ACK Pro clusters are billed for cluster management on a pay-as-you-go basis, charged per cluster per hour. ACK Basic clusters are not subject to cluster management fees.
Billing overview
| Billing item | Billing method | Billing unit | Billing cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster management fee | Pay-as-you-go | Per cluster | Hourly |
For hourly prices by region, see the Price Calculator.
How billing works
Cluster management fees are billed hourly. At the start of each hour (UTC+8), Alibaba Cloud calculates usage for the previous hour and issues a bill listed as ACK Pro Pricing.
States that incur charges
A cluster is considered active — and fees are generated — when it is in any of the following states: Running, Upgrading, Draining, Removing, or Updating. For details, see Cluster lifecycle.
Exemption rule for the first and last billing cycles
The billing cycle in which a cluster is created and the billing cycle in which it is released are both exempt from charges. For example, if you create an ACK Pro cluster at 10:20:00 and release it at 13:40:00:
| Billing cycle | Period | Event | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (creation cycle) | 10:00–11:00 | Cluster created at 10:20 | Not charged |
| 2nd | 11:00–12:00 | Active for the full hour | Charged |
| 3rd | 12:00–13:00 | Active for the full hour | Charged |
| 4th (release cycle) | 13:00–14:00 | Cluster released at 13:40 | Not charged |
Bill issuance and payment
Bills are issued within 10 to 30 minutes after the cycle ends.
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If your Alibaba Cloud balance and vouchers cover the bill, the amount is deducted automatically.
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If your balance is insufficient, you receive an email notification. Top up your account promptly to settle the outstanding bill and avoid service interruptions.
Billing
The pay-as-you-go billing method is used to generate cluster management fees in ACK Pro clusterUSD 0.09s based on the number of clusters and usage duration. For more information about the hourly price for cluster management fees, see Price Calculator.
Billing examples
Example 1: ACK Basic cluster — no fees
ACK Basic clusters do not generate cluster management fees, and no related bill is issued.
Example 2: ACK Pro cluster — pay-as-you-go
An ACK Pro cluster in the China (Hangzhou) region has an hourly management fee of USD 0.09. The following figure shows a billing example: