FAQ about instance type billing
FAQ about image billing
FAQ about Elastic Block Storage billing
FAQ about network billing
How do I view the Internet traffic usage of an ECS instance?
How is inbound and outbound traffic billed for pay-as-you-go instances?
What is the difference between pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-traffic?
When I request a refund for an ECS instance, will the attached EIP also be refunded?
Am I billed for traffic generated by a cyberattack on my ECS instance?
When I purchase a subscription ECS instance, can I select pay-by-traffic for bandwidth?
Appendix
Can I release an ECS instance myself?
You can manually release pay-as-you-go instances and set an automatic release time. However, you cannot manually release subscription instances.
Why do I receive pay-as-you-go bills? What are the charges on the bill?
Copy the ID or name of the instance for which you want to view billing details. For more information, see Bill Details.
Why can't I switch from the subscription billing method to the pay-as-you-go billing method?
You can switch an ECS instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go only if the instance is in the Running or Stopped status.
How are image software license fees charged when you create an ECS instance or change its operating system?
When you use an image to create an ECS instance or change its operating system, you may be charged image software license fees. The fees vary based on the image type.
Public images:
Windows Server: Fees depend on the instance type. The actual fees are displayed when you create the instance.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux/SUSE Linux Enterprise Server: Image fees are charged. The fees depend on the instance type.
Other public images: Free of charge.
Custom images: If you use a custom image that was created from a paid image, you are charged for the image.
Shared images: If you use a shared image that was created from a paid image, you are charged for the image.
Marketplace images: Marketplace images are provided by independent software vendors (ISVs). The actual fees are shown on the purchase page in the marketplace.
Community images: Community images are custom images that are publicly shared. If a community image is created from a paid image, you are charged license fees for the image when you use it to create an ECS instance.
For more information, see Image billing.
Are image software license fees charged when you use an imported custom image to create an ECS instance?
If you import a custom image and select Bring Your Own License (BYOL) as the license type, you are not charged image software license fees when you create an ECS instance.
If you import a custom image and select Alibaba Cloud Official License as the license type, you are charged the license fees specified by Alibaba Cloud when you create an ECS instance.
What fees are incurred when you create a custom image?
When you create a custom image, a snapshot is created by default, which incurs snapshot fees. If you have not purchased an a Storage Capacity Unit (SCU), snapshots are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. For more information, see Snapshot billing.
What fees are incurred when you copy a custom image?
The following fees may be incurred when you copy a custom image:
Snapshot fees: When you copy an image to a region, a corresponding snapshot is automatically created in the region and consumes snapshot storage capacity. You are charged for the amount of the actual snapshot storage capacity that you use. For more information, see Snapshots.
NoteSnapshots created for image copies are retained indefinitely regardless of the retention period of the snapshots of the source images.
Fees for cross-region data transfer: Alibaba Cloud does not charge you for cross-region data transfer. For information about the most recent billing details, see the official Alibaba Cloud website for announcements.
What fees are incurred when you share a custom image?
A shared image does not consume the custom image quota of the recipient. Alibaba Cloud does not charge the recipient for image sharing.
If a shared image is created from a paid image and the recipient uses the shared image to create an ECS instance, the recipient is charged image fees. For example, if Alibaba Cloud account A shares a paid image with Alibaba Cloud account B, and Account B uses the shared image to create an instance, Account B must pay for both the image and the instance.
What fees are incurred when you import a custom image?
Importing a custom image incurs the following fees:
Before you import a custom image, you must upload the on-premises image file to OSS. This incurs OSS storage fees.
During the import process, uploading and downloading the image file in OSS incurs OSS traffic fees.
Importing a custom image involves calling OSS API operations. This incurs OSS request fees.
When you import a custom image into ECS, a snapshot is created by default. This incurs snapshot storage fees. By default, the pay-as-you-go billing method is used. For more information, see Snapshot billing.
How are ESSDs billed?
After an enterprise SSD (ESSD) is created, you are charged for its storage capacity, regardless of whether it is attached to an instance. ESSDs support the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods.
Subscription: Disk capacity (GiB) × Unit price × Subscription duration
Pay-as-you-go: Disk capacity (GiB) × Unit price × Billing duration
For detailed billing rules for ESSDs at performance levels PL0 to PL3, see Elastic Block Storage billing. Prices for ESSDs (PL0 to PL3) vary by region. For specific prices, see the page or the ECS pricing page.
How do I purchase standard SSDs and what are their prices?
For a list of instance families that support standard SSDs, see Instance families. Prices vary by region. For specific pricing, see the Pricing page.
Standard SSDs are a previous-generation disk product and are being phased out in some regions and zones. When you purchase a disk, we recommend that you select an ESSD AutoPL disk instead of a standard SSD. For more information about ESSD AutoPL disks, see ESSD AutoPL disks.
How are separately purchased pay-as-you-go data disks billed?
After a data disk is created, you are charged for its storage capacity, regardless of whether it is attached to an instance.
Pay-as-you-go: Disk capacity (GiB) × Unit price × Billing duration
For detailed billing rules, see Elastic Block Storage Billing. Disk prices vary by region. For specific prices, see and Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Pricing.
How do I view the Internet traffic usage of an ECS instance?
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console.
In the navigation pane on the left, choose .
Click View Usage Details.
Select a time range. The time range must be within a single calendar month. Set Commodity Name to Elastic Computing (Pay-As-You-Go) or ECS (Subscription) - International Site. Set Billable Item to Outgoing Traffic.
