Register an Alibaba Cloud account to buy cloud services and activate free trials. The registration process and requirements differ between the Alibaba Cloud China site and the international site.
Registration process overview
Registering an Alibaba Cloud account involves three stages: create an account, complete sign-up, and identity verification.
Choose how far you take the registration based on your business scenario. This topic covers the steps to create an account and complete sign-up. For identity verification, see Identity verification overview.
| Business scenario | Create an account | Complete sign-up | Individual identity verification | Enterprise identity verification |
| Browse content on the website | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Activate a free trial | Unsupported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Buy cloud resources in regions outside the Chinese mainland | Unsupported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Buy cloud resources in Chinese mainland regions | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported | Supported |
| Buy specific cloud services, such as CEN and SMS | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
The information and estimated time for each stage are as follows:
| Stage | Information required | Estimated time |
| Create an account | Email address, mobile number (optional) | 5 minutes |
| Complete sign-up | Mobile number, payment method, billing address, tax information (optional) | 10 minutes |
| Identity verification | Individual verification: passport or driver's license. Enterprise verification: a valid certificate of the company issued in its registration place. | About 3 business days after you submit the information |
Choose your Country/Region carefully. This setting determines your billing currency and applicable tax rates, and cannot be changed after registration. If you select the wrong country or region, you must cancel your account and register again.
Create an account
Go to the Alibaba Cloud website, click the sign-in/registration button in the upper-right corner of the page, and then click Register to open the account registration page and select an Account Type. You can change the account type when you complete sign-up, or update it in Basic Information of the Account Center until identity verification is complete.
Individual: for individual developers and students, or for personal projects, learning, and testing.
Enterprise: for company business that requires several people to manage cloud resources together. An enterprise account can use features designed for enterprise scenarios, such as resource management and finance trusteeship.
Enter your email address and set a password. This email address is both a sign-in credential and the channel for important notifications, so keep it safe. The password requirements are as follows:
Length: 8 to 20 characters
Only uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits, and punctuation marks are allowed. Spaces are not allowed.
At least three of these types: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits, and punctuation marks
Select an Account Type and a Country/Region, and then verify your mobile number or email address.
Country/Region determines your billing currency and the applicable tax rates, and cannot be changed after registration. If the country or region detected by the system is wrong and you cannot change it manually, or if you find the wrong country or region after registration, cancel the account and register again.
Verify with a mobile number
This mobile number is the key credential for later security operations, such as resetting your password or changing sensitive information.
Enter your mobile number. The number must belong to the Country/Region that you selected. Otherwise, you cannot receive the verification code.
Click Send Verification Code, and enter the 6-digit code that you receive.
Verify with an email address
This is the email address that you entered in the first registration step.
Click Send, and the system sends a verification code to the email address that you provided.
Check your inbox, including the spam folder, and then click the verification link in the email or enter the verification code in it.
Read and accept the Alibaba Cloud Terms of Service, and then click Register. Your basic Alibaba Cloud account is now created.
Complete registration
After you create an account, complete security authentication and add payment information to buy cloud services in regions outside the Chinese mainland or activate free trials. If you skip this step and place an order, the system reports that your account information is incomplete and blocks the order.
1. Security authentication
To further protect your account, you must complete security authentication by verifying your email address or mobile number.
Mobile number
If you registered your Alibaba Cloud account with an email address, verify a secure phone number. The secure phone number is used to reset your password, enable TOTP verification, and perform similar operations.
Enter your mobile number. The number must belong to the Country/Region that you selected in the previous step. Otherwise, you cannot receive the verification code.
Click Send Verification Code, and enter the 6-digit code that you receive.
Email address
If you used mobile number verification during registration, verify a security email address in this step. The security email address can be used to reset your password.
Click Get Verification Code. A verification code email with a 6-digit code is sent to the email address that you provided during registration.
Enter the code and click Next to finish this verification.
2. Add payment information
Set Account Type to Individual or Enterprise. The account type here can differ from the one you chose during registration, and you can update it in Basic Information of the Account Center until identity verification is complete.
Enter your payment information and billing information as prompted on the page.
Payment methods vary by country and region, as listed in Payment methods. You can also update them later in the Expenses and Costs console.
Payment information is used to pay the bills of activated cloud services or to place prepayment orders. The system may place a temporary authorization hold on your bank card. The hold is only for verification, and no money is deducted.
If your PayPal account is not verified, you may not be able to use it as a payment method for your Alibaba Cloud account.
Alibaba Cloud does not support binding a PayPal account of the Chinese mainland.
For account and payment security, virtual credit cards cannot be used for payment verification or card binding. If a security risk is detected, you must bind a physical bank card and submit the required materials for review. You receive the review result by email within 3 business days.
Entering the TIN for a Malaysian account: If the TIN is rejected right after you change the BRN, wait a moment for database synchronization and try again. For a Malaysian enterprise, a TIN issued on or after January 1, 2023 ends with 0 and starts with C or D. Make sure that the BRN is entered correctly before you enter the TIN.
Click Next Page to finish entering the payment information.
3. Provide tax information (skippable)
An enterprise account registered in certain countries, such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia, must provide tax information for local corporate tax filing and invoicing. If you do not want to handle it now, click Skip, and maintain the tax ID later through Expenses and Costs > Tax ID Management.
Enter the tax information and upload the tax qualification materials as prompted on the page.
