What billing items does Intelligent Media Management offer? - Intelligent Media Management

This topic describes the billing items for Intelligent Media Management (IMM) and related details.

Pricing of Billing Items for Alibaba Cloud International Website

Intelligent Media Management (IMM) includes the following categories of billing items: image intelligence, metadata management, media processing, document processing, and file processing.

Important

Starting at 11:00 UTC+8 on July 28, 2025, IMM will charge for some previously free capabilities and adjust prices for certain existing billing items. For more information, see the IMM Pricing Adjustment Notice.

Image Intelligence

For detailed pricing of image intelligence billing items, see the following table.

Billing Item	Billing Item Description	Related API Operations	Related x-oss-process Operations	Price (USD)	Unit
ImageDetect	Face detection	DetectImageFaces (face detection) CompareImageFaces (face similarity comparison) SearchImageFigureCluster (query face clusters) CreateFacesSearchingTask (create a similar-face search task)	image/faces image/crop,g_face image/blur,g_face image/blur,g_faces	0.028	per 1,000 calls
	Body detection	DetectImageBodies (body detection)	image/bodies
	Vehicle detection	DetectImageCars	image/cars
ImageLabel	Image tagging	DetectImageLabels (image label detection)	image/labels	0.142	per 1,000 calls
ImageFace	Face images	CreateFacesSearchingTask (create a similar-face search task)		0.028	per 1,000 calls
ImageFaceClustering	Face clustering	CreateFigureClusteringTask (create a face clustering task) CreateFigureClustersMergingTask (create a task to merge face clusters)		7.0754717	per 1,000 calls
GenerateStory	Story generation	CreateStory (create a story)		7.0754717	per 1,000 calls
ImageMosaic	Image mosaic	AddImageMosaic (add an image mosaic)		0.0074	per 1,000 calls
ImageCropping	Smart image cropping suggestions	DetectImageCropping (detect visually optimal cropping regions)	image/crop,g_auto	0.1415094	per 1,000 calls
ImageQRCodes	QR code detection in images	DetectImageCodes (QR code detection)	image/codes	0.1132075	per 1,000 calls
ImageSplicing	Image stitching	CreateImageSplicingTask (create an image stitching task)		0.745 for output resolution less than 6000 × 4000 2.234 for output resolution greater than 6000 × 4000	per 1,000 calls
ImageToPDF	Image to PDF conversion	CreateImageToPDFTask (create an image-to-PDF task)		0.0074	per 1,000 images
ImageScoring	Image quality scoring	DetectImageScore (image quality scoring)	image/scoring	0.0424528	per 1,000 calls
LocationDateClustering	Spatiotemporal clustering	CreateLocationDateClusteringTask (create a spatiotemporal clustering task)		Free during limited period	per 1,000 calls
SimilarImageClustering	Image clustering	CreateSimilarImageClusteringTask (create a similar-image clustering task)		Free during limited period	per 1,000 calls
Blindwatermark	Blind watermarking for images	EncodeBlindWatermark (add a blind watermark) CreateDecodeBlindWatermarkTask (create a blind watermark decoding task)	image/blindwatermark image/deblindwatermark	0.0990566	per 1,000 calls
ReverseGeocoding	Reverse geocoding	DetectMediaMeta (retrieve media file metadata) Note Charged only when the media file contains geographic location information.		0.1415094	per 1,000 calls
ImageTexts	Optical character recognition (OCR) for images	DetectImageTexts (perform OCR on images)		7.0754717	per 1,000 calls

Metadata Management

For detailed pricing of metadata management billing items, see the following table.

