Overview - Billing| Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

Billable resources and their billing methods

An ECS instance includes the computing resources (vCPUs and memory), an image, and Elastic Block Storage (EBS) devices. The following table describes the billable resources.


Resource	Description	Billing method	References
Computing resource (vCPUs and memory)	You are charged based on the instance type. The instance type determines the number of vCPUs and the size of memory that you can use.	Subscription Pay-as-you-go Pay-as-you-go and reserved instance Preemptible instance Pay-as-you-go and savings plan	Instance types
Image	Image fees are determined based on the image type and your usage.	Subscription Pay-as-you-go Pay-as-you-go and reserved instance Note Images can be used only along with ECS instances. Reserved Windows instances already include public images at no additional cost and can cover public image charges.	Images
EBS device (cloud disk or local disk)	Disk fees are determined based on the disk capacity and usage duration. Note Local disks are tied to specific instance types and cannot be separately purchased. Prices of local disks are included in those of the instance type of instances to which the local disks are attached.	Subscription Pay-as-you-go Storage capacity unit (SCU) Pay-as-you-go and savings plan	Elastic Block Storage devices
Public bandwidth	If you use a public IP address to access the Internet, you are charged only for the outbound public bandwidth. Note You can also use an elastic IP address (EIP) or NAT gateway to access the Internet. For more information about the billing, see EIP Billing overview or NAT gateway Billing overview.	Pay-by-bandwidth Pay-by-traffic	Public bandwidth
Snapshot	Snapshot fees are determined based on the snapshot size and storage duration.	Pay-as-you-go SCU	Snapshots

Note ECS resources support the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods. You can combine different billing methods based on the ECS resource types to reduce costs. For more information, see Overview.

Change billing methods

If the billing methods of your purchased resources do not meet your business requirements, you can change the billing methods. The following table describes ECS resources whose billing methods can be changed.


Resource	Description	References
Instance	When you change the billing method of an ECS instance, the billing methods of its computing resources (vCPUs and memory) and system disk are also changed. You can change the billing method of an ECS instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go. This allows you to recover some of the subscription costs and use the instance in a more flexible manner. Note Alibaba Cloud determines whether the billing method of your instance can be changed based on your calculated ECS instance usage. You can go to the ECS console to check whether the corresponding entry point exists. If the corresponding entry point does not exist, the billing method of the instance cannot be changed. You can change the billing method of an ECS instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription. This allows you to obtain some discounts.	Change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go Change the billing method of an ECS instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription
Disk	The billing methods of data disks that are attached to a subscription instance can be separately changed. The billing methods of the system disk and data disks that are attached to a pay-as-you-go instance must be changed together with that of the instance.	Change the billing method of a disk Change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go Change the billing method of an ECS instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription
Public bandwidth	For an instance that uses a public IP address, you can change the billing method for network usage by upgrading or downgrading the instance specifications.	Change the billing method for network usage

Renewal management

When a subscription instance expires, the services provided by the instance may be affected. If you want to continue to use the instance, you must renew it within the specified period. Otherwise, instance resources such as vCPUs, memory, and disks are released and data stored on them is permanently lost. For more information about renewal, see Renewal overview.

Payment methods

You can use the following methods to pay for ECS resources:

Bank card
PayPal
After your pay-as-you-go resources begin to be billed, Alibaba Cloud pre-authorizes your PayPal account.
Paytm (India)
This payment method is available only for users in India. After your pay-as-you-go resources begin to be billed, Alibaba Cloud pre-authorizes your Paytm (India) account.

Note Coupons are used to offset your resource usage bills. No actual payments are involved.

Before you purchase ECS resources, you must bind a bank card, PayPal account, or Paytm (India) account to your Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see Add a payment method in Account Management documentation.

If you want to purchase ECS resources in the Chinese mainland, you must complete real-name verification for your account. For more information, see the How do I complete real-name registration? section in Real-name registration FAQs of Account Management documentation.

After you purchase and use ECS resources, you can view the bills and consumption details. For more information, see View billing details.