Your Alibaba Cloud account owns all your cloud resources, controls access, and consolidates billing. Learn how to create, verify, and secure your account.
Overview
When you sign up for Alibaba Cloud, you create an account that owns every resource you provision. Each account is independent and isolated from all others. Alibaba Cloud assigns each account a unique 16-digit Account ID.
Core functions
Resource ownership: Every resource you create—an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, ApsaraDB RDS database, or Object Storage Service (OSS) object—belongs to your account. The account defines legal ownership and manages the full resource lifecycle.
Billing entity: All costs for consumed services are tracked and billed to the account.
Security boundary: Accounts are completely isolated by default. Operations and risks in one account do not affect others, and cross-account access requires explicit authorization. This isolation underpins multi-environment governance, such as separating production from testing.
Get started
Create an account: You can create an Alibaba Cloud account for free.
Complete identity verification: Required to use Alibaba Cloud services in the Chinese mainland. Verify as individual or enterprise. See Identity verification overview for details.
Enhance account security: Your account underpins your entire cloud security. Take these measures immediately:
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect logins and sensitive operations.
Periodically change the password.
As needed, change your logon name and email or change your mobile phone number
As needed, set the session duration for your account and set or clear a logon mask.
Use RAM users for daily operations:
An Alibaba Cloud account, like a Linux root user, has full permissions and is not intended for daily use. Use Resource Access Management (RAM) users for everyday tasks. See Step 4: Create a RAM user as an administrator.
For team collaboration, create a unique RAM user for each member and grant only the permissions their role requires (least privilege). Quick Start: Create and authorize a RAM user.
Item
Alibaba Cloud account
RAM user
Identity role
Owner of all resources. Has full ownership and the highest permissions.
User of resources and services. Permissions are granted by the Alibaba Cloud account. Usually corresponds to a specific person or application.
Owns cloud resources
Yes
No. Resources are owned by the Alibaba Cloud account.
Default permissions
Full permissions. Cannot be restricted.
No permissions by default. Must be granted by the Alibaba Cloud account.
Recommended use
Key management operations only: authorization, payment, and account management.
Daily development, Operations and Maintenance (O&M), deployment, and other tasks.
Individual vs. enterprise accounts
When you create an account or update your information before completing identity verification, you can select your account type as individual or enterprise. The differences:
Individual: For solo developers, students, startup teams, or personal projects, learning, and testing.
Enterprise: For any company or organization. This account type can use features designed for enterprise scenarios, such as Resource Management and finance trusteeship.
After identity verification, the main entitlement differences are as follows. For details, see Identity verification overview.
Individual account: Purchase cloud services in the Chinese mainland.
Enterprise account: Purchase cloud services in the Chinese mainland; sign online contracts, apply for credit limits, and join the Alibaba Cloud Partner Network (ACPN).
For business use, choose enterprise verification to avoid asset ownership disputes from employee turnover.
After enterprise verification, the account cannot revert to individual.
Limitations
Alibaba Cloud limits account creation and verification for security and compliance:
Item | Limit | Description |
Accounts per mobile number | 6 | One phone number can register up to 6 accounts. |
FAQ
What is a "Domain-Only Management Account"?
In certain cases, to help users in mainland China seamlessly manage domains transferred from China-based registrars, Alibaba Cloud automatically creates a dedicated, special-purpose account. This is known as a Domain-Only Management Account (formerly referred to as a domain authorization transfer account).
Account Permissions & Limits:
What you can do: This account is dedicated solely to domain management. You can perform essential operations such as domain renewal, redemption, and DNS/information configuration.
What you cannot do: You cannot use this account to purchase other Alibaba Cloud products, register new domain names, or perform any non-domain management tasks.
If you wish to purchase cloud products or register new domain names on the Alibaba Cloud International Portal, please sign up for a standard Alibaba Cloud International Account by following our registration guidelines.
Next steps
For step-by-step instructions, see Step 1: Create an Alibaba Cloud account.