Alibaba Cloud charges you for snapshots based on the snapshot type and snapshot size by region. This topic describes the billing rules and billing cycles of Elastic Compute Service (ECS) snapshots and how to stop the billing for snapshots.
Billing rules
Billable items
Before you can create snapshots, you must activate the Snapshot service. You are not charged for activating the Snapshot service, but you are charged for the snapshots that you create. By default, manual snapshots and automatic snapshots created based on automatic snapshot policies are standard snapshots. Alibaba Cloud charges storage fees for standard snapshots based on the size and storage duration (billable duration) of the snapshots in each region.
To reduce storage costs, you can archive standard snapshots to convert them to archive snapshots. Alibaba Cloud charges storage fees for archive snapshots based on the size and storage duration (billable duration) of the snapshots in each region.
ImportantThe minimum retention period (also called minimum archive period) of archive snapshots is 60 days (1,440 hours). If you delete an archive snapshot before the minimum retention period ends, you are charged storage fees for the snapshot for the minimum retention period of 60 days.
If you use the snapshot replication feature to copy a standard snapshot from one region to another region, you are charged a data transfer fee for the snapshot replication and a storage fee for the standard snapshot copy in the destination region. Archive snapshots cannot be copied.
The following table describes the billable items and billing methods of snapshots.
Billable item | Price and billing formula | Billing method |
Standard snapshot | 
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Archive snapshot | 
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Remaining hours for archive snapshots deleted before the minimum retention period ends | 
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Note After you delete an archive snapshot, you are still charged for the snapshot during the current hour. A consumption detail is generated at the next hour. |
Data transfer for snapshot replication | 
Important When copying a snapshot, you can select the Copy and Encrypt mode to encrypt the snapshot copy using a Key Management Service (KMS) key. KMS offers server-side encryption with default keys at no extra cost. For detailed information about the billing of KMS keys, see KMS Billing. |
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Billing examples
The prices used in this example are provided only for reference. The actual prices are displayed on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.
Example 1: Create standard snapshots
If you create standard snapshots in a region, you are charged storage fees for the standard snapshots in the region.
For example, you create 100 GB of standard snapshots in the China (Hangzhou) region and the unit storage price for standard snapshots in the region is USD 0.0173 per GB-month. Formula: Storage fee for standard snapshots = Unit storage price for standard snapshots × Snapshot size × Billable duration. Hourly, daily, and monthly fees for the standard snapshots in the China (Hangzhou) region:
Hourly fee: USD 0.002403. Formula: USD 0.0173 per GB-month/30 days/24 hours × 100 GB × 1 hour.
Daily fee: USD 0.057667. Formula: USD 0.002403 × 24 hours.
Monthly fee: USD 1.73. Formula: USD 0.0173 per GB-month × 100 GB × 1 month..
Example 2: Archive snapshots
If you archive standard snapshots in a region, you are charged storage fees for the archive snapshots in the region.
For example, you archive Standard Snapshot B of 100 GB in the China (Hangzhou) region and the unit storage price for archive snapshots in the region is USD 0.0085 per GB-month. Formula: Storage fee for the archive snapshot = Unit storage price for archive snapshots × Snapshot size × Billable duration. Hourly, daily, and monthly fees for the archive snapshot in the China (Hangzhou) region:
Hourly fee: USD 0.00118. Formula: USD 0.0085 per GB-month/30 days/24 hours × 100 GB × 1 hour.
Daily fee: USD 0.02832. Formula: USD 0.00118 × 24 hours.
Monthly fee: USD 0.85. Formula: USD 0.0085 per GB-month × 100 GB × 1 month.
Example 3: An archive snapshot is deleted before the minimum retention period ends
For example, you archive Snapshot B of 100 GB in the China (Hangzhou) region and delete the archive snapshot 30 days later. You are charged storage fees for 60 days, including the actual storage duration and the remaining 30 days (720 hours). Formula: Fee for the remaining hours = Unit storage price for archive snapshots × Snapshot size × Remaining hours. The unit storage price for archive snapshots in the China (Hangzhou) region is USD 0.0085 per GB-month and the number of remaining days is 30 days (60-30). 30 days is equivalent to 720 hours (30 × 24).
The snapshot storage fee for the remaining hours in the region: USD 0.85. Formula: USD 0.0085 per GB-month/30 days/24 hours × 100 GB × (30 × 24) hours.
Example 4: Copy standard snapshots
If you create standard snapshots in a region and copy the snapshots to another region, you are charged storage fees for the standard snapshots in the source region, data transfer fees for copying the snapshots to the destination region, and storage fees for the new standard snapshots (snapshot copies) in the destination region.
