Elastic GPU Service uses the same billing model as Elastic Compute Service (ECS). This topic covers billable items, billing methods, renewal options, refund policy, and how to handle expiration and overdue payments.
Billing methods
Each billable resource supports one or more of the following methods:
Subscription — Pay upfront for a fixed term (monthly or yearly). Best for stable, predictable workloads.
Pay-as-you-go — Pay by the second for what you use. Make sure your account has sufficient balance.
Preemptible instance — Use spare capacity at a significant discount. Instances may be reclaimed when capacity is needed.
Reserved instance — Commit to a specific instance configuration to reduce pay-as-you-go costs.
Savings plan — Commit to a consistent hourly spend to reduce costs. More flexible than reserved instances.
Storage capacity unit (SCU) — A prepaid storage package that offsets pay-as-you-go storage costs across multiple resource types.
Choosing a billing method: For GPU workloads that run continuously, subscription or reserved instances offer the most predictable cost. For intermittent or experimental workloads, pay-as-you-go gives you flexibility. Use preemptible instances for fault-tolerant, interruptible jobs where cost matters most.
For pay-as-you-go GPU-accelerated instances, enable economical mode to stop being charged for GPU resources. For details, see Economical mode.
Billable items
A GPU-accelerated instance includes computing resources (vCPUs, memory, and GPUs) and may include images, block storage devices, public bandwidth, and snapshots. The price of an instance type varies by region. For pricing details, see the pricing page.
| Billable item | Billing methods | Billing method switching | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computing resources (vCPU, memory, and GPU) | Subscription, pay-as-you-go, preemptible instance; pay-as-you-go + reserved instances or savings plans | Supported (subscription ↔ pay-as-you-go) | Instance types |
| Image | Subscription and pay-as-you-go; pay-as-you-go + reserved instances | Not supported | Images |
| Block storage device | Subscription, pay-as-you-go, SCU; pay-as-you-go + savings plans | Supported (cloud disk only) | Block storage devices |
| Public bandwidth | Pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-data-transfer | Supported (static public IP only) | Public bandwidth |
| Snapshot | Pay-as-you-go, Standard locally redundant storage (LRS) storage plan, SCU | Not supported | Snapshots |
Computing resources are charged based on the instance type, which bundles vCPUs, memory, and GPU resources together.
Images are classified into public images, custom images, shared images, and Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images. Fees vary by image type and usage duration. Windows reserved instance fees include public image fees. Images must be used with ECS instances and cannot be purchased independently.
Block storage devices include cloud disks and local disks. Cloud disk fees vary by unit price, capacity, and usage duration. Local disks are created with specific instance types and their fees are included in the instance type fee — they cannot be purchased separately.
Public bandwidth fees depend on how you access the Internet:
Static public IP address: charged for outbound bandwidth only.
Elastic IP address (EIP) or NAT gateway: must be purchased separately. See EIP billing overview and Billing of Internet NAT gateways.
Snapshots are charged for region-specific storage based on snapshot size. Copying snapshots incurs both storage and data transfer fees.
Billing method switching
| Billable item | Switch direction | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Computing resources | Subscription → pay-as-you-go | Change from subscription to pay-as-you-go |
| Computing resources | Pay-as-you-go → subscription | Change from pay-as-you-go to subscription |
| Cloud disk | Any supported direction | Change the billing method of a cloud disk |
| Public bandwidth (static public IP) | Pay-by-bandwidth ↔ pay-by-data-transfer | Change the billing method for network usage |
Renewal
Only subscription instances require renewal. For pay-as-you-go instances, no renewal is needed — keep sufficient account balance to avoid interruptions.
| Feature | When to use | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Manual renewal | Renew an instance in the ECS console before it is automatically released | Renew a subscription instance |
| Auto-renewal | Automatically renew before expiration to prevent unexpected release | Configure auto-renewal settings |
| Renewal with configuration downgrade | Downgrade instance specifications within 15 days before expiration, or after expiration but before release | Renew an instance and downgrade its configurations |
| Unified expiration date | Align expiration dates of multiple subscription instances to the same day for easier management | Synchronize expiration dates of subscription instances |
Bills
View billing details and consumption history for your ECS and EGS resources in the Expenses and CostsFor more information, see View billing details. console. For details, see Bill Query.
Expiration and overdue payments
Resource behavior after expiration or overdue payment varies by billing method. For details, see Overdue payments.
FAQ
For billing questions that arise when purchasing or using Elastic GPU Service, see FAQ about billing. To escalate an issue, submit a ticket.
For cost breakdown, cost-saving strategies, and optimization recommendations for ECS resources, see Best practices for cost optimization.