Elastic Container Instance (ECI) uses pay-as-you-go billing by default. You are charged per second for the computing resources, caches, and storage that your container instances consume.
Billable items
ECI resources
| Resource | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| ECI instance | Billed by vCPU and memory, or by ECS instance type. | ECI instance billing |
| Image cache | Manual creation incurs charges for temporary resources and snapshots. Automatic creation is free. Usage charges apply for disks or temporary storage space based on cache type and size. | Image cache billing |
| Data cache | Creation incurs charges for temporary resources and snapshots. Usage incurs charges for disks. | Data cache billing |
| Temporary storage space | Additional temporary storage space incurs charges when you create an ECI instance. | Temporary storage space billing |
| Virtual node (VNode) | Connects self-managed Kubernetes clusters to ECI. Each VNode includes a resident node equivalent to an ECI instance with 2 vCPUs and 8 GiB of memory. VNodes incur standard ECI instance fees. | VNode billing |
ECI instance fees and temporary storage space fees appear in the Elastic Container Instance section of your bill. Disk fees and snapshot fees appear under Elastic Block Storage. For details, see Query bills.
Related Alibaba Cloud services
| Resource | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Internet access requires an Elastic IP Address (EIP) or NAT Gateway. This also applies when pulling images or data from the Internet during cache creation. | EIP billing, NAT Gateway billing |
| Storage | Persistent storage options include Alibaba Cloud disks, NAS file systems, and OSS. | Disk billing, NAS billing, OSS billing |
Pay-as-you-go billing
All ECI resources use pay-as-you-go billing by default.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Billing cycle | Per second. The per-second price equals the hourly price divided by 3,600. |
| Settlement cycle | Bills are generated and settled every hour. |
Billing example
An ECI instance with 2 vCPUs and 4 GiB of memory (no image cache) enters the Pending state at 10:49:30 and is released at 11:20:05. Two bills are generated:
| Bill | Settlement cycle | Billing period | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10:00 - 11:00 | 10:49:30 - 11:00:00 | 630 seconds |
| 2 | 11:00 - 12:00 | 11:00:00 - 11:20:05 | 1,205 seconds |
Cost optimization
Reduce ECI costs with the following options:
Savings plans, reserved instances, and spot instances reduce ECI instance fees.
OSS storage plans and Storage Capacity Units (SCUs) offset snapshot fees.
Overdue payments
If your available credit (account balance and vouchers) is insufficient at settlement, your account enters an overdue state and ECI instances are released. Maintain sufficient credit to avoid service interruptions.