Elastic Compute Service:Billing FAQ

Why am I unable to purchase pay-as-you-go instances?

You may be unable to purchase pay-as-you-go instances due to one of the following reasons:

• You have not completed real-name verification. To purchase ECS instances within a region inside the Chinese mainland, you must complete real-name verification.
• The number of vCPUs to be consumed by the selected pay-as-you-go instance type exceeds the remaining vCPU quota for the instance type within your account.
• Currently, resources for the selected instance type are unavailable for purchase within the selected region. Try again later or go to the ECS Instance Types Available for Each Region page to view instance types available in each region.

How are invoices issued for pay-as-you-go instances?

You can apply for invoices for your pay-as-you-go instances. A single invoice is provided based on your monthly statement. Go to the Billing Management console to apply for invoices.

How is the refundable amount for an instance configuration downgrade calculated?

Remaining value: Alibaba Cloud linearly amortizes the value of each subscription ECS instance over its subscription period. The value of each subscription instance diminishes over time. The value that a subscription instance has is its remaining value. If you cancel the subscription for an instance that has been in use for a period of time, the remaining value of the instance can be refunded to you. For example, assume that you purchased a 30-day subscription instance at the price of USD 30. If you cancel the subscription for the instance after it has been in use for 10 days, the remaining value of the instance of USD 20 will be refunded to you.

When you used a currency other than USD to pay for the instance during purchase, the amount on the instance purchase order was converted to your payment currency at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment. Therefore, this exchange rate will be considered during the calculation of the instance remaining value. As opposed to the price difference-based method, the ratio-based method ensures that refunds are made based on the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment. This prevents the amounts refunded for instance configuration downgrades from being affected by fluctuations in the exchange rate.

The following examples demonstrate how to use the ratio-based method to calculate the refundable amount in MYR for instance configuration downgrades:

• Example 1: The configurations of a new instance are downgraded after it has been in use for a period of time.
  Assume that on the first day of a calendar month, you placed an order to purchase a 30-day subscription instance (Instance A) and the order amount was USD 30. The MYR to USD exchange rate was 1:10 at the time of your purchase, and you paid MYR 300 in total. On the 11th day of the calendar month, you initiate a configuration downgrade for the instance. The price of the new instance configurations is USD 0.5/day. The refundable amount for the downgrade is calculated in the following steps:

  1. Calculate the remaining value M of Instance A.

     M = MYR 300 × (30 days -10 days)/30 days = MYR 200

  2. Calculate the refund ratio R.

     R = (USD 1/day - USD 0.5/day)/USD 1/day = 1/2

  3. Calculate the refundable amount.

     Refundable amount = M × R = MYR 200 × 1/2 = MYR 100

  In this example, Alibaba Cloud will refund MYR 100 for the instance configuration downgrade.

• Example 2: The configurations of a new instance were upgraded after it had been in use for a period of time, and are downgraded after another period of time.
  Assume that on the first day of a calendar month, you placed an order to purchase a 30-day subscription instance (Instance B) and the order amount was USD 30. The MYR to USD exchange rate was 1:10 at the time of your purchase. You paid MYR 300 in total. On the 11th day of the calendar month, you upgraded the configurations of instance. The price of the new instance configurations was USD 2/day. The MYR to USD exchange rate was 1:11 at the time of upgrade. You paid the price difference P between the original and new instance configurations. The following formula is used to calculate P: P = (USD 2/day - USD 1/day) × (30 days - 10 days) × 11 = MYR 220. On the 21st day of the calendar month, you initiate a configuration downgrade for the instance. The price of the new instance configurations is USD 0.5/day. The refundable amount is calculated in the following manner:

  1. Calculate the remaining value M of Instance B.
     The configurations of the instance were upgraded. Therefore, the remaining value of the instance consists of the remaining value M1 from instance purchase and the remaining value M2 from the configuration upgrade. The following formulas are used to calculate M1 and M2:

     • M1 = USD 30 × (30 days -20 days)/30 days × 10 = MYR 100
     • M2 = USD 20 × (20 days -10 days)/20 days × 11 = MYR 110

     M = M1 + M2 = MYR 210

  2. Calculate the refund ratio R.

     R = (USD 2/day - USD 0.5/day)/USD 2/day = 3/4

  3. Calculate the refundable amount.

     Refundable amount = M × R = M1 × R + M2 × R = MYR 100 × 3/4 + MYR 110 × 3/4 = MYR 157.5

  In this example, Alibaba Cloud will refund MYR 157.5 for the instance configuration downgrade.