Billing Item	Billing Item Description	Related API Operations	Related x-oss-process Operations	Price (USD)	Unit
StandardQueryL0	Basic queries	GetFileMeta (retrieve file metadata) DeleteFileMeta (delete file metadata) UpdateFileMeta (update file metadata) BatchDeleteFileMeta (batch delete file metadata) GetFigureCluster (retrieve face cluster information) UpdateFigureCluster (Updates the figure clustering) UpdateStory (update a story) GetStory (retrieve story information) DeleteStory (delete a story) UpdateLocationDateCluster (update spatiotemporal clusters) DeleteLocationDateCluster (delete spatiotemporal clusters)	task/get	0.001	per 1,000 calls
StandardQueryL1	Standard queries	BatchGetFileMeta (batch retrieve file metadata) BatchUpdateFileMeta (batch update file metadata) ListFaceGroups (list face groups in a media set) AddStoryFiles (add files to a story) QueryStories (query stories) RemoveStoryFiles (remove files from a story) QueryFigureClusters (query figure clusters) QueryLocationDateClusters (query spatiotemporal clusters)		0.002	per 1,000 calls
StandardQueryL2	Advanced queries	SimpleQuery (simple query) FuzzyQuery (fuzzy query)		0.074	per 1,000 calls
MediaMeta	Retrieve media information	DetectMediaMeta (retrieve media file metadata) GetMediaMeta (retrieve media file metadata)	audio/info video/info	0.1415094	per 1,000 calls
SemanticAnalyze	Semantic analysis	SemanticQuery (natural language query)		0.52	per 1,000 calls

Media Processing

For detailed pricing of media processing billing items, see the following table.

Billing Item	Billing Item Description	Related API Operations	Related x-oss-process Operations	Price (USD)	Unit
AudioCompress	Audio transcoding	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	audio/concat audio/compress	0.0000141509	per second of audio
VideoCompressCopy	Container format conversion	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)		0.00001433525	Videos per second
VideoCompress264LD	H.264-LD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0000509434	per second of video
VideoCompress264SD	H.264-SD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0000707547	per second of video
VideoCompress264HD	H.264-HD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0001273585	per second of video
VideoCompress2642K	H.264-2K transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0002830189	per second of video
VideoCompress2644K	H.264-4K transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0006367925	per second of video
VideoCompress265LD	H.265-LD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0002122642	per second of video
VideoCompress265SD	H.265-SD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0003537736	per second of video
VideoCompress265HD	H.265-HD transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0007075472	per second of video
VideoCompress2652K	H.265-2K transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0011320755	per second of video
VideoCompress2654K	H.265-4K transcodingNote*	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/concat video/convert	0.0022641509	per second of video
MediaAnimation	Video to GIF conversion	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/animation	Basic format: 0.012 Advanced format: 0.074	Thousands of Frames
ExtractSubtitleText	Text subtitle extraction from videos	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)		0.223	per 1,000 streams
ExtractSubtitleImage	Image subtitle extraction from videos	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)		0.015	thousand frames
VideoFraming	Video snapshot	CreateMediaConvertTask (create a media transcoding task)	video/snapshots video/sprite	0.015	Thousand Frames
VideoClassification	Video label detection	CreateVideoLabelClassificationTask (create a media transcoding task)		7.0754717	per 1,000 calls
LiveTranscoding	Real-time transcodingNote*	GenerateVideoPlaylist (generate a real-time transcoding playlist)	hls/m3u8 hls/ts	0.0000141509	CountUnit

Document Processing

For detailed pricing of document processing billing items, see the following table.

Important

Projects created before December 1, 2023 for online preview or online editing are billed based on the number of times documents are opened. Projects created on or after December 1, 2023 are billed based on the number of API calls.

Billing Item	Billing Item Description	Related API Operations	Related x-oss-process Operations	Price (USD)	Unit
DocumentConvert	Document conversion	CreateOfficeConversionTask (create a document conversion task)	doc/convert doc/snapshot	11.3207547	per 1,000 calls
DocumentConvert	Document text extraction	ExtractDocumentText (extract document text)		11.3207547	per 1,000 calls
DocumentWebofficeEdit	Online editing (Weboffice)Note*	GenerateWebofficeToken (obtain a Weboffice token) RefreshWebofficeToken (refresh a Weboffice token)	doc/edit	2.8301887	per 1,000 calls
DocumentWebofficePreview	Online preview (Weboffice)Note*	GenerateWebofficeToken (obtain a Weboffice token) RefreshWebofficeToken (refresh a Weboffice token)	doc/preview	1.4150943	per 1,000 calls
DocumentWebofficeCachePreview	Cached preview (Weboffice)	GenerateWebofficeToken (obtain a Weboffice token) RefreshWebofficeToken (refresh a Weboffice token)		0.9905660	per 1,000 calls Important This refers to the number of API calls.

