Direct Mail is billed based on the number of emails sent. Two billing methods are available: resource plans and pay-as-you-go.
Email volume: The total number of emails sent by Direct Mail.
One email is a single communication sent to one email address. An email sent to multiple recipients is counted as a separate email for each recipient.
Billing scope: All emails successfully accepted by the Direct Mail system are billed. This applies regardless of the final delivery status to the recipient's mail system. Delivery failures caused by system errors are not billed.
For more information about billing for emails sent to invalid addresses, see Invalid address documentation.
If your Alibaba Cloud account has an overdue payment, all email sending features become unavailable. During the overdue period, you cannot use resource plans. After your account is recovered, the email usage from the overdue period is deducted from the active resource plan.
Resource plans
Resource plans are a prepaid billing method. They take effect immediately after purchase.
Subscription duration (validity period): 6 months. Each resource plan has its own validity period. If you purchase multiple resource plans, their validity periods do not accumulate.
Deduction method: Emails sent are first deducted from an active resource plan. If multiple resource plans are active, emails are deducted from the plan that expires first. After all resource plans are depleted, billing automatically switches to the pay-as-you-go method.
Once a resource plan has been used or has expired, any unused traffic is not eligible for cancellation or a refund.
Purchase a new resource plan or deplete an expiring one at least one hour in advance to ensure that your usage is deducted correctly.
Billing is processed on an hourly basis. The exact time of billing within each hour may vary.
The email volume calculation does not use row locks on the sending process. Therefore, emails sent in the last few minutes of an hour may be billed in the next hour. The console provides an exact daily count of sent emails. This may cause a minor discrepancy between the usage that is shown in the console and your bill. However, the total billed usage is accurate after the sending process is complete.
Resource plan specifications
Resource plan size (emails) | Resource plan price | Subscription duration | Savings compared to pay-as-you-go |
50,000 | $13.05 | 6 months | From $1.45 |
500,000 | $121.80 | 6 months | Save at least $23.20 |
1,000,000 | $230.55 | 6 months | From $59.45 |
5,000,000 | $1,123.75 | 6 months | From $326.25 |
Pay-as-you-go
Pay-as-you-go is a postpaid billing method. It bills for actual usage at a rate of USD 0.29 per 1,000 emails. This billing method is enabled by default when Direct Mail is activated. If a resource plan is purchased, billing automatically switches to pay-as-you-go after the plan's quota is depleted.
Formula: Pay-as-you-go fee = (Number of emails sent / 1,000) × USD 0.29
Fees are rounded to two decimal places. The minimum billable amount is USD 0.01.Free quota
Each Alibaba Cloud account has a total free quota of 2,000 emails, with a daily limit of 200 free emails.
The free quota is separate from resource plans and pay-as-you-go billing. Emails sent after the free quota is depleted are charged.