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

Billable item | Description |
---|---|
Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go) |
|
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.
|
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.