For example, you create 100 GB of standard snapshots in the China (Hangzhou) region and copy the standard snapshots to the China (Qingdao) region. In this case, 100 GB of new standard snapshots (snapshot copies) are generated and retained for one month in the China (Qingdao) region. The data transfer unit price for snapshot replication from the China (Hangzhou) region to the China (Qingdao) region is USD 0.118 per GB. The unit storage price for standard snapshots in the China (Qingdao) region is USD 0.0173 per GB-month.
Fees in the China (Qingdao) region:
Data transfer fee for snapshot replication: Data transfer unit price × Snapshot size = USD 0.118 per GB × 100 GB = USD 11.8
Storage fee for the new standard snapshots: Unit storage price for standard snapshots × Snapshot size × Billable duration = USD 0.0173 per GB-month × 100 GB × 1 month = USD 1.73
Total: Data transfer fee for snapshot replication + Storage fee for the new standard snapshots = USD 11.8 + USD 1.73 = USD 13.53
Storage fee for the standard snapshots in the China (Hangzhou) region: Unit storage price for standard snapshots × Snapshot size × Billable duration = USD 0.0173 per GB-month × 100 GB × 1 month = USD 1.73
Billable durations
The billable duration of a snapshot starts on the hour when the snapshot is created and ends on the hour when the snapshot is deleted. For information about how to create a snapshot, see Create a snapshot. For information about how to delete a snapshot, see Delete a snapshot.
For example, if you create a snapshot at 11:02:06 on December 20, 2024 and delete the snapshot at 15:20:20 on December 20, 2024, the billable duration of the snapshot is 5 hours, which starts at 11:00:00 and ends at 16:00:00 on the same day.
Releasing cloud disks does not affect the billable duration of the snapshots that are created for the disks. If you enable the Delete Automatic Snapshots While Releasing Disk attribute for a cloud disk that is associated with an automatic snapshot policy, the automatic snapshots that are created based on the policy for the disk are automatically deleted when the disk is manually released or automatically released together with the instance to which the disk is attached. If the cloud disk is a system disk, the automatic snapshots of the disk are also automatically deleted when the system disk is replaced. For more information, see Configure an automatic snapshot policy for a cloud disk.
Impacts of overdue payments
If your Alibaba Cloud account has overdue payments, your Snapshot service is affected. For more information, see Overdue payments.
View snapshot bills
View the billing details of snapshots on the Bill Details page in the Expenses and Costs console.
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Bills > Bill Details.
On the Billing Details tab, set the Product Details parameter to snapshot and configure other search conditions based on your business requirements to view the billing details of snapshots in each region. For more information, see View billing details.
①: The billable item (Billing Item) on the bill generated in April 2025 for the China (Hangzhou) region is LessthanMonthDatasizeArc, which indicates that the bill includes the snapshot storage fees for the minimum retention period of 60 days in the region.
②: The billable item (Billing Item) on the bill generated for the China (Beijing) region in April 2025 is Used Capacity, which indicates that the bill includes the storage fees for standard snapshots in that region.
③: The billable item (Billing Item) on the bill generated for the China (Beijing) region in April 2025 is Cross-Region Replication, which indicates that the bill includes the data transfer fees for copying snapshots from the China (Shanghai) region to the China (Beijing) region.
④: The billable item (Billing Item) on the bill generated for the China (Hangzhou) region in April 2025 is ArcSize, which indicates that the bill includes the storage fees for archive snapshots in that region.
Reduce snapshot costs
To offset storage fees for standard snapshots, we recommend that you purchase SCUs. SCUs are more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method.
You can also retain an appropriate number of snapshots, delete snapshots that are no longer required, disable unnecessary automatic snapshot policies, and archive snapshots to reduce snapshot costs. For more information, see Optimize snapshot costs.
Stop the billing for snapshots
After you activate the Snapshot service, you cannot deactivate the service. You can stop the billing for snapshots by using the following methods:
Stop the billing for snapshots for a single instance
View the existing snapshots of all cloud disks attached to an instance in the current region, including manual and automatic snapshots, and delete the snapshots. For information about how to delete a snapshot, see Delete a snapshot.
Stop the billing for snapshots in your Alibaba Cloud account
You are charged for snapshots by region. Billing for snapshots stops only after you delete all snapshots in all regions in your Alibaba Cloud account. Find the regions in which snapshots are available and delete snapshots by region. For information about how to delete a snapshot, see Delete a snapshot.
Make sure that snapshots are no longer created
After you delete all snapshots, check and delete the applied automatic snapshot policies to ensure that automatic snapshots are no longer created based on the policies. For more information, see Delete an automatic snapshot policy.