Why is the actual refundable amount for an instance configuration downgrade less than that I expected?

If you purchased the instance at a discounted rate or if the instance price changed before the downgrade, the actual refundable amount may be less than that you expected.

For example, assume that you purchased a 30-day subscription instance at the price of USD 1/day, and that the MYR to USD exchange rate was 1:10 at the time of your purchase. You paid MYR 300 for the instance. 10 days later, you initiate a configuration downgrade for the instance, and the price of the new instance configurations is USD 0.5/day. The refundable amount is MYR 100 as calculated based on the original price of USD 1/day. However, if you purchased the instance at a discounted rate or if the instance price changed before the downgrade, the actual refundable amount is calculated based on the non-discounted or new instance price. For example, assume that the instance price has changed to USD 0.7/day before the downgrade. The refundable amount is calculated in the following steps:

1. Calculate the remaining value M of Instance A.

   M = MYR 300 × (30 days -10 days)/30 days = MYR 200

2. Calculate the refund ratio R.

   R = (USD 0.7/day - USD 0.5/day)/USD 1/day = 1/5

3. Calculate the refundable amount.

   Refundable amount = M × R = MYR 200 × 1/5 = MYR 40

In this example, the actual refundable amount is MYR 40 instead of MYR 100.

What is a savings plan?

A savings plan is a discount plan that allows you to receive pay-as-you-go billing discounts in exchange for a commitment to use a consistent amount (measured in USD/hour) of resources over a one-year or three-year period. After you purchase a savings plan, the hourly bills of your pay-as-you-go instances are covered up to the amount of the plan. For more information, see Overview.

What are the advantages of savings plans?

• Flexible in price and payment: Savings plans are available for purchase for as little as one cent and have no price limits. Savings plans can be paid in installments to minimize the impact on your cash flow.
• Cost-effective: Savings plans can significantly reduce costs and provide discounts on pay-as-you-go resources as great as 76% off.
• Easy to manage: A single savings plan can be applied to pay-as-you-go ECS instances or elastic container instances across different regions, instance types, and accounts.

What is the hourly commitment of a savings plan?

When you purchase a savings plan, you commit to a usage duration and an amount of expense. The hourly commitment is the minimum amount of resources (measured in USD) that you commit to use per hour. Each hour when hourly bills are generated, the charges for the amount of resources that you committed to in the savings plan are discounted. If you select the Partial Upfront payment option for your savings plan, you must pay 50% of your hourly commitment when your hourly bill is less than your hourly commitment. If you select the No Upfront payment option for your savings plan, you must pay 100% of your hourly commitment when your hourly bill is less than your hourly commitment. For information about how to select an appropriate hourly commitment, see Purchase and apply savings plans.

When the number of instances to which a savings plan can be applied is not a whole number, how does the savings plan work?

Assume that your savings plan can be applied to 38.22 instances per hour. If you have 39 running instances, the hourly fees for 38 of your instances are fully covered by your savings plan. For one of your instances, 22% of the hourly fees are covered by your savings plan, and the remaining 78% of the hourly fees are paid at regular pay-as-you-go rates. If you have 38 running instances, the coverage for 0.22 instance per hour is wasted in this savings plan.

What are the types of savings plans?

General-purpose savings plans can be used more flexibly than ECS compute savings plans, but ECS compute savings plans offer higher discounts and cost savings. For more information, see Savings plan types.

What are the payment options of a savings plan?

Savings plans support three payment options: All Upfront, Partial Upfront, and No Upfront. The discount that you can obtain varies based on your specified duration and payment option. You can obtain the maximum discount when you purchase a three-year all upfront savings plan. The following combinations of different durations and payment options are ranked based on their discounts from largest to smallest: three-year partial upfront > three-year no upfront > one-year all upfront > one-year partial upfront > one-year zero upfront. For more information, see Savings plans.

Where do I view the recommendation and buy pages for a savings plan?

• Method 1:

  You can directly access the Savings plan buy page to purchase a savings plan. You can also go to the Savings plan purchase recommendation page to obtain recommendations. Appropriate savings plans are recommended based on your selected conditions such as historical consumption of a specified period of time, savings plan type, and payment option.

• Method 2

  Go to the ECS console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Instances & Images > Savings Plan.

How do I query the discount offered in a savings plan?

You can go to the Discount Details page to query the discount offered in a savings plan.

How do I query the cost savings provided by a savings plan?

You can go to the Overview tab on the Savings Plan page to view the cost savings provided by a savings plan, including the total, annual, and monthly saving amounts.