Set Product to the Alibaba Cloud service ECS, set Metering Specification to InternetTraffic, and select the usage period. You can query and export data for only a single calendar month at a time.
Click Export CSV. On the Export Record page, wait for the file status to change to Exported, and then click Download in the Actions column.
Open the downloaded CSV file to view the Internet traffic usage of the ECS instance.
How is inbound and outbound traffic billed for pay-as-you-go instances?
Traffic between ECS instances in the same local area network and traffic between ECS instances and other Alibaba Cloud services is free. Traffic between an ECS instance and the internet is billed as follows:
Inbound traffic is free. Inbound traffic is traffic that flows into an ECS instance, such as traffic generated when you download resources from the internet to your ECS instance or when users upload resources to your ECS instance using tools such as an FTP client.
Outbound traffic is billed. Outbound traffic is traffic that flows out of an ECS instance, such as traffic generated when your ECS instance provides external access or when users download resources from your ECS instance using tools such as an FTP client.
For more information about how bandwidth is billed, see Public bandwidth billing.
What is the difference between pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-traffic?
If you select the pay-by-bandwidth billing method, you are charged based on the bandwidth that you specify. Your actual outbound bandwidth will not exceed the specified value.
If you select the pay-by-traffic billing method, you are charged based on your actual traffic usage. This is a pay-as-you-go billing method. To prevent high costs from sudden traffic spikes, you can set a peak value for the outbound bandwidth.
For more information, see Public bandwidth billing.
After I switch a static public IP address to pay-as-you-go, convert it to an EIP, and then switch the EIP to subscription, why is there a price difference?
When you switch the billing method for the bandwidth of a static public IP address from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic, the static public IP address is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. If you then convert the public IP address to an EIP and switch the billing method of the EIP to subscription, the subscription fee for the EIP may differ from the previous pay-by-traffic fee. This price difference can occur because you received a discount when you purchased the ECS instance, but no discount is available when you switch an EIP from pay-as-you-go to subscription.
When I request a refund for an ECS instance, will the attached EIP also be refunded?
No, it will not. An EIP that is detached from an ECS instance continues to be billed. If you no longer need the EIP, you must release it. After an EIP is released, it is no longer billed. For more information, see Release a pay-as-you-go EIP instance.
If I set a peak bandwidth, can I adjust it later?
Yes, you can. For more information, see Overview of instance upgrade and downgrade.
Am I billed for traffic generated by a cyberattack on my ECS instance?
You are not charged if the cyberattack generates only inbound Internet traffic. However, if outbound Internet traffic is generated, Alibaba Cloud bills you for the corresponding traffic.
Alibaba Cloud recommends that you use Security Center to enhance the security of your ECS instance.
When I purchase a subscription ECS instance, can I select pay-by-traffic for bandwidth?
Yes, you can. For more information, see Create an instance using the wizard.
For information about billing for pay-by-traffic bandwidth, see the Cloud Product Pricing page.
For more information about how pay-by-traffic bandwidth is billed, see the Pricing page.
For more information about the pay-by-traffic billing method, see the Pricing tab on the Elastic Compute Service product page.
How is pay-by-traffic bandwidth billed?
Pay-by-traffic is a pay-as-you-go billing method where you are billed for your actual traffic usage. Bills are settled hourly. To ensure that your services run as expected, make sure that your account has a sufficient balance. To prevent high costs from sudden traffic spikes, you can set a peak bandwidth value.
Can I switch the billing method for the bandwidth of a subscription ECS instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic?
Yes, you can. You can switch from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic by downgrading the bandwidth in real time. However, the number of times that you can perform this operation is limited. For more information, see Modify the bandwidth of a subscription instance.
You can also switch the bandwidth billing method by downgrading the configuration upon renewal. The new configuration takes effect in the next billing cycle. For more information, see Downgrade a configuration upon renewal.
Can I adjust the peak bandwidth at any time?
You can adjust the peak bandwidth at any time by downgrading the bandwidth in real time. The change takes effect immediately. However, this operation is limited to three times per instance. We recommend that you make downgrade decisions with caution.
If you have downgraded the configuration of a subscription ECS instance upon renewal, you cannot upgrade or downgrade the instance before the next billing cycle starts.
If the bandwidth of my subscription ECS instance is billed on a pay-by-traffic basis and my account has an overdue payment, can I continue to use the public bandwidth service?
If your account has an overdue payment, your subscription ECS instance continues to run. However, the pay-by-traffic public bandwidth service is paused, which prevents the ECS instance from accessing the internet. You can resume the public bandwidth service only after you settle the overdue payment. To ensure that your services run as expected, make sure that your account has a sufficient balance.
If the bandwidth of my subscription ECS instance is billed on a pay-by-traffic basis, will I receive a notification when my account has an overdue payment?
Yes, you will. We recommend that you top up your account promptly to avoid service interruptions.
If the bandwidth of my subscription ECS instance is billed on a pay-by-traffic basis, can I upgrade the instance type after my account has an overdue payment?
No, you cannot. You cannot upgrade the instance type if your account has an overdue payment. You must settle the overdue payment first.
If the bandwidth of my subscription ECS instance is billed on a pay-by-traffic basis, will the public bandwidth service automatically resume after I pay the overdue bill?
Yes, it will. If the public bandwidth service is paused due to an overdue payment, the service automatically resumes after you settle the payment. No manual intervention is required.
After I switch the billing method for the bandwidth of a subscription ECS instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic, what is the traffic price?
You are charged for your actual traffic usage, and fees are settled hourly. For more information, see ECS Pricing.