Click Submit, and then wait for the review to pass.
After you complete sign-up, you can buy cloud services in regions outside the Chinese mainland or activate the free trial of most services.
To buy cloud services in Chinese mainland regions, or if your company plans to sign online contracts with Alibaba Cloud, apply for a credit line, or join the Alibaba Cloud Partner Network (ACPN), you must also complete identity verification for your Alibaba Cloud account, as described in Identity verification overview.
FAQ for the international site
What can I do if the system reports incomplete account information when I place an order?
If you get the message that your account information is incomplete when you buy a cloud service, your account is missing information required for the purchase. The system checks the following four categories before an order is placed. Check each item and complete anything that is missing:
| Check category | Content checked | Where to complete it |
| Basic account information | Secure phone number, security email address | Sign in to the Account Center, go to the Security Settings page, and bind or update your mobile number and email address. |
| Payment information | Payment method, such as a credit card or PayPal | Sign in to the Expenses and Costs console, go to Payment Method Management, and add a valid payment method. |
| Tax information | Tax ID and tax qualification, required in some countries and regions | Sign in to the Expenses and Costs console, go to Tax ID Management, enter the tax information, and upload the qualification documents. This item is required in some countries and regions, such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia. |
| Billing address | Mailing address for bills | Sign in to the Expenses and Costs console, and check and complete the billing address in payment method management. |
To buy cloud services in Chinese mainland regions, you must also complete identity verification, as described in Identity verification overview.
The required items differ by country and region. For example, an enterprise account registered in the United Kingdom or Malaysia must provide tax information.
Must I use a mobile number outside the Chinese mainland to register an Alibaba Cloud international site account?
Yes. The mobile number bound to an Alibaba Cloud international site account must belong to the region that you selected when you registered the account.
What can I do if the Chinese mainland is unavailable when I select a region during registration?
The Alibaba Cloud international site does not support selecting the Chinese mainland as the registration region, and does not support binding a mobile number of the Chinese mainland. The international site also does not support registering an account with a Chinese mainland entity: you must use an entity outside the Chinese mainland and a mobile number that belongs to the region you select. If you completed registration with a Chinese mainland mobile number but have not completed the information required for an account outside the Chinese mainland, the system blocks your order requests.
To use cloud services in Chinese mainland regions, register an account on the Alibaba Cloud China site.
Why can't I change the region information of my Alibaba Cloud international site account?
After an Alibaba Cloud international site account is registered, the registration country or region cannot be changed. To use services in another region, cancel the current account as described in Close an Alibaba Cloud account, and then register a new account for the target region.
During identity verification, the certificate that you use must be issued in the country or region that you selected when you registered the account. Otherwise, the verification fails. Choose the region carefully during registration.
Does the Alibaba Cloud international site accept new customer registrations in India?
Because of an infrastructure strategy adjustment, Alibaba Cloud has stopped operating its data centers in India on the international site and no longer accepts new customer registrations in India. To use Alibaba Cloud services, consult an authorized Alibaba Cloud partner.
What feature limits apply to a special account created by a domain transfer or by authorization management?
A special or temporary account created by a domain transfer, such as transferring in a .org domain, or created in an authorization management scenario has a limited scope of use: it supports only the renewal or transfer-out management of existing domains. Such an account does not support:
Buying new cloud services, such as ECS or Simple Application Server
Registering new domains
To use the cloud services of the Alibaba Cloud international site in full, register a standard Alibaba Cloud international site account.
Can I use the email address of an existing account to register a new account?
No. Each email address can be bound to only one Alibaba Cloud account. To register a new account, use an email address that is not yet bound to any Alibaba Cloud account.
Does an Alibaba Cloud international site account support ICP filing?
No. An Alibaba Cloud international site account does not support ICP filing, and filing information of an Alibaba Cloud China site account cannot be transferred to an international site account.
If an international site account holds filing information that must be canceled or changed, which is an international site filing transfer, first transfer the filing information to an Alibaba Cloud China site account, and then complete the related operations on the China site. For questions about international site filing or the cancellation of international site filing, contact Alibaba Cloud customer service for help.
Why can't I see my resources and orders after I sign in to the Alibaba Cloud international site, or access the international site from the Chinese mainland?
The Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com) and the international site (alibabacloud.com) are independent platforms. Account data is fully isolated: resources, orders, tickets, and other information are not shared, and there is no cross-site sign-in or data synchronization.
If resources or orders are missing, check the following items:
Confirm the site you signed in to: China site resources are visible only on aliyun.com, and international site resources only on alibabacloud.com. Make sure that you signed in to the site that holds your resources.
The accounts of the two sites are independent: to use both sites, sign in with the account of each site. The accounts of the two sites are not interchangeable.
Accessing the international site from the Chinese mainland: because of network conditions, direct access to the international site (alibabacloud.com) from the Chinese mainland may be limited. To use cloud services in Chinese mainland regions, go to the Alibaba Cloud China site.
What can I do if my account reports that personal basic information is incomplete and features are limited?
Question: What can I do if my account reports that personal basic information is incomplete and features are limited?
Answer: This message usually means that your account information is incomplete or that identity verification is not finished. Take the following steps:
Sign in to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console and go to the Account Center>Identity Verification page.
Complete your personal basic information, such as your name and ID number.
Follow the instructions on the page to finish the identity verification process.
After you finish these steps, refresh the page or retry your operation, and the feature restriction is lifted.