Platform For AI:Billing FAQ

Which projects incur fees in PAI?

• Designer/Studio workflows currently in execution will incur charges for the use of algorithm widgets.

• DSW instances in use consume computing resources and generate charges. To avoid incurring unnecessary expenses, we recommend stopping any instances that are no longer needed.

  Important

  If you expanded your system disk after you stop the instance, the expanded capacity continues to generate storage fees. If you want to stop all billing related to the DSW instance, delete the instance. Before you delete the instance, make sure that you back up all required data.

• DLC tasks running in public resource groups are subject to charges, whereas tasks in dedicated resource groups are not, as these groups are prepaid at the time of purchase.

• EAS services in public resource groups are billed regardless of invocation. Pay-as-you-go dedicated resource groups incur charges, while subscription dedicated resource groups do not, as they are prepaid.

  The billing rules are straightforward. For more information, see EAS billing description.

  • When a pay-as-you-go dedicated resource group is in Running state, billing occurs.

    Important

    Scaling in or out a dedicated resource group in the Running state triggers an intermediate state, either Scaling out or Scaling in. Fees are also incurred for resources used during this intermediate state.

  • When a service in a public resource group is in the Running state, billing occurs.

    Important

    Scaling out a deployed service leads to a Pending intermediate state. Resources used during this state are billed as well.

  • System disk fees.

    • If you add a system disk when you deploy an EAS service by using a public resource group, charges for the system disk will continue even after you stop the service. To stop these charges, you must delete the service. Make sure you no longer require the service before you delete it.

    • If you add a system disk when you purchase a dedicated resource group instance, the system disk is not billed only after you delete the pay-as-you-go resource group instance or the subscription resource group instance expires. Before you delete the resource group instance, make sure that you no longer use it.

How do I stop a project that is being billed?

• Cease billing for Designer/Studio visual modeling projects.

  1. Log on to the PAI console. At the top of the page, choose the desired destination region. On the right, select your target workspace. Then click Enter Designer.

  2. On the Visual Modeling (designer) page, you can double-click the workflow name to access the workflow page.

  3. On the canvas, click the button to stop the running workflow.

• Stop DSW instances.

  Important

  • If a DSW instance is created by using a dedicated resource group and no datasets are mounted to the instance, the system disk of the DSW instance is used for temporary storage. If you stop or delete the DSW instance, data cannot be restored. Proceed with caution.

  • If a DSW instance is created by using a public resource group, the environment is saved on the free disk mounted to the instance after you stop the instance. If you do not restart the instance within 15 days after the instance is suspended, the disk is released.

  • If you resize a system disk when you create a DSW instance, you are still charged for the system disk even if the instance is stopped. If you want to stop all billing related to the DSW instance, delete the DSW instance. Make sure that the required data is backed up before you delete the instance.

  • We recommend that you create DSW instances in workspaces. This helps prevent unnecessary costs that are incurred when you cannot stop your DSW instances due to misconfiguration.

  1. Log on to the PAI console. At the top of the page, choose the destination region. On the right, select your desired workspace. Then click Enter DSW.

  2. On the Interactive Modeling (DSW) page, click Stop in the Actions column for the desired instance.

     After stopping the instance, its Status will show as Stopped. At this point, billing ceases for pay-as-you-go instances. To prevent incurring unnecessary charges, ensure that your instance is in the Stopped state before exiting DSW.

• Stop billing for online model services (EAS):

  Important

  Make sure that the projects you stop are no longer needed to avoid unnecessary business losses.

  • Stop services that run in pay-as-you-go dedicated resource groups.

    To stop billing, reduce the number of servers in the dedicated resource group to 0. Use the following methods:

    1. Log on to the PAI console. Select a region on the top of the page. Then, select the desired workspace and click Enter Elastic Algorithm Service (EAS).

    2. On the Online Model Services (EAS) page, click the name of the desired resource group under the Resource Groups tab to access the details page for that resource group.

    3. On the Machine List tab, you can click Delete in the Actions column next to the pay-as-you-go machine to remove it and cease billing.

  • Stop services that run in public resource groups:

    On the Online Model Services (EAS) page, you can click Stop in the Actions column next to the service you want to stop on the Inference Services tab. This action will halt the model service and its associated billing.

