Public bandwidth is classified into IPv4 public bandwidth and IPv6 public bandwidth. You are separately charged for IPv4 and IPv6 public bandwidths. Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances can use different Internet resources to access the Internet. This topic describes the billing rules and billing methods for network usage of ECS instances that use static public IPv4 addresses, which are the public IPv4 addresses that are automatically assigned, to access the Internet. This topic also describes the network usage fees generated for the ECS instances and provides examples on how to calculate network usage fees.
Billing description
This topic describes the billing rules for IPv4 network usage. For more information about the billing rules for IPv6 network usage, see IPv6 billing description.
ECS instances can access the Internet through static public IP addresses, Elastic IP Addresses (EIP), and NAT gateways. Different Internet access methods have different billable items and billing rules.
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Access through static public IP addresses
Static public IP addresses are easy to purchase. If an ECS instance uses a static public IP address to access the Internet, you are charged for the outbound public bandwidth or outbound data transfers to the Internet. You are not charged for the static public IP address. When you purchase an ECS instance, if you select Assign public IPv4 address, the system automatically assigns a static public IP address to enable communication between the instance and the Internet. The fees are billed by Elastic Compute Service (ECS). For more information about billing details, see Static public bandwidth billing.
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Access through Elastic IP Addresses (EIP)
EIPs are flexible and can be associated with various cloud resources for Internet access. You need to purchase EIPs separately and associate them with ECS instances. The fees are billed by Elastic IP Address. For more information about billing details, see EIP billing overview.
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Access through NAT gateways
A NAT gateway can provide Internet access for multiple ECS instances that reside in the same virtual private cloud (VPC). You need to purchase NAT gateways separately and configure SNAT rules. The fees are billed by NAT Gateway. For more information about billing details, see NAT gateway billing description.
Static public bandwidth billing
Static public bandwidth, which is the public bandwidth of static public IP addresses, supports pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-traffic billing methods.
In the pay-by-bandwidth billing method, you are charged based on the bandwidth value that you specify. The price is fixed. This billing method is suitable for scenarios that require stable bandwidth. If your ECS instance frequently communicates with external networks and requires long-term use of bandwidth or if your instance has a public bandwidth utilization that is higher than 10%, we recommend that you select pay-by-bandwidth as the billing method for network usage.
Pay-by-traffic billing pattern charges you based on the actual traffic you use. You set a bandwidth peak, and you can set an appropriate bandwidth peak to avoid incurring high traffic fees. This is suitable for scenarios in which bandwidth requirements are highly variable. If the public bandwidth utilization does not exceed 10% and there is little traffic usually, but traffic fluctuates significantly during a peak period, it is recommended to select pay-by-traffic.
The inbound and outbound bandwidth caps in the Pay-by-traffic billing method are bandwidth limits and are not guaranteed service level objectives. In scenarios where demand outstrips resource supplies, the maximum bandwidth may be limited. If your business requires guaranteed bandwidth, use the Pay-by-bandwidth billing method.
BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro lines in the China (Hong Kong) region do not support the pay-by-traffic billing method for network usage.
You can select a billing method for network usage based on your business requirements. The following sections describe the two billing methods in detail.
Pay-by-bandwidth billing
Billing rules: You are charged based on the tiered pricing of the static bandwidth value (unit: Mbit/s). The fees are included in the configuration fees of ECS instances. Use the following formula to calculate pay-by-bandwidth network usage fees: Unit price of public bandwidth × Bandwidth value × Billing duration. For more information about the public bandwidth prices in different regions, see the Bandwidth Price tab on the Elastic Compute Service pricing page.
Billing method: The billing method for pay-by-bandwidth is divided into subscription and pay-as-you-go:
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Subscription is a prepaid billing method. You pay a one-time fee when you purchase an instance. (You can use this billing method when the instance is billed on a subscription basis.)
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Pay-as-you-go is a postpaid billing method. If you use the pay-by-bandwidth billing method, a minimum billing duration is required:
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1 vCPU: If the public bandwidth usage duration is less than 10 minutes in a billing cycle, you are charged for 10 minutes of public bandwidth usage.
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2 vCPU: If the public bandwidth usage duration is less than 5 minutes in a billing cycle, you are charged for 5 minutes of public bandwidth usage.
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4 vCPU and more: If the public bandwidth usage duration is less than 2 minutes in a billing cycle, you are charged for 2 minutes of public bandwidth usage.
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Billing example:
The following table describes how you are charged for network usage. In the examples, ECS instances in the China (Hangzhou) region are used.
The unit prices are provided only for reference. The prices on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page shall prevail.
Billing method | Bandwidth billing mode | Purchase configuration example | Fee (USD) |
Subscription (subscription instances) | Pay-by-bandwidth |
| The fee is calculated by using the following formula: Fee = Unit price of public bandwidth × Subscription duration. In this example, the fee is USD 6.8: 6.8 × 1 = 6.8 |
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Pay-as-you-go (pay-as-you-go or preemptible instances) | Pay-by-bandwidth |
| The fee is calculated by using the following formula: Fee = Unit price of public bandwidth × Usage duration. In this example, the fee is USD 8.64: 0.012 × (24 × 30) = 8.64 |
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Pay-by-traffic billing
Billing rules: You are charged based on the linear pricing of the amount of data transferred to the Internet (unit: GB). If the amount of data transferred to the Internet is less than 1 GB, you are charged based on the actual amount of transferred data. The fees are separately charged from ECS instance fees. Use the following formula to calculate pay-by-traffic network usage fees: Unit price of Internet data transfers × Amount of data transferred to the Internet. For more information about the public bandwidth prices in different regions, see the Bandwidth Price tab on the Elastic Compute Service pricing page.