File Processing

For detailed pricing of file processing billing items, see the following table.

Billing Item	Billing Item Description	Related API Operations	Related x-oss-process Operations	Price (USD)	Unit
PointCloudCompress	Point cloud compression	CreateCompressPointCloudTask (create a point cloud compression task)	pointcloud/compress	0.03	per 1,000 calls
FileProcess	File packaging and download	CreateFileCompressionTask (create a file compression task)		0.00074	GB
FileProcess	Archive decompression	CreateFileUncompressionTask (create a decompression task)		0.00074	GB
FilePreview	Archive preview	CreateArchiveFileInspectionTask (create an archive inspection task)		0.0074	TB

Multiple billing items for the API

Note

The SemanticQuery operation incurs charges for both StandardQueryL2 and SemanticAnalyze billing items.
The CreateFacesSearchingTask operation incurs charges for both ImageDetect and ImageFace billing items.

Video transcoding details

Note

H.264 transcoding: Output video uses the H.264 encoder.
H.265 transcoding: Output video uses the H.265 encoder.
LD: Output video resolution ≤ 640 × 480
SD: Output video resolution ≤ 1280 × 720
HD: Output video resolution ≤ 1920 × 1080
2K: Output video resolution ≤ 2560 × 1440
4K: Output video resolution ≤ 3840 × 2160
Video transcoding is billed per second of video. Charges are rounded up to the nearest second. Fractions of a second are billed as one full second.

Document preview and editing billing details

Note

For projects created before December 1, 2023, online editing and online preview are billed based on the number of times documents are opened—not the number of API calls.
For projects created on or after December 1, 2023, billing is based on the number of API calls. To switch to the new billing model, simply create a new project.
In the API call billing model, each API call can be used by only one user. If reused, only the last user retains access. Access permissions for all other users are revoked.
If the Permission.Readonly parameter in the GenerateWebofficeToken operation is set to true, you are charged for document preview. If it is set to false, you are charged for online editing.
The RefreshWebofficeToken operation is billed based on the parameters used when GenerateWebofficeToken was called. If Permission.Readonly was set to true, you are charged for document preview. Otherwise, you are charged for online editing.

Real-time transcoding billing details

Note

Billing components:
- When generating a playlist, you can control the initial transcoding duration using the InitialTranscode parameter. This generates charges for LiveTranscoding.
- When playing a video, if a TS file has not been transcoded, a new transcoding job starts. This generates additional LiveTranscoding charges.
- Reading source video files from OSS and writing transcoded files back to OSS incurs charges. Playing video files directly from OSS also incurs charges. For details about OSS-related charges, see the OSS billing items.
LiveTranscoding count formula:
- Video
  - Codec eff values: h264 = 0.3, h265 = 1.8
  - Formula:
Ceiling(eff * Ceiling(Height / 240) * Ceiling(Width / 240) * Ceiling(FrameRate / 30) + 1) * Ceiling(VideoStreamDuration)
- Audio
  - eff value: 0.3
  - Formula:
Ceiling(eff * Ceiling(AudioStreamDuration))

