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Platform For AI:Billing of Multimedia Analysis

Last Updated:Mar 04, 2026

Multimedia Analysis provides foundation and advanced algorithm detection services. Charges are based on service points consumed. This topic describes billing rules and methods.

Billing rules

Billable item

Billing method

Deduction logic

Algorithm service points

Free quota

Each service point type includes 200 free service points.

Free quota > Resource plan deduction > Pay-as-you-go

After exhausting free quota and resource plans, billing automatically switches to pay-as-you-go.

Pay-as-you-go

Billed based on actual usage. Use first, pay later.

Resource plan (subscription)

Purchase discounted resource plans in advance. Usage is deducted from the plan first. Pay upfront, usage deducted later.

  • Effective date and validity: Plans take effect immediately upon purchase and remain valid for one year. Plans expire after the validity period.

  • Deduction rule: Usage is deducted from the resource plan first. Excess usage is automatically billed pay-as-you-go.

Billing methods

Resource plans

  • Resource plans are subscription packages. Pay a one-time fee based on estimated usage. Each plan is valid for one year from purchase. During validity, consumed service points are deducted from the plan first. Unused quota expires at end of validity period.

  • For multiple plans of the same service point type, the plan expiring soonest is used first. Plans with the same expiration date are selected randomly for deduction.

Note

Actual prices are subject to your bill.

Service point type

Service points

Unit price (USD/item)

Total cost

Foundation model service

1,000,000

0.000719

USD 719

5,000,000

0.00061

USD 3,050

20,000,000

0.0005

USD 10,000

Advanced model service

1,000,000

0.00859

USD 8,590

5,000,000

0.00734

USD 36,700

20,000,000

0.00594

USD 118,800

Service point consumption for model services

Specification

Model service name

Consumption per service call

Foundation model service

Image quality scoring

1 foundation model service point

Facial attribute analysis

1 foundation model service point

Age analysis

1 foundation model service point

Image multi-labeling

1 foundation model service point

Portrait figure modification

1 foundation model service point

Image watermark removal

1 foundation model service point

AI-generated image tagging

1 foundation model service point

Custom model service

N foundation model service points. The value of N varies based on the complexity of the custom model.

Advanced model service

Image, text, and video dynamic classification and tagging

1 advanced model service point

Video quality scoring

1 advanced model service point

Video classification and tagging

1 advanced model service point

Pricing advantages of subscription

  • Resource plans are valid for one year, whereas pay-as-you-go tiered pricing is calculated on a monthly basis.

  • Pay-as-you-go billing uses tiered pricing to calculate the final cost, whereas subscription offers a flat-rate discount. For example, if you use 20 million foundation model service points in a month, the pay-as-you-go cost is USD 12,734, but the subscription cost is USD 10,000.

Pay-as-you-go

After you activate the Multimedia Analysis service, the pay-as-you-go billing method is used by default. With pay-as-you-go, you are billed for the actual number of service points that you consume, and there is no upper usage limit. Billing is based on a monthly tiered pricing model. When your usage of service points reaches a new tier, the unit price for that tier is applied. Bills are generated on the first day of the following calendar month.

Note

The actual price is subject to the amount shown on your bill.

Service point type

Pricing tier

Unit price (USD/call)

Foundation model service

0 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 5,000,000

0.000719

5,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 20,000,000

0.00061

20,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed

0.0005

Advanced model service

0 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 5,000,000

0.00859

5,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 20,000,000

0.00734

20,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed

0.00594

Billing examples

Important

The following billing examples are for reference only. The actual cost is determined by the price that is displayed on the console or the purchase page of the Alibaba Cloud service.

Subscription resource plan billing example

  • Example scenario

    The total number of foundation model service points called in a month is 25 million.

  • Calculating costs

    Service points (10,000s)

    Unit price (USD/item)

    Scheduling Cost (USD)

    Total cost

    100

    0.000719

    719

    The cost for this month is 5,000,000 × 0.00061 + 20,000,000 × 0.0005 = USD 13,050.

    500

    0.00061

    3,050

    2,000

    0.0005

    10,000

Pay-as-you-go billing example

  • Example scenario

    The total number of foundation model service points called in a month is 25 million.

  • Cost calculation

    Pricing tier

    Unit price

    Tier Count

    Tier cost

    Total cost

    0 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 5,000,000

    USD 0.000719/item

    5,000,000

    USD 3,595

    The cost for this month is 5,000,000 × 0.000719 + 15,000,000 × 0.00061 + 5,000,000 × 0.0005 = USD 15,245.

    5,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 20,000,000

    USD 0.00061/item

    15,000,000

    USD 9,150

    20,000,000 < Monthly service points consumed ≤ 25,000,000

    USD 0.0005/item

    5,000,000

    USD 2,500