All Products
Search
Document Center

PolarDB:Billing for configuration changes

Last Updated:Mar 28, 2026

When you change the specifications of a PolarDB for PostgreSQL cluster, fees are recalculated based on your billing method. This topic explains how upgrade fees and downgrade refunds are calculated for each billing type.

Pay-as-you-go

Pay-as-you-go clusters are billed hourly. After a configuration change takes effect, the cluster is charged at the new hourly rate.

Subscription

Upgrade specifications or add nodes

You pay the difference between the new and original configurations for the remaining subscription period.

Formula:

Fees = (New monthly price / 30 / 24 × remaining hours) − (Original monthly price / 30 / 24 × remaining hours)

Example:

ItemValue
New monthly priceUSD 14,400
Original monthly priceUSD 7,200
Remaining subscription period50 days (1,200 hours)
Fees(14,400 / 30 / 24 × 1,200) − (7,200 / 30 / 24 × 1,200) = USD 12,000

Downgrade specifications or delete nodes

The system refunds the difference between the original and new configurations for the remaining subscription period. The refund is calculated based on the amount you actually paid, not the list price.

Formula:

Refund = (Original monthly price / 30 / 24 × remaining hours) − (New monthly price / 30 / 24 × remaining hours)

Example:

ItemValue
Subscription period3 months
Original priceUSD 3,500
Amount paid (after coupons)USD 3,000
After 2 months, remaining fees at original rateUSD 1,000
New configuration monthly priceUSD 800
RefundUSD 1,000 − USD 800 = USD 200
Note The refund applies only to the downgraded configurations, not the entire cluster. To cancel a subscription cluster entirely, Submit a ticket. If approved, the cluster is frozen and deleted after 14 days.

FAQ

Why is my refund less than expected?

Refunds are based on the amount you actually paid, not the list price. Two common reasons:

  • Discounts: If you received a discount on the original order — for example, the 15% discount for subscriptions of one year or longer on alibabacloud.com — the discounted amount is used as the basis for the refund calculation. For instance, if the list price was USD 1,000 and you paid USD 850, the refund is calculated from USD 850.

  • Coupons: If you used coupons and paid USD 500, the refund is calculated from USD 500.

What's next

References

  • Manual configuration changes:

    You can manually change the configuration of your cluster as needed. For more information, see Manually change configurations and Add or remove nodes.

  • Automatic configuration changes:

    PolarDB for MySQL can be used with the auto scaling service of Database Autonomy Service (DAS). You can customize the trigger conditions for auto scaling based on the peaks, valleys, and frequency of your business workloads. When the conditions are met, PolarDB for MySQL automatically scales the cluster specifications up or down step by step.