Captcha 2.0 supports both pay-as-you-go (post-payment) and subscription (upfront payment) billing methods. You can also purchase resource plans to offset the verification fees of Captcha. This topic describes the billing methods of Captcha 2.0 in detail.
Billing concepts
In both client V2 and V3 architectures of Captcha 2.0, billing is based on verification requests. When a user initiates a risk consultation to the Captcha server for security verification and human-machine risk assessment, it is considered a billable request.
The following are the billing steps in the time series charts of client V2 and V3 architectures.
Client architecture version | Description | Slider CAPTCHA、Puzzle Verification、One-click CAPTCHA and Image Restoration | Invisible CAPTCHA |
V2 verification request | Verification request sent from the business server to the Captcha server. | Step 3 in the time series chart. | Step 3 in the time series chart. |
V3 verification request | Verification request sent from the business client to the Captcha server. | Step 3 in the time series chart. | Step 3 and Step 4.1 (i) in the time series chart. |
Pay-as-you-go (post-payment)
Calculation formula
Total cost = Verification cost + Feature cost
Billing items
Billing is based on the number of verification requests initiated by users and reaching the Captcha server. If the verification is successful, it is counted as one billable request.
After the Captcha server processes a verification request, if the user is determined to be at risk and is blocked or subjected to secondary authentication, it is also counted as one billable request.
Billing type | Billing item | Unit price | Billing logic description |
Verification cost | Verification count - the Chinese mainland | USD 0.0007/request | Calculated based on daily verification count. |
Verification count - outside the Chinese mainland | USD 0.001/request | Calculated based on daily verification count. | |
Feature cost | Number of scenarios | USD 1/scenario/day | 3 scenarios are supported for free. Billing starts from the 4th scenario. |
Custom policy configuration | USD 5/day | Billed based on the enabling status of the feature. |
Billing cycle
Captcha 2.0 settles fees once a day (based on UTC+8 time). After settlement, a new billing cycle begins, and a bill is generated the next day.
Resource plan (upfront payment)
After activating Alibaba Cloud Captcha service, you can purchase resource plans to offset Captcha verification fees. Visit the resource plan purchase page to view the specifications and prices of resource plans, and purchase resource plans based on the number of requests required for your actual business.
If all the usage times in your purchased resource plan are consumed, the system will automatically switch to pay-as-you-go mode. After the bill is generated, the system will automatically deduct the corresponding service fees from your Alibaba Cloud account.
Calculation formula
Total cost = Verification count + Feature cost
Offset rules
When resource plans are used to offset Captcha verification counts, they do not differentiate between regions and Captcha forms. Different resource plan specifications have different prices. Please refer to the resource plan purchase page for details.
Feature costs are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis and cannot be offset by resource plans. The specific billing items are shown in the following table:
Billing type
Billing item
Unit price
Billing logic description
Feature cost
Number of scenarios
USD 1/scenario/day
3 scenarios are supported for free. Billing starts from the 4th scenario.
Custom policy configuration
USD 5/day
Billed based on the enabling status of the feature.
Offset order
After purchasing a resource plan, the system will prioritize deducting from the remaining count in your resource plan during actual usage.
Resource plans support stacked purchases. If you have multiple resource plans of the same type, the offset order is as follows:
Based on the expiration time of the resource plans, the system prioritizes deducting from the resource plan that expires first. If the expiration times are the same, deductions are made in the order of purchase, with the first ordered resource plan being deducted first.
After a resource plan's quota is fully deducted, if there are still excess usage, the system automatically switches to pay-as-you-go mode and deducts from your account balance.
Subscription duration
Resource plans are valid for either 1 year or 1 month.
After a resource plan expires, you will no longer be able to use it to offset verification request counts. You need to purchase a new resource plan.
Effective time and offset time
Resource plans take effect immediately after purchase and begin offsetting pay-as-you-go bills generated from that day.
Checking remaining count
You can check the remaining count and usage details of your Captcha resource plan in Alibaba Cloud Expenses and Costs.
Log on to Expenses and Costs.
In the navigation pane on the left, click Manage Reserved Instances.
On the Manage Reserved Instances page, select Resource Type as Resource Packages.
Click the Instances or Details tab, and select Product Name as Web Application Firewall.
NoteThe Alibaba Cloud CAPTCHA 2.0 product belongs to Web Application Firewall. Therefore, you can select Product Name as Web Application Firewall to quickly filter out Verification Code Resource Package.
View the remaining count, usage details, and other information of your Verification Code Resource Package.
Refund policy
Resource plans do not support self-service unsubscription. If your resource plan meets all of the following conditions, you can submit a ticket to contact us and request a refund:
The resource plan was purchased no more than 5 days ago.
The resource plan has not been used.
After a resource plan has been used, the remaining count is not eligible for a refund.
Overdue payments
An Alibaba Cloud account is considered overdue when its available credit (including Alibaba Cloud account balance and vouchers) is less than the pending bill. To ensure the normal operation of Captcha in your business, please settle any overdue payments in your account as soon as possible. If your account remains overdue for more than seven days, your product instance will be released, you will be unable to access the console, and your configurations will be deleted. In this case, you must reactivate the service.
References
For more information about how to activate Captcha 2.0, see Activate Alibaba Cloud Captcha 2.0.
For more information about how to view estimated billing information, see Bill management.