Can I have multiple savings plans in effect at the same time?

Yes, you can purchase and use multiple savings plans at the same time. The system automatically selects the optimal savings plan to apply.

Can I purchase reserved instances if I have purchased savings plans?

Yes, you can purchase both reserved instances and savings plans at the same time. However, reserved instances take precedence over savings plans to offset the bills of pay-as-you-go instances.

Can I purchase SCUs if I have purchased savings plans?

Yes, you can purchase both SCUs and savings plans at the same time. However, SCUs have a higher priority than savings plans when they are applied to pay-as-you-go instances.

Do savings plans provide reserved resources?

No, savings plans do not provide reserved resources. No resources are specified when you purchase savings plans.

Can savings plans be applied to preemptible instances?

No, savings plans cannot be applied to preemptible instances.

What happens if my savings plans expire?

When your savings plans expire, the discounts provided by your savings plans are no longer applicable. Your eligible pay-as-you-go instances are billed at their regular prices. The pay-as-you-go instances to which your savings plans have already been applied are not released. The expiration of savings plans does not affect your business.

What do I do if the billing method of an instance cannot be changed from subscription to pay-as-you-go?

You may be unable to change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go due to one of the following reasons:

• The instance is in a state that does not support billing method changes. For example, you have an unpaid order for the instance.
• The instance is in the Expired state.
• Billing method changes are not allowed because instance information has been changed. For example, the bandwidth of the instance has been temporarily upgraded.

If one of the preceding errors is reported, adjust the instance accordingly. If the problem persists, submit a ticket.

Why am I prompted with an overdue payment when my subscription instances have not expired?

After you purchase subscription instances, if you use resources that are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, such as snapshots and pay-by-traffic public bandwidth, you are charged for the resources separately from the instances. When your account balance is insufficient to pay for the due pay-as-you-go charges, the payment becomes overdue. You can view your consumption details to check whether you have outstanding pay-as-you-go bills. For more information, see View billing details.

How is the billable time of a pay-as-you-go instance calculated? For example, if I created a pay-as-you-go ECS instance at 01:30:00 of December 12, 2019 and released it at 02:00:00 of December 12, 2019, was the instance billed for a 30-minute or 1-hour period?

Pay-as-you-go instances are billed in 1-second increments. Payments are made every hour on the hour. The billable time of pay-as-you-go instances is automatically calculated. For example, if you created a pay-as-you-go instance at 01:30:00 of December 12, 2019 and released it at 02:00:00 of December 12, 2019, the hour from 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 is a billing cycle. The billable time is 1,800 seconds, which is calculated based on the following formula: (30 minutes) × 60 = 1800 seconds.

After a pay-as-you-go instance is stopped manually or due to an overdue payment, am I still charged for it?

Stopped due to an overdue payment: When a payment becomes overdue in your account, your pay-as-you-go instance is automatically stopped and billing for the instance stops. Instances do not always remain in the Stopped state after they are stopped due to overdue payments. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

What do I do if an order cannot be placed to change the billing method of an instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription?

If one of the preceding errors is reported, adjust the instance accordingly.

How long after an order is paid does it take to change the billing method of an instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription?

The billing method of your instance is changed after the order is paid. It can take up to 4 seconds to change the billing method of 20 instances. After the change is complete, you can see that the billing method of your instance has been changed to Subscription in the ECS console.

What do I do if the billing method of an instance cannot be changed from pay-as-you-go to subscription?

To resolve this problem, submit a ticket.

When I change the billing method of an instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription, does the billing method for network usage of the instance also change?

No, the billing method for network usage of the instance does not change. Only the billing method of instances and disks can be changed from pay-as-you-go to subscription. For information about how to change the billing method for network usage, see Overview of instance configuration changes.

I have an unpaid order to change the billing method of an instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription. If I upgrade the configurations of the instance, is the order still valid?

An order is created when you change the billing method of your instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription. You must pay for the order to complete the change. If you upgrade the configurations of the instance before the order is paid, the order payment cannot be completed because the instance components are different and the original order no longer matches. If you still want to change the billing method of your instance, you must cancel the unpaid order and place a new order.

Why am I unable to change a pay-as-you-go instance into a subscription one?

What ECS instances support the economical mode?

For more information, see Economical mode.

Can I retain the compute and network resources of a stopped pay-as-you-go instance after I enable the economical mode?

