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ApsaraVideo Live:Billing of Real-Time Streaming (RTS)

Last Updated:Oct 20, 2025

Real-Time Streaming (RTS) supports the pay-by-traffic billing method. This topic describes the billing rules for the RTS service.

Billing method

Scenarios

Pay-by-traffic

This method is suitable for scenarios where traffic fluctuates greatly and is generated only during specific periods of the day. For example, traffic is generated only from 9:00 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 15:00.

Note

You can purchase subscription resource plans to offset traffic usage. Resource plans offer discounts compared to the pay-as-you-go billing method. For more information, see Resource plans overview.

Note
  • A domain name can be used for both standard streaming and Real-Time Streaming (RTS) playback. The usage of the two services is billed independently and not aggregated.

  • By default, standard streaming and RTS use the same billing method, either pay-by-traffic or pay-by-peak-bandwidth, but their unit prices are different.

  • The actual prices on the ApsaraVideo Live pricing (international site) page prevail.

Pay-by-traffic

  • Traffic pricing

    Traffic tiers (Unit: USD/GB)

    Chinese mainland - CN

    North America - NA

    Europe - EU

    Asia-Pacific 1 - AP1

    Asia-Pacific 2 - AP2

    Asia-Pacific 3 - AP3

    Middle East and Africa - MEAA

    South America - SA

    Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)

    0 to 10 TB (inclusive)

    0.084

    0.140

    0.140

    0.162

    0.216

    0.192

    0.400

    0.400

    0.195

    10 TB to 50 TB (inclusive)

    0.080

    0.140

    0.140

    0.162

    0.216

    0.192

    0.400

    0.400

    0.195

    50 TB to 100 TB (inclusive)

    0.074

    0.120

    0.120

    0.124

    0.188

    0.166

    0.360

    0.360

    0.149

    100 TB to 1 PB (inclusive)

    0.064

    0.060

    0.060

    0.106

    0.158

    0.140

    0.300

    0.280

    0.127

    Over 1 PB

    0.052

    0.050

    0.050

    0.096

    0.144

    0.128

    0.280

    0.260

    0.115

    Region details:

    • North America: United States, Canada.

    • Europe: Ukraine, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Germany.

    • Asia-Pacific 1: China (Hong Kong), Macao (China), Taiwan (China), Japan, and Southeast Asian countries excluding Vietnam and Indonesia.

    • Asia-Pacific 2: Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam.

    • Asia-Pacific 3: Australia, New Zealand.

    • Middle East and Africa: South Africa, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait.

    • South America: Brazil.

    • Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia.

  • Billing rules

    Item

    Details

    Usage statistics

    The total daily downstream traffic for playback is used for billing.

    Note

    The unit is GB. The conversion is based on 1024. For example, 1 TB = 1024 GB.

    Billing rules

    A progressive tiered pricing model is used for traffic in different regions. The accumulation period is a calendar month. This means that within a calendar month, if your usage reaches a specific tier, the traffic within that tier is billed at the corresponding unit price. Usage from different regions cannot be accumulated.

    Billing cycle

    You are billed daily. A bill for the previous day's usage is generated within one hour after 00:00 on the current day. The exact billing time is subject to the system. After a bill is generated, fees are automatically deducted from your account. If a resource plan is available for deduction, the usage is first offset by the resource plan.

    Billing method

    Pay-as-you-go or subscription resource plans.

  • Billing example

    • Description: A user uses the live streaming service in the Chinese mainland on June 1. The bitrate is 500 Kbps, and the live stream lasts for 2 hours. During this period, 1,000 viewers watch for 1 hour and another 1,000 viewers watch for 2 hours.

    • Calculation: Total traffic consumed = 500 Kbps / 8 × (1,000 viewers × 3,600 s + 1,000 viewers × 7,200 s) ≈ 675 GB.

      Traffic unit price = USD 0.084/GB.

    • Result:

      Bill for June 1: 675 GB × USD 0.084/GB = USD 56.70. The bill is generated within one hour after 00:00 on June 2.