A PolarDB-X integrated instance consists of multiple logical nodes. Each node integrates computing and storage resources to simplify operations and management. You can add nodes as needed.
PolarDB-X supports two billing methods: subscription (prepaid) and pay-as-you-go (postpaid).
Choose a billing method
| Billing method | How it works | Best for | Billing method change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription (prepaid) | Pay an upfront fee before using resources. Longer durations cost less. | Long-term, stable workloads | Can be changed to pay-as-you-go |
| Pay-as-you-go (postpaid) | No charge at creation. Fees are deducted hourly based on actual resource consumption. Usage under one hour is rounded up to one hour. | Short-term or variable workloads (less than one month) | Can be changed to subscription |
Subscription details
Specification changes: The price before and after a specification change may differ. You may need to pay the price difference or receive a refund. For more information, see Specification changes.
Renewal: Renew an expired subscription instance within the grace period to continue using it. After the grace period, CPU cores, memory, and disks are released. For more information, see Renewal policies.
Configuration upgrade or downgrade during renewal is not supported.
Pay-as-you-go details
Specification changes: After a specification change, fees are calculated based on the new specification price. For more information, see Specification changes.
Overdue payments: If your Alibaba Cloud account has overdue payments, instances that do not use the subscription billing method and belong to your Alibaba Cloud account become overdue. For more information, see Overdue payments.
Billable items
A PolarDB-X instance is billed across three resource categories: compute node resources, storage node resources, and data storage resources. The billing method for compute nodes and storage nodes in the same instance must be the same.
Computing resources
| Resource | Description | Billing method |
|---|---|---|
| Compute node (instance type) | Billed by instance type, which determines the number of CPU cores and memory capacity. Compute nodes do not include data storage. | Subscription, Pay-as-you-go |
| Data node (instance type) | Billed by instance type, which determines the number of CPU cores and memory capacity. | Subscription, Pay-as-you-go |
Storage resources
| Resource | Description | Billing method |
|---|---|---|
| Cluster storage usage | User data is distributed and stored across storage nodes. | Pay-as-you-go |
PolarDB-X also offers value-added options. For more information, see Billable items.
View billing details
To view the billing details for each instance, see View your bills.
Payment and refunds
PolarDB-X instances support the following payment methods:
Balance in your Alibaba Cloud account
Online payment
Credit cards cannot be used for subscription instances created via the CreateDBInstance API operation.
Coupons offset resource usage fees before bills are generated. If the coupon covers the full amount, no balance is deducted from your account.
To unsubscribe from an instance, review the applicable refund rules before proceeding. For more information, see Refund policies.