an additional storage plan or upgrade the storage plan. However, you cannot downgrade storage plans that you purchase. For more information about how to upgrade a storage plan, see Upgrade a storage plan.

  • If the amount of the storage that is used exceeds the capacity of your storage plan, you are charged for the additional storage resources based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.

    For example, you have created three PolarDB clusters that each have 400 GB of storage. If you purchase a storage plan of 1,000 GB and these clusters share the storage plan, the storage resources used in excess of 200 GB are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. For more information, see View the database storage usage.

Price calculation

PolarDB provides the price calculator and resource plan calculator. You can use the calculators to obtain information about the product pricing, estimate costs, and select a product type that meets your business requirements.

  • Price calculator: allows you to estimate the overall cost based on the details and storage capacity of the cluster that you select.

  • Resource plan calculator: allows you to estimate required compute capacity and storage capacity based on your business requirements and usage duration. The calculator can also provide recommendations on the specifications of storage plans and compute plans.

Purchase subscription clusters