This topic describes the billing methods, billable items, and billing cycle of Simple Log Service.
Billing methods
Simple Log Service supports the pay-as-you-go and subscription billing methods.
Pay-as-you-go: You are charged based on the usage of each billable item. Fees are deducted after resources are consumed. Simple Log Service provides monthly free quotas. Simple Log Service supports the pay-by-feature and pay-by-ingested-data billing modes. If your resource usage fluctuates, we recommend that you use the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Subscription (resource plan): You must purchase resource plans to offset the fees of billable items. Fees for the resource plans are deducted before you can use the resource plans to offset the fees of billable items. If your resource usage does not fluctuate, we recommend that you use the subscription billing method. For more information, see Resource plan overview.
Simple Log Service provides free quotas at the Alibaba Cloud account level. All projects across all regions under the same account share the same free quota. If a Logstore shows no charges, it is either because usage falls within the free quota, or because the Logstore belongs to a free resource category. For more information about non-billable Logstores, see the section Free resources and non-billable logstores below.
The subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Each resource plan has a quota of resource usage. If the quota is exceeded, you are charged for the excess resource usage based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. We recommend that you purchase resource plans based on your workloads and business scale.
Free resources and non-billable logstores
Certain logstores created automatically by Alibaba Cloud services are provided at no charge. If you find that some logstores are not billed, they may fall into one of the following categories:
The free scope above covers only the projects and default application resources that CloudMonitor creates automatically. Logs generated by specific application services (sub-products) that you connect to CloudMonitor are billed independently according to the billing rules of each sub-product, and are not included in the free scope above. To confirm the fees for a specific sub-product, see the billing documentation of that sub-product or check the actual usage details of its logs.
Free resources are managed by the corresponding Alibaba Cloud services. Do not delete or modify these logstores unless instructed by the relevant service documentation.
Which billing mode should I choose?
When you create a Logstore, you select a billing mode. The following table helps you decide which mode best fits your use case:
Scenario | Recommended mode | Reason |
Data retention ≥ 30 days | Pay-by-ingested-data | Storage fees for the first 30 days are included; cost-effective for long-term retention. |
High or fluctuating write volume | Pay-by-ingested-data | Predictable cost scaling based on raw data volume. |
Low write volume; primarily indexing and querying | Pay-by-feature | Pay only for features used; better value when write volume is low. |
For current pricing details, visit the Simple Log Service pricing page.
Billable items
Simple Log Service supports the pay-by-feature and pay-by-ingested-data billing modes. You can use resource plans to offset the fees of billable items that are involved in the pay-by-feature and pay-by-ingested-data billing modes.
Billable items of pay-by-ingested-data
The following figure shows the billable items that are involved in the pay-by-ingested-data billing mode.
Pay-as-you-go: For more information about the pricing of billable items, visit Pricing of Simple Log Service.
Billable items of pay-by-feature
The following figure shows the billable items that are involved in the pay-by-feature billing mode.
Pay-as-you-go: For more information about the pricing of billable items, visit Pricing of Simple Log Service.
Subscription: Simple Log Service provides resource plans that you can use to offset the fees of billable items. For more information about the pricing of resource plans, visit the buy page of Simple Log Service resource plans.
Billing cycle
The amount of consumed Simple Log Service resources is calculated on a daily basis. You are charged based on the amount of consumed resources.
Simple Log Service uses a T+1 billing cycle: usage from the current day is tallied and a bill is generated the following day. Fees are then deducted from your Alibaba Cloud account balance. This mechanism applies to all pay-as-you-go scenarios, including log audit, Windows event log ingestion, and other on-demand services.
Charges are not deducted in real time. If your account balance is insufficient when billing runs, you will receive a notification by SMS or email.
References
Resource plan | Others |
FAQ
How do I estimate my monthly Simple Log Service usage or cost?
You can estimate your monthly cost using the following formulas. For current unit prices, visit the pricing page.
For pay-by-ingested-data mode:
Daily write cost = Raw data ingested per day (GB) × write unit price
Daily storage cost = Compressed data volume per day (GB) × Retention period (days) × storage unit price per GB/day
NoteStorage fees are waived for the first 30 days in pay-by-ingested-data mode.
Daily total = Daily write cost + Daily storage cost
Monthly estimate = Daily total × 30
Example:
Assume daily raw ingestion of 1.79 TiB (≈ 1,833 GB), a 2:1 compression ratio (compressed size ≈ 373.55 GB/day per stored day), and a 7-day retention period.
Daily write cost: 1,833 GB × USD 0.061/GB ≈ USD 111.8
Daily storage cost: 373.55 GB × 7 days × USD 0.002875/GB/day ≈ USD 7.5
Estimated monthly cost: (111.8 + 7.5) × 30 ≈ USD 3,579
Unit prices are subject to change. Use the pricing calculator on the pricing page for the most accurate estimate.
