ApsaraDB RDS:Backup storage costs

Billable items

For more information about each backup type, see:

• Back up an RDS instance

• High-frequency snapshot backup

• Cross-region backup

• Download backup files

Billing rules

Each RDS instance gets a free quota for backup storage. No fee applies as long as total backup size stays within the quota. If total backup size exceeds the quota, you're charged an hourly fee for the excess:

Hourly fee = (Total backup size − Free quota) × Unit price

Total backup size

Total backup size = Data backup files + Log backup files

To check your current total backup size, go to the Basic Information page of your RDS instance and find the Backup Usage parameter in the Usage Statistics section.

Free quota

The free quota is rounded up to the nearest whole GB. To view the exact free quota for your instance, go to the Basic Information page and check the lower-right corner. For details, see View the free quota for backup storage.

Unit price

Billing example

An RDS instance in the China (Hong Kong) region runs PostgreSQL 13, uses cloud disks, and has 20 GB of storage capacity. After a snapshot backup, 40 GB of data backup files and 20 GB of log backup files are stored. Backup files are retained for up to 730 days.

• Free quota: 20 GB × 200% = 40 GB

• Total backup size: 40 GB + 20 GB = 60 GB

• Excess: 60 GB − 40 GB = 20 GB

• Hourly fee: 20 GB × USD 0.00004 = USD 0.0008

Factors that affect backup storage costs

• Backup files don't consume the storage capacity of your RDS instance. Backup storage fees are based on total backup file size, not storage usage. When investigating why backup fees increased, check the Backup Usage value — not storage usage.

• Certain operations on cloud disk instances that involve rebuilding the secondary RDS instance (such as DDL operations that cause prolonged data replication lag) can increase backup storage and cross-region backup costs. Specifically, rebuilding the secondary instance increases:

  • Backup storage (billable item: BackupCharged)

  • Cross-region backup traffic (billable item: NetworkOutDuplicationSize)

  • Cross-region backup storage (billable item: DdrOssStorageSize)

Reduce backup storage fees

Expand instance storage to increase the free quota

The free quota scales with instance storage capacity. Expanding storage capacity directly increases the free quota. For example, expanding a Premium Local SSD instance from 150 GB to 300 GB increases the free quota from 75 GB to 150 GB.

To expand storage, see Change instance specifications.

Adjust the automatic backup policy to reduce backup generation

Modify your backup frequency, backup window, or retention period to control how many backup files are retained. See Modify the automatic backup policy.

View the backup bill

1. On the Billing Details tab, set Statistic Item to Billing Item and Statistic Period to Billing Period. Enter the instance name, instance ID, or bill ID, then click Search.

   

2. Look for billing items whose names include Backup. The items that appear vary by backup method. For a full list, see Billable items.

FAQ

The backup for my RDS instance exceeds the free quota. Can I turn off backup to stop the charges?

Automatic backup is enabled by default and can't be turned off. To reduce charges, modify the automatic backup policy to lower the backup frequency or shorten the retention period. You can also delete existing backup files manually.

I shortened the backup retention period, but the total backup size didn't change. Why?

Shortening the retention period only deletes backup files older than the new retention period. If no files are older than the new period, nothing is deleted and the total size stays the same.