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    ApsaraDB RDS:Billing FAQ

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    ApsaraDB RDS:Billing FAQ

    Last Updated:Feb 06, 2026

    This topic answers frequently asked questions about billing and purchasing ApsaraDB RDS.

    Cost-saving questions

    Why am I charged for a subscription ApsaraDB RDS instance every day, and how can I avoid it?

    The subscription fee covers only the instance type and storage space. You will incur additional charges if you use read-only instances, SQL Audit, or paid performance monitoring, or if your backup storage exceeds the free quota. For more information, see Billable items.

    Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. Go to the Expenses > Expenses and Costs page. Choose Bill Management > Bill Details to view the billable items.

    You can use the following methods to avoid or reduce pay-as-you-go costs:

    • If your backup storage exceeds the free quota: For more information, see Reduce backup size and costs.

    • Database proxy: The database proxy is used for automatic read/write splitting. If you enable the proxy, you will be charged on a pay-as-you-go basis. Evaluate whether you need to enable this feature. For more information, see What is a database proxy?.

    • Read-only instances and clone instances: These billable items support the subscription billing method. We recommend that you select the subscription billing method.

    • Performance monitoring: You can use the free monitoring frequencies (once every 60 seconds and once every 300 seconds).

    Am I charged for a pay-as-you-go instance even if I do not use it?

    Yes, you are. A pay-as-you-go instance consumes computing and storage resources even when it is not in use, so you are charged an hourly fee. If you do not plan to use the instance for a long time, you can save your data and then release the instance.

    How am I charged for changing the configuration of a subscription instance?

    For more information, see Change configuration.

    Am I charged for applying for a public endpoint?

    Currently, you are not charged for the inbound and outbound Internet traffic of subscription and pay-as-you-go instances. The bandwidth is not limited.

    How do I check whether backup fees are generated?

    • To check whether backup fees are currently being generated: On the instance's basic information page, view the Usage Statistics section. If the backup usage is greater than the free quota, backup fees are being generated.查看额度

    • To check whether backup fees were generated in the past: Go to the Billing Details page and check for a bill where the Billable Item is instance backup.

    How can I reduce backup size and costs?

    Does releasing a read-only instance affect my business?

    This operation will affect your services. We recommend setting the read weight of the read-only instance to 0 before releasing the instance.

    Note

    Cached connections will still connect to this read-only instance. You must establish new connections to route requests to other read-only instances.

    How do I view the activation time of a feature?

    • You can view the Payment/Activation Time of a feature on the Order Management page:开通时间intl

    • You can use ActionTrail to view the operation history of the instance.action trail

    Instance purchase and billing method questions

    Why is there no response after I create an instance, and the instance is not visible in the instance list?

    The instance may not appear for the following two reasons:

    • Incorrect region

      The region you are currently viewing may be different from the region you selected when you created the instance. You can switch regions in the upper-left corner of the page.

      选择地域

    • Insufficient resources in the zone

      Resources in a zone are dynamically allocated. The zone may have insufficient resources after you place an order. This can cause the creation to fail, and the instance will not appear in the instance list. We recommend that you try again in a different zone. A refund will be issued for the failed creation. You can view the refund in the order list.

    With the same CPU and memory, why do entry-level instance types have higher maximum connections and IOPS than enterprise-level instance types?

    Entry-level instance types belong to the shared or general-purpose instance family, while enterprise-level instance types belong to the dedicated instance family. In practice, enterprise-level instance types are more stable because they have dedicated CPU and memory resources. For more information about the differences, see Instance families.

    Why do cluster edition and basic edition instances have different storage unit prices when using the same storage type?

    1. Cluster edition and basic edition use different storage billing models.

    The basic edition uses a single-node architecture with no secondary node. Its data reliability depends on the multi-replica mechanism of cloud disks. The cluster edition uses a primary-secondary architecture. It builds on the multi-replica mechanism of premium ESSDs and further enhances data reliability and system availability through high-availability architecture between primary and secondary nodes. Each secondary node in the cluster edition also includes one or more cloud disks. This architectural difference leads to different resource scheduling and cost allocation between the editions. Specifically, storage fees are calculated as follows:

    Basic Edition storage space fee = unit price of instance storage space × capacity of instance storage space × duration

    Cluster Edition storage cost = per-node storage unit price × per-node storage capacity × number of nodes × duration

    2. Alibaba Cloud considers functionality, availability, and O&M costs when pricing storage across product series.

    For example, the cluster edition benefits from bulk procurement or resource pool optimization, resulting in a lower unit price. As a single-node instance, the basic edition has relatively higher storage costs, leading to a higher storage unit price.

    Expired or overdue instances

    • Causes and impacts of expiration or overdue payments

      What are the impacts if an instance expires or has an overdue payment?

      For more information, see Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

      How is a Serverless ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance billed, and does it have an expiration date?

      For more information about the billing of Serverless ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances, see Billing of Serverless ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances. Serverless instances are pay-as-you-go and do not have an expiration date.

      If I no longer use a subscription instance after it expires, do I need to manually unsubscribe from it? Will other fees be generated if I do not unsubscribe?

      No, you do not. After a subscription instance expires, it will enter the following states. If you no longer use it, you do not need to take any action, and no additional fees will be generated.

      • From day 1 to day 7 after expiration, the instance is locked and cannot be accessed.