Does ECS log collection generate Internet traffic fees?
No. ECS instances and Simple Log Service run within the same Alibaba Cloud internal network. Log collection uses the internal network channel by default, so no Internet egress fees are incurred.
Internet traffic fees apply only when you access or download log data from outside the Alibaba Cloud internal network—for example, from an on-premises network or a non-Alibaba Cloud server connecting via a public IP address.
Are ALB Log Center and ECS log collection billed differently in Simple Log Service?
No. Both methods use Simple Log Service as the storage and analysis backend and follow the same SLS billing rules. Fees are calculated based on actual consumption of billable items (storage, indexing, read traffic, and so on).
The difference is in the collection method:
ALB Log Center: Application Load Balancer automatically delivers access logs to Simple Log Service when you enable the feature. No manual agent configuration is required.
ECS log collection: You must deploy a collection agent (such as Logtail) on the ECS instance to forward logs to Simple Log Service.
There are no additional hidden charges for either method beyond standard SLS billing.
Does switching the SLS endpoint from HTTP to HTTPS add extra fees?
No. Switching from HTTP to HTTPS does not incur additional protocol conversion fees or traffic surcharges. HTTPS simply provides a more secure transport channel. Your usage is billed by the same SLS pricing rules regardless of whether you use HTTP or HTTPS.
Is Simple Log Service billed cumulatively by month or by incremental data?
Simple Log Service is settled monthly, and fees are not cumulative. Your monthly fees include only the resources actually consumed during that month. The number of log entries or Storage Volume from the previous month is not carried over or added to the next month. Fees and free quotas are calculated at the Alibaba Cloud account level, so all projects under the same Alibaba Cloud account share one monthly billing cycle.
Each month is calculated independently: within a billing period, Simple Log Service counts only the data volume ingested, the Storage Volume occupied, the read/write traffic, the index traffic consumed by log indexing, and other billable item usage generated in that month. Usage already settled in the previous month's bill is not counted again.
Fees are based on Storage Volume, not log count: when you track costs, fees are calculated based on the Storage Volume in GB that your log data actually occupies, not on the total number of log entries or on the incremental entry count alone. For the same number of log entries, logs with more fields or larger individual entries occupy more storage and cost more.
Storage Volume changes with the data retention period: historical logs that remain within the data retention period, also known as TTL, continue to occupy storage and incur storage fees. After data expires and is automatically deleted, it no longer counts toward Storage Volume. Storage Volume reflects the total amount of data currently retained, not the cumulative amount of data ever ingested.
The same monthly rules apply to every log source: whether logs come from Logtail log collection on an ECS instance, ALB access logs delivered to the ALB log center, Windows Event logs ingestion, or the log auditing feature, they are settled by the same monthly rules. In pay-by-ingested-data mode, the monthly bill counts the data ingested and the storage occupied in that month. In pay-by-feature mode, it counts the feature usage in that month, such as index traffic and query.
A prepaid plan is deducted first: if you have purchased a prepaid plan, usage in the current month is deducted from the plan first, and only the usage that exceeds the plan quota is billed under the pay-as-you-go billing method for that month.
To verify the usage breakdown for a specific month, check the actual usage details for that month.
Why do Simple Log Service prices differ significantly between the China site and the international site?
The China site (aliyun.com) and the international site (alibabacloud.com) are independently operated platforms with separate pricing systems. A price difference between them is expected, and the two prices cannot be directly compared or converted.
Different pricing systems and currencies: the two sites use CNY and USD respectively. Billable item combinations, unit prices, and free quotas are defined independently, so the amounts are not equivalent after currency conversion.
Different promotions and packages: a lower amount on the China site, such as the CNY 306 range that users may cite, may come from a specific entry-level package, a resource plan discount, or a limited-time domestic promotion. An amount on the international site, such as the USD 1,200 range, usually corresponds to a standard quotation based on different specifications and usage assumptions.
Different cost structures: international site prices include the amortization of global infrastructure, cross-region networking, and international compliance costs such as data protection and auditing. These costs are not factored into the China site pricing model in the same way.
Different compliance standards and service scope: the two sites serve different regions and may offer different feature sets and compliance requirements. Billable items with the same name may not cover exactly the same scope.
Estimate your fees based on the official pricing page of the site you actually use: for the China site, see, and for the international site, see Pricing of Simple Log Service. When you compare prices across sites, make sure you compare quotations for the same region, billing mode, and usage assumptions.
Note: the amounts above are only examples of the price ranges mentioned in user inquiries. They do not represent the official pricing of either site. Actual prices are subject to the pricing page of the corresponding site.