This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the billing of MaxCompute.
Category | FAQ |
Billing methods | |
Storage fees | |
Computing fees | |
Download fees | |
Bill queries | |
Switching between billing methods | |
Renewal | How do I disable the auto-renewal feature if I activate a pay-as-you-go MaxCompute service? |
Resource release | |
Service deactivation |
How is MaxCompute billed?
MaxCompute provides the following billing methods:
Pay-as-you-go: You pay for the resources after you use them. Resources are shared.
Subscription: You pay for resources before you use them. Resources are exclusive.
MaxCompute uses projects as billing units. Billable items include storage, computing, and data download. The fees incurred include storage fees (billed based on the volume of stored data), computing fees (billed based on billing methods), and Internet download fees (billed based on downloaded bytes).
For more information about the billing methods of MaxCompute, see Billable items and billing methods.
Are additional fees incurred if I purchase subscription MaxCompute resources?
After you purchase subscription MaxCompute resources, you are not charged additional computing fees within the subscription duration that you select. However, if you store data or download data over the Internet during the use of MaxCompute, the system charges you based on the amount of downloaded data and the volume of stored data.
Are fees incurred if I do not perform operations in MaxCompute after I purchase MaxCompute resources?
After you purchase the MaxCompute resources, no fees are incurred if you do not download data over the Internet, store data in your MaxCompute project, or perform computing operations. If your MaxCompute project has data but data downloads over the Internet or computing operations are not performed, only storage fees are incurred.
How is data storage billed if three replicas are stored in MaxCompute?
Three replicas are stored at the cost of one replica.
Why are fees incurred for my pay-as-you-go MaxCompute project after I delete the project?
Based on the storage billing rules, if the actual data storage volume of a project is greater than 1 GB, you are charged storage fees based on the unit price USD 0.0006 per GB-day. For example, if you delete project data at 09:00 on the current day, a bill will be generated on the next day for data storage from 00:00 to 09:00 on the current day.
Are fees incurred for resources that are uploaded to MaxCompute?
Yes, fees are incurred. Data stored in MaxCompute, such as tables and resources, occupies storage space. Therefore, storage fees are incurred. MaxCompute charges you based on the volume of stored data. The billing cycle is 1 day.
For more information about storage pricing, see Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go).
After I delete several large tables in a MaxCompute project, the storage volume displayed remains unchanged. Do the incurred fees increase?
Check whether fees in your bill are normal on the next day after you delete the large tables. Bills are not synchronized in real time. In most cases, bills can be correctly displayed on the next day.
SQL statements that query different partitions incur significantly different fees. Why?
The amounts of data in partitions are different, and the fees incurred for SQL queries on the partitions are also different. You can execute the desc <table_name> partition(<pt_spec>); statement to view the partition size. For more information about how to control the computing costs of SQL jobs, see Control computing costs.
Why do the fees fluctuate significantly after I use DataWorks to backfill data?
DataWorks performs the data backfilling operation once in each scheduling cycle within the data backfilling period that you define. For example, if you want to backfill data for 30 days and the scheduling cycle is 1 day, backfilling operations are performed 30 times. As a result, the fees incurred significantly fluctuate.
Why do the fees increase after I change the scheduling cycle of a scheduling task from days to hours by using DataWorks?
After the scheduling cycle of the scheduling task is changed from days to hours, the scheduling task runs once an hour instead of once a day. The scheduling task runs more frequently than before, and the amount of data that is read increases. As a result, the fees incurred increase.
Why do the fees increase after a full table scan is run?
When a full table scan is run, the amount of input data is the size of the full table. If specific partitions are scanned, the amount of input data is only the size of the partitions. The cost of an SQL job is calculated by using the following formula: Amount of input data × Complexity × Unit price. If the complexity and unit price remain unchanged, the cost increases with the amount of input data.
Are fees incurred if my MaxCompute job fails to run?
MaxCompute provides the following billing methods:
Pay-as-you-go: If the job is run on a pay-as-you-go basis, you are not charged for the failed job.
Subscription: If the job is run based on subscription resources, no additional fees are incurred for the failed job.
Am I charged for data downloads when I use an ECS instance to download data from MaxCompute over an internal network?
You are not charged for data downloads from MaxCompute over the cloud product interconnection network or a virtual private cloud (VPC). You are charged only for data downloads over the Internet. For more information about download pricing, see Download pricing (pay-as-you-go).
What are the prepaid and postpaid fees included in a MaxCompute service bill?
A MaxCompute service bill includes two types of fees.
Prepaid fees: the computing fees that are generated when the subscription billing method is used.
Postpaid fees: If the pay-as-you-go billing method is used, the postpaid fees include computing fees, storage fees, and Internet-based data download fees. If the subscription billing method is used, the postpaid fees include storage fees and Internet-based data download fees.
The fees incurred unexpectedly increase when the configurations of my jobs remain unchanged. Why?
Find the SQL jobs that consume large amounts of resources and the running time of the SQL jobs. Then, analyze the costs and optimize the jobs by following the instructions in View billing details or Analyze the usage records of MaxCompute bills.
I have not used the pay-as-you-go feature of MaxCompute for a long period of time. Why are fees still incurred every day?
If you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, you are charged for computing, storage, and Internet-based data downloads. If no computing jobs are run or no Internet-based data downloads are performed in your MaxCompute project, check whether the project has residual data. If the residual data exists, fees are incurred for the storage of the residual data. You can view the storage usage on the Projects page.
Does the data change or service restart occur when I switch the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription?
The data change or service restart does not occur in this case. MaxCompute allows you to switch between the pay-as-you-go and subscription billing methods. However, you must activate pay-as-you-go and subscription MaxCompute resources in advance. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.
Can I switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go for my MaxCompute project? If the switching is allowed, how are fees calculated?
You can switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go. For more information, see Switch between billing methods. For more information about the pricing of pay-as-you-go resources, see Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go), Download pricing (pay-as-you-go), and Computing pricing (pay-as-you-go).
How do I disable the auto-renewal feature if I activate a pay-as-you-go MaxCompute service?
If you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, MaxCompute does not support auto-renewal. If you no longer require MaxCompute, you can delete the stored data and release storage space. This way, no fees are incurred. For more information about how to delete data, see Delete a table or a MaxCompute project.
How long is the grace period for stored data when the MaxCompute service expires or the payment of MaxCompute is overdue?
After the MaxCompute service expires or the payment is overdue, if you top up your account balance and settle the overdue payment within 15 days, the MaxCompute service is automatically activated, and you can continue to use the MaxCompute service. If your payment is overdue for more than 15 days, all MaxCompute projects are automatically deleted. The system notifies you by text message or email one day before the projects are deleted. After a project is deleted, all data in the project, such as tables, resources, functions, and instances, is lost and cannot be restored.
How do I deactivate the MaxCompute service?
To prevent MaxCompute from generating costs, you can perform relevant operations based on the billing method of your MaxCompute projects.
Pay-as-you-go: If no project exists, no fees are incurred. If projects exist, delete the projects in the MaxCompute console to release resources. For more information about how to delete a MaxCompute project, see the "Delete a MaxCompute project" section in Delete a table or a MaxCompute project.
Subscription: After you activate MaxCompute, you can request refunds online and unsubscribe from the MaxCompute service. For more information, see Rules for unsubscribing from resources. If projects exist, confirm that the projects are no longer required and then delete the projects. You can also switch the billing method to pay-as-you-go before you can request refunds online. For more information about how to switch between billing methods, see Switch between billing methods.