The Expert Edition of Alibaba Cloud supports subscription billing, a prepaid billing method based on instance capacity and metric storage duration.
Managed Service for Prometheus no longer accepts new subscription orders. For more information, see [Billing changes] Discontinuation of the subscription billing method for Managed Service for Prometheus.
Supported instance types
The following Managed Service for Prometheus instance types support subscription billing:
Prometheus instance for Container Service: For billing details, see Billing overview.
Prometheus instance for ECS: For billing details, see Billing (ECS instances).
General-purpose Prometheus instance: For billing details, see Billing (General-purpose instances).
Prometheus instance for Flink Serverless: For billing details, see Billing (Flink Serverless instances).
Billable items
Subscription billing for Managed Service for Prometheus is based on two dimensions: capacity and storage duration. Capacity defines the maximum number of custom metric samples that your Prometheus instance can ingest per month. The available capacity tiers vary by instance type.
Capacity
Container Service type
Prometheus instance for Container Service instances provide capacity options based on the number of cluster nodes. Select a capacity tier that matches your node count. For example, if your cluster has 10 nodes, you must select the Medium capacity or higher. You cannot select the Small capacity. For billing details, see Billing overview.
Capacity | Node count | Custom metric samples/month | Description |
Small | 1 to 5 | 3 billion | For clusters with up to 5 nodes and up to 3 billion samples per month |
Medium | 6 to 20 | 10 billion | For clusters with up to 20 nodes and up to 10 billion samples per month |
Large | 21 to 50 | 25 billion | For clusters with up to 50 nodes and up to 25 billion samples per month |
Extra large | 51 to 200 | 60 billion | For clusters with up to 200 nodes and up to 60 billion samples per month |
Custom | More than 200 | An additional 10 billion samples per month for every 20 additional nodes | For clusters with more than 200 nodes |
General-purpose, ECS, and Flink Serverless types
These three Managed Service for Prometheus instance types support custom capacity based on your expected metric volume. For billing details, see Billing of general-purpose Prometheus instances, Prometheus instances for ECS, and Prometheus instances for Flink Serverless.
Capacity | Custom metric samples/month | Description |
Small | 3 billion | For monthly volumes up to 3 billion samples |
Medium | 10 billion | For monthly volumes up to 10 billion samples |
Large | 25 billion | For monthly volumes up to 25 billion samples |
Extra large | 60 billion | For monthly volumes up to 60 billion samples |
Custom | More than 60 billion | Specify a custom monthly sample limit |
Storage duration
You can store metrics for 1 month, 3 months, or 6 months. If you need a longer storage duration, you can upgrade from a shorter duration to a longer one. For more information, see Change the storage duration for a subscription.
Managed Service for Prometheus automatically clears historical metric data that exceeds the storage duration.
Capacity limits and upgrades
If the number of custom metric samples that you report exceeds the quota of your selected capacity, Managed Service for Prometheus applies throttling to ensure service stability. To increase your capacity, go to the Instance List page. In the Actions column, choose Service Change > Specification Upgrade to change the capacity.
Metric types
Metrics are divided into two types: basic metrics and custom metrics. For more information about basic metrics, see Basic metrics. Any metric that is not a basic metric is a custom metric.
Billing cycle
The billing cycle of a subscription Managed Service for Prometheus instance matches your purchase period (UTC+8). A billing cycle starts at the time when you activate or renew the resource, accurate to the second, and ends at 00:00:00 on the day after the expiration date.
Subscription billing cycles that are measured in years or months refer to calendar years and calendar months.
Activation method
To activate a subscription for the Prometheus instance for Container Service type, see Enable the subscription billing method.
To activate a subscription for the General-purpose Prometheus instance, Prometheus instance for ECS, and Prometheus instance for Flink Serverless types, see Enable the subscription billing method.