After you enable the economical mode, you still can configure whether to trigger the economical mode for a pay-as-you-go instance when you stop the instance. If the economical mode is not triggered for a pay-as-you-go instance when the instance is stopped, the compute and network resources of the instance are not released.

If you only need to stop a pay-as-you-go instance for a few minutes and then start it again, we recommend that you perform one of the following operations to stop the economical mode from being triggered: Call the StopInstance operation with StoppedMode set to KeepCharging, or set Stop Mode to Standard Stop Mode when you stop the instance from the ECS console.

Can the economical mode be triggered for ECS instances that are stopped from within their operating systems?

Do instances that are equipped with local storage support the economical mode?

No, instances that are equipped with local storage do not support the economical mode.

When I attempted to immediately start an instance after it is stopped in economical mode, an OperationConflict error was reported. Why?

When the economical mode is triggered for an instance, the compute resources (CPUs and memory) and public IP address of the instance are recycled.

If you only need to stop a pay-as-you-go instance for a few minutes and then start it again, we recommend that you perform one of the following operations to stop the economical mode from being triggered: Call the StopInstance operation with StoppedMode set to KeepCharging, or set Stop Mode to Standard Stop Mode when you stop the instance from the ECS console.

When I called the StartInstance operation to start an instance in economical mode, an OperationDenied.NoStock error was reported. Why?

When an instance is stopped in economical mode, its compute resources are recycled. If available resources are insufficient, an OperationDenied.NoStock error is reported when you attempt to start the instance. We recommend that you try again later.

When I stopped an instance, I set Stop Mode to Economical Mode (Formerly Known as No Fees for Stopped Instances Mode). Then, the instance was stopped in economical mode. When I started the instance again, its public IP address changed. How do I prevent the IP address from changing?

When an instance is stopped in economical mode, its public IP address is recycled. When the instance is started again, it is assigned a new public IP address.

Can I release ECS instances on my own?

Yes, you can manually release or schedule the automatic release of pay-as-you-go instances. However, you cannot release subscription instances on your own.

If you have further questions, submit a ticket.

When I attempt to change the billing method of a disk in an instance, an error message is returned indicating that I have already changed the billing method three times. What does this mean?

Each ECS instance can have its configurations downgraded up to three times. Downgrade operations include downgrades of instance specifications, bandwidth downgrades, and the change of the disk billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

Why has a pay-as-you-go bill been generated for my instance? What are the charges on the bill?

Why am I unable to change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go?

Your ECS usage determines whether the billing method of your subscription instances can be changed to pay-as-you-go. Before you change the billing method of a subscription instance, make sure that the instance is in the Running or Stopped state.

Do I need to pay for Red Hat images when I use them to create ECS instances?

Yes, you must pay for Red Hat images when you use them to create ECS instances. Red Hat images are paid images. For pricing details, visit the ECS pricing page.

How are ESSDs billed?

ESSDs support the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods. For more information, see the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

How do I purchase a standard SSD? What are the pricing options for I/O optimized instances and standard SSDs?

For more information about pricing, see the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

How is a separately created pay-as-you-go data disk billed?

Pay-as-you-go data disks are billed on an hourly basis. If your account balance is insufficient, the services provided by the data disks are suspended.

The snapshots from which existing disks or custom images were created are retained 15 days after a payment becomes overdue. Do I continue to be charged for these snapshots, which will cause the overdue amount to increase?

No, you do not continue to be charged for the snapshots.

For example, assume that you have an overdue payment of USD 0.1. After the 15-day retention period ends, the snapshots from which no existing disks or custom images were created are deleted, whereas snapshots from which existing disks or custom images were created are retained and no longer billed. To use these retained snapshots, you need only to settle the overdue payment.

How am I billed for the network usage of ECS instances?

For more information about billing for the network usage of ECS instances, see Public bandwidth.

How is the inbound and outbound traffic of pay-as-you-go instances billed?

Traffic between ECS instances or between ECS instances and other Alibaba Cloud services within the same VPC is free of charge. Traffic between ECS instances and the Internet is billed based on the following rules:

• Inbound Internet traffic is free of charge. Inbound Internet traffic refers to traffic from the Internet to ECS instances, such as traffic generated when you download resources from the Internet to your ECS instances or when your users upload resources to your ECS instances by using an FTP client.
• Outbound Internet traffic is billed. Outbound Internet traffic refers to traffic from ECS instances to the Internet, such as traffic generated when your ECS instances provide external access or when your users download internal resources from your ECS instances by using an FTP client.

For more information about bandwidth billing, see Public bandwidth.