Billing rule: Each audio or video stream specified in TargetVideo.Stream or TargetAudio.Stream is processed separately and billed individually. The following examples illustrate real-time transcoding charges.
- Example 1 (playlist generated only, no playback, no LiveTranscoding charges):
  - A user calls GenerateVideoPlaylist. The output video is 38 minutes long, with resolution 800 × 600, frame rate 30, codec h264, and initial transcoding duration 0 seconds. TranscodeAhead uses the default value. No playback occurs.
- Example 2 (playlist generated only, pre-transcoding configured, charges only for pre-transcoding):
  - A user calls GenerateVideoPlaylist. The output video is 38 minutes long, with resolution 800 × 600, frame rate 30, codec h264, and initial transcoding duration 30 seconds. TranscodeAhead uses the default value. No playback occurs.
  - Charges:
    - LiveTranscoding (CU count formula): Ceiling((0.3 * Ceiling(800 / 240) * Ceiling(600 / 240) * Ceiling(30 / 30) + 1) * Ceiling(30) + Ceiling(0.3 * Ceiling(30)) = 159 (CountUnit)
- Example 3 (playlist generated, partial playback, charges only for played segments):
  - A user calls GenerateVideoPlaylist. The output video is 38 minutes long, with resolution 800 × 600, frame rate 30, codec h264, and initial transcoding duration 0 seconds. TranscodeAhead uses the default value. The user plays the m3u8 playlist from the start, stops at minute 5 (default forward transcoding is 2 minutes), then jumps to minute 15 and plays to the end.
  - Charges:
    - LiveTranscoding (CU count formula): Ceiling((0.3 * Ceiling(800 / 240) * Ceiling(600 / 240) * Ceiling(30 / 30) + 1) * (Ceiling((5 + 2) * 60) + Ceiling((38 - 15) * 60)) + Ceiling(0.3 * Ceiling((5 + 2) * 60)) + Ceiling(0.3 * Ceiling((38 - 15) * 60)) = 9540 (CountUnit)
- Example 4 (multiple users play the same video, repeated playback incurs charges only once):
  - A user calls GenerateVideoPlaylist. The output video is 38 minutes long, with resolution 800 × 600, frame rate 30, codec h264, and initial transcoding duration 0 seconds. TranscodeAhead uses the default value.
    User A plays the m3u8 playlist from the start and stops at minute 5.
    User B plays the m3u8 playlist starting at minute 15 and plays to the end.
    User C plays the m3u8 playlist from start to finish.
  - Charges:
    - LiveTranscoding (CU count formula): Ceiling((0.3 * Ceiling(800 / 240) * Ceiling(600 / 240) * Ceiling(30 / 30) + 1) * Ceiling(38 * 60) + Ceiling(0.3 * Ceiling(38 * 60)) = 12084 (CountUnit)

Term definitions:
- Width: Width of the output video resolution
- Height: Height of the output video resolution
- FrameRate: Video frame rate
- VideoStreamDuration: Duration of the video stream
- AudioStreamDuration: Duration of the audio stream
- eff: CU coefficient
- Ceiling(x) function: Returns the smallest integer value greater than or equal to x.

Operator and billing item mapping

When you create metadata indexes by attaching an OSS bucket or calling IndexFileMeta or BatchIndexFileMeta, executing the operators in Mapping between workflow templates and operators incurs fees for data processing, index storage, and OSS requests. OSS request fees are charged by OSS. For more information, see OSS request fees. The mapping between operators and billing items is as follows:

Operator	Billing Item	Billed by
OSSMeta operator	GetRequest	OSS
MIME operator	No charge	None
FaceDetection operator	ImageFaceNote*	IMM
LabelClassification operator (image)	ImageClassificationNote*	IMM
LabelClassification operator (video)	VideoClassification	IMM
ImageScoring operator	ImageScoringNote*	IMM
ReGEO operator	ReverseGeocoding	IMM
MediaMeta operator	MediaMeta	IMM
EXIF operator	GetRequest	OSS
ExtractDocumentText operator	DocumentConvert	IMM
ExtractImageEmbeddings operator	Free during limited period	IMM

Important

To process various image formats, IMM uses the image processing capabilities of Object Storage Service (OSS) to perform operations such as format conversion and image scaling one or more times. These operations incur corresponding fees, which are charged by OSS. For more information about these fees, see Data processing fees.

External request fees

Using Intelligent Media Management (IMM) to access OSS incurs OSS request fees. For more information, see Request fees.