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    Elastic Compute Service:Billing FAQ

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    Elastic Compute Service:Billing FAQ

    Last Updated:Jun 23, 2026

    Subscription instance billing

    Pay-as-you-go instance billing

    Billing method conversion questions

    Subscription to pay-as-you-go

    Pay-as-you-go to subscription

    Economical mode

    Appendix

    What are the differences among subscription, reserved instances, and savings plans?

    For stable workloads, subscription, reserved instances, and savings plans all offer discounts. For the same duration, flexibility ranks as follows: savings plans > reserved instances > subscription. The following table compares the three options.

    Comparison

    Subscription

    Reserved instance

    Savings plan

    Discount restrictions

    Discounts a specific instance.

    A single reserved instance covers up to 100 matching instances.

    Applies discounts directly to your bill based on consumption, with no instance limit.

    Resource reservation

    Supported.

    Supported. Select a zonal reserved instance.

    Not supported.

    Cross-product

    Not supported.

    Supported. Applies to both ECS and Elastic Container Instance (ECI).

    Supported. Applies to both ECS and ECI.

    Cross-region

    Not supported.

    Not supported.

    Supported. Select a general-purpose savings plan.

    Cross-zone within the same region

    Not supported.

    Supported. Select a regional reserved instance.

    Supported.

    Cross-instance family

    Not supported.

    Not supported.

    Supported. Select a general-purpose savings plan.

    Cross-instance type within the same family

    Not supported.

    Supported.

    Supported.

    Cross-operating system

    Not supported.

    Not supported.

    Supported.

    Cross-account sharing

    Not supported.

    Supported.

    Supported.

    Installment payments

    Not supported.

    Supported. Choose all upfront, partial upfront, or no upfront.

    Supported. Choose all upfront, partial upfront, or no upfront.

    Why are pay-as-you-go fees generated for my subscription ECS instance? Why do I have overdue payments for my subscription ECS instance before it expires?

    Pay-as-you-go fees may be generated for a subscription instance if you enable pay-as-you-go features when you purchase the instance, or if you change configurations or attach pay-as-you-go resources while the instance is in use. Common scenarios are as follows:

    You configured the following settings when you purchased the subscription ECS instance, or you changed the instance configurations to the following while the instance is in use:

    • You selected the pay-by-traffic billing method when you configured the public bandwidth.

    • The system disk or data disk is an ESSD AutoPL disk and you configured provisioned performance.

    • The system disk or data disk is an ESSD AutoPL disk and you configured performance burst. When a performance burst occurs, burst fees are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis.

    • You configured an automatic snapshot policy for the instance. When the policy is triggered and snapshots are created, snapshot storage fees are generated.

    • If the instance is a burstable instance with unlimited mode enabled, overusing its CPU credits incurs extra credit charges.

    You performed the following operations while using the subscription instance:

    • Attached a pay-as-you-go data disk.

    • Attached pay-as-you-go Internet-facing products, such as elastic IP addresses (EIPs), Server Load Balancer (SLB) instances, or NAT gateways.

    • Created a custom image or a manual snapshot.

    If you want to switch the billing method of these pay-as-you-go resources to subscription, see Switch between billing methods.

    What do I do if converting a subscription instance to a pay-as-you-go instance fails?

    The conversion may fail for the following reasons:

    1. Unsupported instance status: For example, the instance has an unpaid order.

    2. Expired instance: Expired instances cannot be converted.

    3. Configuration changed: A recent configuration change, such as a temporary bandwidth upgrade, blocks conversion.

    To resolve these issues:

    • Check the instance status: Verify the instance has no unpaid orders and is not expired.

    • Review the instance configuration: If you recently modified the instance, revert the changes before retrying the conversion.

    If the issue persists or the error message is unclear, contact technical support.

    Why did I receive an overdue payment notification for my subscription instance that has not expired?

    Some services attached to a subscription instance, such as snapshot storage and pay-by-traffic public bandwidth, are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. These fees are not included in the subscription purchase. If your account balance cannot cover these pay-as-you-go bills, your account becomes overdue. Check your consumption details to identify pay-as-you-go charges. See Query bills.

    How is the settlement time for pay-as-you-go instances calculated?

    Pay-as-you-go instances are billed by the second and settled hourly. The settlement time is determined by the system. For example, if you create an ECS instance at 01:30 and release it at 02:00, the settlement cycle is from 01:00:00 to 02:00:00. The actual billable duration is 30 minutes × 60 = 1,800 seconds.

    Are charges incurred for a pay-as-you-go ECS instance that is stopped manually or due to an overdue payment?

    • Stopped due to overdue payment: The instance is automatically stopped because of an overdue payment. No charges are incurred in this state. However, the instance does not remain in this state indefinitely. See Pay-as-you-go.

