Images - Elastic Compute Service - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

This topic describes how you are billed for Elastic Compute Service (ECS) images and provides examples on how to calculate image fees.

Billing overview

You may be charged for ECS images. The following table describes the billing rules for different types of images.

Image type	Billing rule
Public images	Public images, including open-source and commercial public images, are provided by Alibaba Cloud at different prices: Open-source images do not incur license fees. Commercial images incur license fees. The following types of commercial images are available: Windows Server: Prices vary based on instance types. The prices are displayed when you create instances in the ECS console. Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Prices vary based on instance types. Instances that have up to four vCPUs: USD 0.063 per hour (pay-as-you-go), USD 43.00 per month (monthly subscription), USD 501.00 per year (yearly subscription). Instances that have at least five vCPUs: USD 0.14 per hour (pay-as-you-go), USD 95.00 per month (monthly subscription), USD 1,099.00 per year (yearly subscription). SUSE Linux Enterprise Server: Prices vary based on instance types. Instances that have one or two vCPUs: USD 0.064 per hour (pay-as-you-go), USD 24.46 per month (monthly subscription), USD 235.23 per year (yearly subscription). Instances that have three or four vCPUs: USD 0.127 per hour (pay-as-you-go), USD 50.15 per month (monthly subscription), USD 471.54 per year (yearly subscription). Instances that have at least five vCPUs: USD 0.152 per hour (pay-as-you-go), USD 58.62 per month (monthly subscription), USD 564.60 per year (yearly subscription).
Custom images	Custom images are created from instances or snapshots or imported from your computer. Billing for custom images consists of two parts: Snapshot fees (incurred when you retain custom images) The snapshot service is required for images. If you retain custom images, you are charged snapshot fees. For more information, see Snapshots. License fees (incurred when you use custom images to create instances) If your custom image is derived from a paid image and you use the custom image to create ECS instances, you are charged an image license fee. For example, if Instance A uses Image A (paid image) and you use Instance A to create a custom image, you are charged an image license fee when you use the custom image to create instances. Note If the custom image is an imported custom Windows image, you are charged based on the license type of the operating system. If the license type is Aliyun or Auto, you are charged a license fee for the custom image. If the license type is Bring Your Own License (BYOL), you are not charged a license fee for the custom image. For information about fees that you are charged when you create, replicate, import, or export custom images, see FAQ about image fees.
Shared images	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 a license fee for the shared image. For example, if you share Image A (paid image) with User B and User B uses Image A to create instances, User B is charged a license fee for Image A.
Alibaba Cloud Marketplace Images	Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images are provided by independent software vendors (ISVs). Their prices are displayed on the image product pages in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
Community images	Community images are custom images shared by users with the Alibaba Cloud community. If a community image is derived from a paid image, you are charged a license fee when you use the community image to create ECS instances.

Billing methods

You must select an image when you create an ECS instance. The image has the same billing method and billing duration as the instance. The following table describes the billing methods.

Billing method	Billing rule
Subscription: You must pay for an image before you can use it.	Unit price of the image: The unit prices are displayed when you use the image to create an instance. Subscription duration: the duration that you specify when you use the image to create an instance.
Pay-as-you-go: You can use resources and pay for them afterwards. Fees are automatically deducted from the balance of your Alibaba Cloud account.	Unit price of the image: The unit prices are displayed when you use the image to create an instance. Billing duration: The billing duration is accurate to the second.

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.

Billing 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 instances uses a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 64-bit image.

Note

The prices in the following table are only for reference. The actual prices on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page shall prevail.

Billing method	Billing item	Fee (USD)
Subscription	Unit price of the image (1 vCPU to 4 vCPUs): USD 43.00 per month Subscription duration: one month.	Price = Unit price of the image × Subscription duration = 43.00 × 1 = 43.00
Pay-as-you-go	Unit price of the image (1 vCPU to 4 vCPUs): USD 0.063 per hour Billing duration: one month	Price = Unit price of the image × Billing duration = 0.063 × (24 × 30) = 45.36

References

For more information about image billing, see FAQ about image fees.