This topic describes the billable items, billing methods, and pricing of Vector Retrieval Service for Milvus (Milvus).
Billing
Milvus charges consist of two components: CUs and storage.
Billable item | Billing description and payment method |
CU | The total compute resources required for operations such as writes and queries in Milvus, measured in CUs. 1 CU equals 1 CPU core and 4 GiB memory. |
Storage | You do not need to select a storage capacity at purchase. The system bills hourly based on your actual usage and displays the usage on the Details page. Important When you use the backup feature, the system also bills hourly based on your actual usage. These charges are merged into the storage fee and are not listed separately. |
For a subscription instance, the CU fee is a prepaid charge and does not generate a renewal charge before the subscription expires. However, storage fees are always billed hourly based on actual usage regardless of the billing method. As a result, even a subscription instance still generates a pay-as-you-go storage bill every month, which is a separate bill from the prepaid CU fee.
If you enable monthly auto-renewal for an instance, the CU portion generates a renewal charge in each renewal cycle. You can view and manage renewal settings on the auto-renewal page of the Expenses and Costs console.
When pay-as-you-go billing is triggered
As long as a pay-as-you-go instance is running, CU fees are generated hourly based on the instance specifications, regardless of whether query or write requests are sent. Storage fees are also billed hourly based on actual usage. If you no longer need an instance for the time being, delete it promptly to avoid unnecessary fees for an idle running instance.
Billing after service shutdown due to overdue payment
After a pay-as-you-go instance is shut down due to overdue payment, no new pay-as-you-go fees are generated. When you settle the outstanding balance, the payment covers only the resource fees generated from the time the overdue payment occurred until the instance was actually shut down, and does not include the period after the shutdown. If you do not need the instance immediately, topping up in advance and keeping the instance running still incurs hourly charges. We recommend that you top up and start the instance only when you actually need to use it, so that you can avoid fees incurred by an idle instance in the meantime.
Pricing
CU fees
Subscription
Region | Service node unit price (USD/CU/month) | Compute node unit price (USD/CU/month) | |
Compute-optimized | Storage-optimized | ||
China (Hangzhou) | 23.5 | 23.5 | 31.125 |
China (Shanghai) | 23.5 | 23.5 | 31.125 |
China (Beijing) | 23.5 | 23.5 | 31.125 |
China (Shenzhen) | 23.5 | 23.5 | 31.125 |
China (Hong Kong) | 43.25 | 43.25 | 39.375 |
Storage fees
Storage fees are billed hourly based on actual usage, and the usage is displayed on the Details page.
Chinese mainland regions
Region
Service node unit price (USD/GB/hour)
China (Hangzhou)
0.0000483333
China (Shanghai)
0.0000483333
China (Ulanqab)
0.0000483333
China (Beijing)
0.0000483333
China (Shenzhen)
0.0000483333
China (Hong Kong)
0.0000416667
Other countries and regions
Region
Service node unit price (USD/GB/hour)
Germany (Frankfurt)
0.0000416667
Singapore
0.0000416667
Refund policy
Because subscription instances are paid for in advance based on the purchase duration, you can apply for a refund if your business no longer needs a subscription instance. When you request a refund, the system settles the amount based on your subscription resource purchase details. For more information, see Refund rules.
For the flow of funds after a refund, see Flow of funds after a refund.
A refund applies only to the order amount that you paid with cash or a stored-value card. The portion offset by vouchers or coupons is not refundable.
View bills
You can view the fee bills and consumption details of Milvus in the Expenses and Costs console. For more information about bill details, see Bill details.