This topic describes the billable resources of Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and billing methods of these resources.
The prices of ECS resources may vary by region. For more information about ECS resource prices, see the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.
Billable resources and their billing methods
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. |
|
Instance types |
Image | Image fees are determined based on the image type and your usage. |
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
Public bandwidth |
Snapshot | Snapshot fees are determined based on the snapshot size and storage duration. |
|
Snapshots |
Change billing methods
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.
|
|
Disk |
|
|
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
- 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.
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.