Billing method: Only pay-as-you-go is supported. Pay-as-you-go is a postpaid billing method. Fees are automatically deducted from your Alibaba Cloud account. Fees are calculated on a per-second basis, and a consumption detail is generated at the beginning of each hour. (This billing method is used regardless of whether the instance is billed on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis.)
Billing example:
The following table describes how you are charged for network usage. In the examples, ECS instances in the China (Hangzhou) region are used.
The unit prices are provided for reference only. The prices on the Pricing tab of the ECS product page prevail.
Billing method | Bandwidth billing mode | Purchase configuration example | Fee (USD) |
Pay-as-you-go (regardless of the instance billing method) | Pay-by-traffic |
| The fee is calculated by using the following formula: Fee = Unit price of Internet data transfers × Amount of data transferred to the Internet. In this example, the fee is USD 0.123: 0.123 × 1 = 0.123 |
Cost optimization:
To reduce the fees for public bandwidth that uses the Pay-by-traffic billing method, you can purchase a General Data Transfer Plan or activate Cloud Data Transfer (CDT).
The General Data Transfer Plan is a data package that is easy to use and cost-effective. After you purchase a General Data Transfer Plan, it immediately takes effect and automatically offsets the data transfer costs of multiple cloud services that use the pay-by-traffic billing method until the General Data Transfer Plan is used up or expires.
CDT provides an efficient and cost-effective method for managing network usage costs. CDT supports flexible billing, free data transfer quotas, tiered pricing, and centralized billing for multiple Alibaba Cloud services. Compared with the pay-by-traffic billing method, CDT provides specific discounts. For more information, see What is Cloud Data Transfer (CDT).
After you upgrade to CDT, the fees are billed by Cloud Data Transfer instead of Elastic Compute Service (ECS).
How to activate CDT
You can upgrade the static public bandwidth that uses the Pay-by-traffic billing method to the CDT billing method in the following ways.
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Starting 00:00:00 on December 12, 2024, you can use CDT without the need to activate CDT.
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After you activate CDT, CDT allocates you a quota on free Internet data transfers of 200 GB per month. Among the 200 GB of free Internet data transfers, 20 GB can be used in global regions, including regions in the Chinese mainland, and the other 180 GB can be used only in regions outside the Chinese mainland.
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Activate CDT in the Cloud Data Transfer (CDT) console. For more information, see Activate CDT.
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When the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) product displays Upgraded, the static public bandwidth that uses the Pay-by-traffic billing method is upgraded to CDT.
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The fees for static public IP addresses that use the pay-by-bandwidth billing method and are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis cannot be offset by a General Data Transfer Plan.
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If you use a General Data Transfer Plan and upgrade to CDT, only the data transfers in the first tier (0 to 10 TB) of CDT can be offset by the General Data Transfer Plan. The free Internet data transfers provided by CDT are not affected.
Query bills for static public bandwidth
You can go to the User Center to view the network usage bills and billing details of your ECS instances that use static public IP addresses.
Perform the following steps:
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Log on to the Expenses and Costs console.
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In the left-side navigation pane, select .
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Select the corresponding tab and filter the product name by Elastic Compute Service (ECS) to view the bills for network usage.
NoteIf you have upgraded to CDT, filter the product name by Cloud Data Transfer.
Change the billing method for static public bandwidth
If the current billing method for network usage does not meet your requirements, you can change the billing method for network usage of an ECS instance that uses a static public IP address from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic or vice versa.
For more information about how to change the billing method for network usage of a subscription instance or a pay-as-you-go instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic, see Change from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic.
For more information about how to change the billing method for network usage of a subscription instance or a pay-as-you-go instance from pay-by-traffic to pay-by-bandwidth, see Change from pay-by-traffic to pay-by-bandwidth.
Unsubscribe from static public bandwidth
If you no longer need to use static public bandwidth, you can release the static public IP address by setting the static public bandwidth value to 0 Mbit/s. This way, you can unsubscribe from the bandwidth of a subscription instance or stop the billing of the bandwidth of a pay-as-you-go instance. This method is applicable to both billing methods. For more information, see Modify the bandwidth of a subscription instance with static public bandwidth.
When you unsubscribe from the public bandwidth of a subscription instance that uses a static public IP address and the pay-by-bandwidth billing method for network usage, you receive a refund. The refund amount is the paid amount minus the consumed amount. The paid amount is the actual amount that you paid for the public bandwidth of the instance, excluding the amount that is deducted by using coupons or vouchers. For more information about the refund amount, see Resource downgrade refund.
Overdue payments for static public bandwidth
If you do not have sufficient funds in your Alibaba Cloud account, including the account balance, vouchers, and credits, to complete a payment, the payment becomes overdue.
After the account is overdue, for subscription instances, you can still use the existing subscription ECS resources, but you cannot perform operations involving fees, such as purchasing new instances, upgrading, or renewing instances. For pay-as-you-go instances, the static public IP address is retained for 15 days after the overdue payment. If the instance had the default shutdown-saving pattern enabled before shutdown, the public IP address may be revoked after the instance is shut down due to overdue payment, and the public IP address may change upon restart. After the 15-day grace period, the static public IP address is released.
If your account has overdue payments, pay-as-you-go ECS instances may be stopped. To prevent overdue payments from affecting your services, we recommend that you complete the overdue payments at the earliest opportunity. You can log on to the Expenses and Costs console. On the top notification bar of the Account Overview page, click the Pay Now button to complete the overdue payments as prompted.