This topic describes how you are billed for ECS images and provides examples on how to calculate image fees.
Overview
You may be charged for using Elastic Compute Service (ECS) images. The following table describes the billing information for different types of images.
Type | Billing rule |
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Public image | Public images are provided by Alibaba Cloud. The following public images are offered at different prices:
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Custom image | Custom images are created from instances or snapshots or imported from your computer. Billing for custom images consists of two parts:
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Shared image | Shared images are shared with you by other Alibaba Cloud accounts. If you use a shared image that is derived from a paid image, you are charged an image fee for the shared image. For example, if an Alibaba Cloud account shares with you a paid image and you use that image to create an instance, you are charged an image fee for the shared image. |
Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image | Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images are provided by independent software vendors (ISVs). The prices are displayed on the product pages of Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images. |
Community image | Community images are free of charge. |
Billing methods
You must select an image when you create an ECS instance. The image has the same billing method and billing cycle as the instance. The following table describes the billing methods.
Billing method | Billing rule |
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Subscription: You must pay for an image before you can use it. | ![]()
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Pay-as-you-go: This billing method allows you to use resources and pay for them later. Fees are automatically deducted from the balance of your Alibaba Cloud account. | ![]()
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Note Images can be used only with ECS instances. Reserved Windows instances include public images at no additional cost and can offset public image charges.
Examples
The following table provides examples on how to calculate image fees. Assume that you purchase an instance with 2 vCPUs in the China (Hangzhou) region and that the image of the instance uses the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 64-bit operating system.
Note The prices in the following table are for reference only. The actual prices on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page shall prevail.
Billing method | Billing item | Fee (USD) |
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Subscription |
| Price = Unit price of the image × Subscription duration = 43.00 × 1 = 43.00 |
Pay-as-you-go |
| Price = Unit price of the image × Billing duration = 0.063 × (24 × 30) = 45.36 |
Reference
For more information about image billing, see FAQ about image fees.