    Note

    If you added a system disk when you deployed the EAS service, you are still charged for the system disk even if the service is stopped. If you want to stop all billing related to the EAS service, delete the EAS service. Before you delete the service, make sure that it is no longer used to avoid unnecessary business losses.

  • Stop pay-as-you-go billing for EAS dedicated gateways

    On the Online Model Services (EAS) page, you can click Delete in the Actions column for the pay-as-you-go dedicated gateway listed under the Dedicated Gateways tab.

• Unsubscribe from AI computing resource groups (subscription), EAS dedicated gateway subscription, and EAS dedicated machine subscription

  Important

  Make sure that the resources you unsubscribe from are no longer needed to avoid unnecessary business losses.

  1. Log on to the Billing and Cost Management console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, select > Unsubscription Management.

  3. Choose the appropriate unsubscription type for your needs. For Product Name, select either International Site_ai Computing Resource Group_subscription, EAS Dedicated Gateway Subscription, or EAS Dedicated Machine Subscription. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the unsubscription.

How do I query deductions and details?

On the Billing Details page, you can use filters to view detailed billing information for machine learning services. For more information, see View Billing Details. The Product Details column shows the specific sub-product module that generated the charges. The values in this column have the following meanings:

• EAS Dedicated Machine Pay-as-you-go: This refers to the fees incurred by the dedicated resource group on a pay-as-you-go basis within EAS.

• Machine Learning (PAI): Charges for this service encompass the use of MaxCompute computing resources for training within Designer/Studio. To understand the specific fees, refer to the Billable Items. The details of these charges are outlined below.

  Product Details	Billable items	Instance ID	Expense source
  Machine Learning (PAI)	Usage	text_analysis data_analysis data_manipulation deep_learning default	Fees generated by Designer/Studio experiment training.

• EAS Dedicated Machine Subscription: This refers to the fees incurred by the dedicated resource group under the EAS subscription.

Are fees still incurred after stopping DSW instances/EAS services?

• DSW instances: If you expanded your system disk when you created the DSW instance, you are still charged for the system disk regardless of whether the instance is running. If you want to stop all billing related to the DSW instance, delete the DSW instance. Before you delete the instance, make sure that you back up all required data.

• EAS services: Not using EAS services in the conventional sense does not mean that the service is not running in the background (which still consumes resources and incurs fees). Therefore, if you are sure that you do not need EAS services, we recommend that you manually stop or delete the EAS service. When you delete the service, make sure that you back up all required data.

Are additional fees incurred when using EAS trial resources?

• Billing reason: When deploying stable-diffusion-webui or comfyui in EAS, if the selected image version includes -api or -cluster, these two versions occupy resources in an asynchronous queue during deployment. These resources are chargeable and cannot be offset by EAS trial resources.

• Solution: When deploying stable-diffusion-webui or comfyui, select the standard version, which is the image version with -standard or no suffix.

Why are fees deducted after I stop a billable project?

Fees are not immediately deducted after you stop a project. Instead, fees are deducted after a bill is generated for the project. A delay exists between the time when the bill is generated and the time when you stop the project. For example, fees incurred by resource usage between 10:00 and 11:00 may be billed and deducted several hours later. Therefore, even if you perform the stop operation at 11:00, you may still receive a deduction notification several hours later, creating the illusion of overcharging. Only the actual fees generated by the project are deducted.

Do additional charges occur when using DSW resource deduction packages?

• Billing reason: If you purchase and use DSW resource deduction packages but still incur additional fees, it may be because the resource package expired while the DSW instance was still running. Additionally, fees are not immediately deducted after you stop a project. Instead, fees are deducted after a bill is generated for the project, which may take several hours. Therefore, pay-as-you-go fees are incurred.

• Solution:

  • You can visit the Billing and Cost Management console on the Resource Instance Management page to verify the expiration date of your purchased DSW resource deduction package and ensure you purchase a new package as needed.

  • We recommend that you reserve a certain amount of money for your Alibaba Cloud account to avoid overdue payments caused by the expiration of the resource package when the bill is generated, which may affect service usage.