Each subscription or pay-as-you-go ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ instance includes a free topic quota. You are only charged for topics that exceed this quota, billed hourly at tiered rates. The more topics you use beyond the quota, the lower the per-topic rate.
Free topic quotas
The free topic quota depends on the instance edition and computing specification. The following tables list the quotas for each edition.
Standard Edition
| Sub-category edition | Computing specification | Free topic quota | Maximum topic quota | Maximum group quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone Edition (no longer sold) | rmq.s1.micro | 100 | 100 | 1,000 |
| Cluster High-availability Edition | rmq.s2.2xlarge | 300 | - | - |
| rmq.s2.4xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.s2.6xlarge | 500 | - | - |
Professional Edition
| Sub-category edition | Computing specification | Free topic quota | Maximum topic quota | Maximum group quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone Edition (no longer sold) | rmq.p1.micro | 150 | 150 | 1,500 |
| Cluster High-availability Edition | rmq.p2.4xlarge | 500 | 2,000 | - |
| rmq.p2.6xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.p2.10xlarge | 1,000 | - | - | |
| rmq.p2.20xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.p2.50xlarge | 2,000 | - | - | |
| rmq.p2.100xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.p2.150xlarge | - | - | - |
Enterprise Platinum Edition
| Sub-category edition | Computing specification | Free topic quota | Maximum topic quota | Maximum group quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster High-availability Edition | rmq.u2.10xlarge | 200 | 3,000 | 4,000 |
| rmq.u2.20xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.40xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.100xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.150xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.200xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.400xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.600xlarge | - | - | - | |
| rmq.u2.1000xlarge | - | - | - |
When topic fees apply
Topics within the free quota are not charged.
Topics exceeding the free quota are billed hourly at tiered rates.
The number of paid topics is calculated as:
Paid topics = Current topics on the instance - Free topic quota
For example, a Standard Edition (Cluster High-availability Edition) instance with computing specification rmq.s2.2xlarge has a free quota of 100 topics. If the instance has 120 topics, 20 topics are billed.
How topic fees are calculated
Topic fees are billed hourly. A billing period shorter than one hour is rounded up to one hour.
Topic fee per hour = Paid topics x Unit price (USD per topic-hour)
Tiered pricing applies: the more paid topics you have, the lower the per-topic rate.
Tiered unit prices
Pricing tiers apply uniformly across all supported regions.
| Tier | Paid topics | Standard Edition (USD per topic-hour) | Professional Edition and Enterprise Platinum Edition (USD per topic-hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 10 topics | 1-10 | 0.006 | 0.012 |
| Next 40 topics | 11-50 | 0.003 | 0.006 |
| Next 150 topics | 51-200 | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Beyond 200 topics | 201+ | 0.001 | 0.002 |
Billing example
This example uses a pay-as-you-go Standard Edition (Cluster High-availability Edition) instance with computing specification rmq.s2.2xlarge and a free topic quota of 100.
First hour
Step 1: Determine the paid topic count
Topics created: 130
Topics deleted: 10
Topics remaining: 120
Paid topics: 130 - 100 = 30
Step 2: Apply tiered pricing
| Tier | Topics in tier | Unit price (USD) | Subtotal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 10 topics (1-10) | 10 | 0.006 | 0.060 |
| Next 40 topics (11-50) | 20 | 0.003 | 0.060 |
| Total | 30 | 0.120 |
Topic fee for the first hour: 0.12 USD
Second hour
Step 1: Determine the paid topic count
Topics from previous hour: 120
Topics created this hour: 50
Total topics: 170
Paid topics: 170 - 100 = 70
Step 2: Apply tiered pricing
| Tier | Topics in tier | Unit price (USD) | Subtotal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 10 topics (1-10) | 10 | 0.006 | 0.060 |
| Next 40 topics (11-50) | 40 | 0.003 | 0.120 |
| Next 150 topics (51-200) | 20 | 0.002 | 0.040 |
| Total | 70 | 0.220 |
Topic fee for the second hour: 0.22 USD
FAQ
Do all instance editions use the same unit prices?
No. Standard Edition instances have lower unit prices than Professional Edition and Enterprise Platinum Edition instances. See the tiered unit prices table for details.