    • Manually stopped: You place the instance in the Stopped state from the ECS console or by calling the StopInstance API operation. Billing depends on whether economical mode is enabled.

      • Economical mode enabled: Billing starts at creation. When the instance is Stopped, billing stops for compute resources (vCPUs and memory) and static public IP addresses. Other resources, such as disks and EIPs, continue to be billed. See Economical mode.

      • Economical mode disabled: Billing continues even if the instance is stopped.

    No charges are incurred for an instance stopped due to overdue payment. For a manually stopped instance, charges depend on the network type and stop mode.

    What do I do if placing an order to convert a pay-as-you-go instance to a subscription instance fails?

    The conversion may fail for the following reasons:

    1. Unsupported instance status: For example, the instance has an overdue bill or an automatic release time is set.

    2. Configuration changed: The instance configuration changed or an unpaid conversion order exists.

    3. Conditions not met: For example, the instance is a retired instance type, a spot instance, or has automatic release enabled.

    To resolve these issues:

    • Resolve overdue payments and disable the automatic release setting.

    • Complete or cancel any ongoing configuration changes or incomplete orders before proceeding.

    • Verify the instance is not a spot instance and its instance type is not retired.

    If the issue persists, contact technical support.

    Does the bandwidth billing method change after converting from pay-as-you-go to subscription?

    No. Converting from pay-as-you-go to subscription changes the billing method only for instances and disks. To change the bandwidth billing method, see Overview of instance upgrade or downgrade.

    I have an unpaid order to convert a pay-as-you-go instance to a subscription instance. If I upgrade the instance configuration, is the conversion order still valid?

    When you convert a pay-as-you-go instance to subscription, a purchase order is created. If you upgrade the instance before paying this order, the order amount no longer matches the current configuration. Payment is blocked and the conversion order becomes invalid.

    To proceed, cancel the unpaid order on the Order Management page, then create a new conversion order based on the upgraded configuration.

    Why can't I convert a pay-as-you-go instance to a subscription instance?

    The pay-as-you-go instance must meet the following conditions:

    • The instance is in the Running or Stopped state

    • The instance is not in economical mode. If it is, start the instance first.

    • The instance is not a retired instance type

    • The instance is not a spot instance

    • No unpaid orders exist for the instance. Pay for or cancel any unpaid orders.

    • No automatic release time is set. If one is set, disable the automatic release setting first.

    What types of ECS instances support economical mode?

    An ECS instance must meet the following conditions to support economical mode:

    • The network type is VPC.

    • The billing method is pay-as-you-go (including spot instances).

    • The instance family does not include local storage.

    • The instance family does not include persistent memory.

    See Economical mode.

    After I enable economical mode by default, can I stop a single ECS instance without releasing its computing and network resources?

    Even with economical mode enabled by default, you still set the stop mode for each instance individually. If economical mode is not triggered, the instance retains its compute and network resources.

    To stop and restart an instance quickly, set the StoppedMode parameter to KeepCharging when calling StopInstance, or select Standard Mode in the console.

    Can I trigger economical mode by shutting down an ECS instance from within its operating system?

    No. Stopping an instance from within its operating system does not trigger economical mode. The instance must be stopped in one of the following ways:

    • In the ECS console. See Stop an instance.

    • Via API using the Cloud Assistant CLI or an SDK. See StopInstance.

    • Automatic stop due to an overdue payment.

    Do instances with local storage support automatic triggering of economical mode?

    No. Instances with local storage do not support economical mode.

    After an ECS instance enters economical mode, why does an OperationConflict error occur when I try to start it immediately?

    When an ECS instance enters economical mode, its compute resources (CPU and memory) and static public IP address are revoked.

    To stop and restart an instance quickly without entering economical mode, set the StoppedMode parameter to KeepCharging when calling StopInstance, or select Standard Mode in the ECS console.

    After an ECS instance enters economical mode, why does an OperationDenied.NoStock error occur when I call StartInstance?

    When an ECS instance enters economical mode, its compute resources are revoked. If the zone has insufficient resource inventory, an OperationDenied.NoStock error occurs when you start the instance. Try starting it again later.

    After I enable economical mode, the public IP address changes when I stop and then start the instance. How can I keep the public IP address unchanged?

    When an ECS instance enters economical mode, its static public IP address is revoked. A new one is assigned the next time the instance starts.

    To keep the public IP address unchanged, convert the static public IP address to an Elastic IP Address (EIP). An EIP is not released when an instance enters economical mode. API reference: ConvertNatPublicIpToEip.

    Important

    After converting to an EIP, you are charged for outbound public bandwidth, EIP configuration fees, and EIP attachment fees. Configuration and attachment fees are waived if specific conditions are met. See Elastic IP Address Billing overview.