MaxCompute charges fees for a project when you store data and run computing jobs in MaxCompute and download data from MaxCompute over the Internet. This topic describes the billable items and billing methods of MaxCompute and how to select a suitable billing method.

Billable items and billing methods

The following figure shows the billing details of MaxCompute. Billable items and methods at the International site (alibabacloud.com)
The following table describes the billable items and billing methods of MaxCompute.
Billable item Description
Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go)
  • Storage fees: the fees that are charged when you store data in MaxCompute. The fees are calculated by using a tiered pricing structure based on the size of data.
  • Backup storage fees: the fees that are charged when you store backup data. By default, MaxCompute automatically backs up data in your project in a day and retains the backup data for one day free of charge. The project administrator can specify a longer retention period for backup data. The backup data that is retained for more than one day is charged based on the size of data.
Computing pricing Computing fees: the fees that are charged when you use computing resources. MaxCompute supports the pay-as-you-go and subscription billing methods. The resource usage and payment of the two billing methods are independent of each other. Before you use a computing resource, you must associate the computing resource with a project.
  • Subscription: a billing method for SQL, MapReduce, Spark, and Mars jobs. You can use the resources only after you pay for computing resources.
  • Pay-as-you-go: a billing method for SQL, MapReduce, Spark, and Mars jobs.
Download pricing (pay-as-you-go) For data that you download over the Internet or across regions, you are charged based on the amount of data that is downloaded.
Note You are not charged when you import data to MaxCompute.

Billing method selection

If you use MaxCompute for the first time, we recommend that you select the pay-as-you-go billing method. To learn how to use MaxCompute, you may require only a small amount of resources. If you select the subscription billing method, the remaining CUs of the quota may be unused. In this case, the pay-as-you-go billing method is more cost-effective.