Express Connect outbound data transfer billing and pricing - Express Connect

Outbound data transfer is network traffic that flows from Alibaba Cloud to your data center through an associated port or virtual border router (VBR). Billing is based on the total outbound volume per region, and you can view per-VBR traffic breakdowns for cost allocation when multiple business units share a single circuit.

Billing overview

Item	Rule
Billing cycle and bill generation time	Usage under one hour is billed as one full hour. Bills are typically generated about one hour after a billing cycle ends. Actual bill generation time may vary.
Billable items and formulas	The total outbound data transfer fee is the sum of fees from all regions under your account. The fee for a single region is calculated as follows: Dedicated circuit Outbound data transfer fee = Unit price × Total outbound data transfer from all dedicated circuit instances in the current region Hosted connection Outbound data transfer fee = Unit price × Total outbound data transfer from all hosted connection instances in the current region
Promotional discount rule	If your account has Express Connect circuits in multiple regions, the promotional discount is applied first to the region that generates traffic earliest.

Billing details

Enabling outbound data transfer billing provides the following benefits:

The port setup fee of USD 1,500 is waived, lowering the barrier to cloud migration.
A higher free quota for VBR instances supports more complex network topologies.
Inbound data transfer is free and unlimited. You pay only for outbound data transfer.
After you enable outbound data transfer billing, each account receives a monthly free quota of 50 TB outbound data transfer, valid until December 31, 2026. Starting January 1, 2027, all outbound data transfer is billed at standard rates.

Unit price

The unit price for outbound data transfer varies by source region.

Prices listed below are for reference only. Actual billed prices take precedence.

Source area	Regions	Unit price (USD/GB)
Chinese mainland	China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Hohhot), China (Ulanqab), China (Tianjin-Local Region), China (Jinan-Local Region), China (Shijiazhuang-Local Region), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), China (Guangzhou), China (Chengdu), China (Wuhan-Local Region), China (Dalian-Local Region), China (Xi'an-Local Region), China (Zhongwei)	0.0130
Asia-Pacific	China (Hong Kong), Singapore, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia (Johor), Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City)	0.0390
Asia-Pacific	Indonesia (Jakarta)	0.0780
Europe and Americas	US (Silicon Valley), US (Virginia), US (Atlanta), Germany (Frankfurt), UK (London), France (Paris), Mexico	0.0190
Middle East	UAE (Dubai), SAU (Riyadh - Partner Region)	0.0860

Enable outbound data transfer billing

Your account must have completed identity verification. To complete identity verification, see FAQ about identity verification.
If you use a RAM user, ensure it has theAliyunExpressConnectFullAccess orvpc:OpenPhysicalConnectionService permission.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select a region and then click Physical Connection in the left-side navigation pane.
In the Enable Outbound Data Transfer Billing section, click Enable Now.
On the activation page, read and agree to the terms of service, and then click Enable Now.

Billing example

Assume you have data centers in Beijing and Virginia connected to VPCs via Express Connect circuits in China (Beijing) and US (Virginia) regions under the same account. In a given month, your account generates 100 TB of outbound data transfer in China (Beijing) first, then 80 TB in US (Virginia).

During the promotional period, your monthly outbound data transfer fees are calculated as follows:
- China (Beijing) region: USD 0.0130/GB × (100 - 50) × 1,024 GB = USD 665.60
- US (Virginia) region: USD 0.0190/GB × 80 × 1,024 GB = USD 1,556.48
Total fee = USD 665.60 + USD 1,556.48 = USD 2,222.08
After the promotional period ends, your monthly outbound data transfer fees are calculated as follows:
- China (Beijing) region: USD 0.0130/GB × 100 × 1,024 GB = USD 1,331.20
- US (Virginia) region: USD 0.0190/GB × 80 × 1,024 GB = USD 1,556.48
Total fee = USD 1,331.20 + USD 1,556.48 = USD 2,887.68

More operations

Measure outbound data transfer

Metering

The metered outbound data transfer is the total volume before promotional discounts or resource plans are applied. For details, see Billing details and Outbound data transfer plan.

View traffic by port

When multiple business units share an Express Connect circuit through multiple VBR instances, view the traffic volume and percentage for each VBR to track usage by business unit.

Note

If a VBR created for a hosted connection under a dedicated port is not displayed on the dedicated port, query it on the corresponding hosted connection.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select a region and then click Physical Connection in the left-side navigation pane.
On the Physical Connection page, find the target Express Connect circuit and click the Metering icon in the column.
Hover over the usage data to view traffic volume and percentage for each VBR.
By default, data from the last day is displayed. Set the monitoring granularity to Daily or Hourly. Select a preset or custom time range.
- Preset time ranges:
  - Daily: 1 day, 7 days, 15 days, or 30 days.
  - Hourly: 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours.
- Custom time range: Daily granularity supports the last 30 days. Hourly granularity supports the last 24 hours.

View traffic by VBR

To view traffic for a single VBR:

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select a region and then click Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in the left-side navigation pane.
On the Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) page, find the target VBR and click the Metering icon in the column.
By default, data from the last day is displayed. Set the monitoring granularity to Daily or Hourly. Select a preset or custom time range.
- Preset time ranges:
  - Daily: 1 day, 7 days, 15 days, or 30 days.
  - Hourly: 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours.
- Custom time range: Daily granularity supports the last 30 days. Hourly granularity supports the last 24 hours.

Increase VBR instance quota

With outbound data transfer billing enabled, you can create up to five VBR instances per Express Connect circuit per account. To request more, see Express Connect quotas and Manage Express Connect quotas.

Express Connect:Outbound data transfer fees