What is the difference between the pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-traffic billing methods?

If you select pay-by-bandwidth as the billing method for network usage, you are charged based on the specified bandwidth. Your actual outbound bandwidth will not exceed the specified bandwidth.

If you select pay-by-traffic as the billing method for network usage, you are charged based on actual data transfers. To prevent out-of-control fees caused by traffic bursts, you can set a maximum bandwidth for outbound Internet traffic.

For more information, see Public bandwidth.

Why does a price difference exist after I change the billing method for network usage from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic for an auto-assigned public IP address, convert the auto-assigned public IP address to an EIP, and then change the billing method of the EIP from pay-as-you-go to subscription?

After you change the billing method for network usage of an instance that uses an auto-assigned public IP address from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic, you are charged for the network usage of the instance based on the amount of traffic sent to the Internet. If you convert the auto-assigned public IP address to an EIP by performing the operations described in Convert the public IP address of an instance in a VPC to an EIP and then change the billing method of the EIP from pay-as-you-go to subscription by performing the operations described in Switch between metering methods, a different between the prices may be present because you purchased the instance at a discounted rate and no discounts are provided when you change the billing method of the EIP from pay-as-you-go to subscription.

Can I adjust the specified maximum bandwidth?

Yes, you can adjust the specified maximum bandwidth. For more information, see Overview of instance configuration changes.

Will I be charged for the traffic generated by ECS instances under attack?

You will not be charged for the inbound Internet traffic generated by ECS instances under attack, but will be charged for the outbound Internet traffic.

We recommend that you use Security Center to reinforce the security of ECS instances.

Can I select the pay-by-traffic billing method for network usage when I purchase a subscription instance?

Yes, you can select the pay-by-traffic billing method for network usage when you purchase a subscription instance. For more information, see Create an instance by using the wizard.

For more information about the pay-by-traffic billing method, visit the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

How am I charged when I select the pay-by-traffic billing method for network usage?

Pay-by-traffic is a pay-as-you-go billing method in which fees are charged based on the actual amount of data transferred. Payments are settled every hour on the hour. To keep services running properly, make sure that your account balance is sufficient. To prevent out-of-control fees caused by traffic bursts, you can set a maximum bandwidth for traffic.

Can I change the billing method for network usage of a subscription instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic?

Yes, you can change the billing method for network usage of a subscription instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic by using the bandwidth downgrade feature. However, you can make this change only a limited number of times. For more information, see Modify the bandwidth configurations of subscription instances.

You can also use the renewal and configuration downgrade feature to change the billing method for network usage. The new configurations do not take effect until the next subscription period starts. For more information, see Downgrade the configurations of an instance during renewal.

Can I adjust the maximum bandwidth for an ECS instance at any time?

Yes, you can use the bandwidth downgrade feature to adjust the maximum bandwidth for an ECS instance at any time. After you set the maximum bandwidth to a smaller value, the new value takes effect immediately. A maximum of three refunds can be made for each instance. Exercise caution when you downgrade the configurations of an instance.

If you downgraded the configurations of a subscription instance when you renewed it, you cannot upgrade or downgrade the instance configurations again until the new subscription period starts.

If the pay-by-traffic billing method is used for a subscription instance, can the instance continue to use the public bandwidth service when a payment becomes overdue due to insufficient account balance?

Overdue payments do not affect the running of subscription instances, but do cause the pay-by-traffic public bandwidth service to be stopped. After the service is stopped, the instances cannot access the Internet. You can continue to use the public bandwidth service only after you settle the overdue payment. To keep services running properly, make sure that your account balance is sufficient.

If the pay-by-traffic billing method is used for a subscription instance, will I be notified when a payment becomes overdue in my account?

Yes, you will be notified by SMS. To keep services running properly, make sure that your account balance is sufficient.

If the pay-by-traffic billing method is used for a subscription instance, can I upgrade the instance configurations after a payment becomes overdue in my account?

No, you can upgrade the instance configurations only after you settle the overdue payment.

If the pay-by-traffic billing method is used for a subscription instance, does the public bandwidth service of the instance automatically resume after I settle overdue payments?

If the public bandwidth service was stopped due to an overdue payment, the service automatically resumes when the overdue payment is settled.

How am I billed for network usage after I change the billing method for network usage of a subscription instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic?

When you change the billing method for network usage of your subscription instance from pay-by-bandwidth to pay-by-traffic, you are billed for network usage based on actual data transfers. Payments are settled every hour on the hour. For pricing details, visit the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.