      • From day 8 to day 15 after expiration, the compute resources of the instance are released, but its data backups are retained.

      • On day 16 after expiration, the data of the instance is no longer retained.

      If an instance is locked due to an overdue account payment, are other fees generated during the locked period?

      No, additional fees are not generated while the instance is locked. For more information about the impacts of overdue payments, see Overdue payments.

      If an instance expired more than 16 days ago and its data has been released, can the data be recovered?

      No, it cannot. On day 16 after the instance expires, its data is no longer retained and cannot be recovered. If you still need to use the instance, you must purchase a new one and deploy your data.

      Which ApsaraDB RDS instances are affected by an overdue account payment?

      An overdue account payment causes pay-as-you-go instances to become overdue. For more information, see Overdue payments.

      What does the ApsaraDB RDS instance error The MySQL server is running with the LOCK_WRITE option so it cannot execute this statement mean?

      This error indicates that the instance is currently locked. To learn how to unlock it, see What do I do if my instance is in the "Locked" state?.

    • Operations related to expiration or overdue payments

      Can I change the configuration of an instance that is locked due to an overdue payment or expiration?

      No, you cannot. You must first unlock the instance and then change its configuration. For more information, see Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

      My instance is locked due to expiration. I have renewed it, but it still shows as locked. What should I do?

      It takes time to unlock an instance after renewal. Please wait for the process to complete. The instance is usually unlocked within 5 minutes.

      Can I get the same discount for renewal that I received at the time of purchase?

      The renewal price is subject to the price displayed in the console.

      If an instance is locked due to expiration or an overdue payment, can I still back up the instance and export backups?

      No, you cannot. You cannot back up a locked instance or export its backup files. The instance must be in the running state. We recommend that you top up your account or renew the instance to unlock it before you perform backups and exports.

      My instance was locked due to expiration. I have renewed and unlocked it. Do I need to perform any other configurations? Will the instance automatically return to normal?

      From day 1 to day 7 after an instance expires, it is locked and cannot be accessed. If you manually renew the instance during this period, it will immediately return to normal. No other configurations are needed.

      After an instance was released, I rebuilt it from the recycle bin. Is the data in the new instance identical to the data in the released instance?

      The data is identical to that of the original instance, but the endpoint, instance ID, and other information will be different.

      After an instance was released, why did the price increase when I rebuilt it from the recycle bin?

      After an instance is released, you can use the recycle bin to create a new instance and restore the data from the original instance to the new one. When you rebuild an instance from the recycle bin and restore data, you cannot select discontinued instance types, versions, or storage types. Changes to the new instance's type, version, or storage type may cause the price to change. The price displayed in the console is the final price.

      What permissions does a RAM user need to renew an ApsaraDB RDS instance?

      You need to grant the RAM user the following permissions for the User Center: AliyunBSSFullAccess, AliyunBSSReadOnlyAccess, AliyunBSSOrderAccess, AliyunBSSRenewFullAccess, and AliyunBSSRenewReadOnlyAccess, and the AliyunRDSFullAccess permission for ApsaraDB RDS.

      How do I migrate data from a locked instance to another instance using DTS?

      You cannot migrate data from a locked instance using DTS. You must first unlock the instance and then perform the migration. To learn how to unlock it, see What do I do if my instance is in the "Locked" state?.

      My subscription instance has expired. How do I recover it?

      After a subscription instance expires, the recovery method depends on how long it has been expired:

      • From day 1 to day 7 after expiration, the instance is locked and cannot be accessed. You can unlock it by renewing it. For more information, see Renewal policy.

      • From day 8 to day 15 after expiration, the compute resources of the instance are released, but its data backups are retained. You can recover the instance. For more information, see Rebuild an instance.

      • On day 16 after expiration, the data of the instance is no longer retained and cannot be recovered. If you still need to use the instance, you must purchase a new one and deploy your data.

      My subscription instance is about to expire. How can I downgrade its configuration while renewing it?

      You cannot downgrade the configuration while renewing the instance. You can first downgrade the configuration and then renew the instance.

      My instance is locked and I cannot write data to it. What should I do?

      You cannot write data to an instance when it is in the locked state. You must first unlock the instance. To learn how to unlock it, see What do I do if my instance is in the "Locked" state?.

      My subscription instance was locked due to expiration. After renewing it, how do I change the billing method to pay-as-you-go?

      After renewing the instance, you must wait for a short period. When the instance status changes to running, you can change the billing method. For more information, see Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go, Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go, Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go, and Change the billing method of an ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

      Where in the console can I see instances that are about to expire?

      At the top of the ApsaraDB RDS console, choose Expenses > Renewal Management to view products that are about to expire. You can renew your instances on this page.

      image

      How do I apply for a contract before renewal?

      Contact your account manager.

    • Billing for deleted instances

      My RDS for MySQL instance has been released. Why am I still being charged for backups?

      Your RDS for MySQL instance has been released. However, if you enabled the backup retention policy for released instances before you released the instance, the backup files are retained on the Backups page in the RDS console. Backup storage is free for seven days after the instance is released. After this period, you will be charged for the storage.

      Backup storage costs are incurred if the retention period exceeds the free 7-day period. These costs are based on the actual storage amount and the region. For more information about billing, see Billing details. If you do not need the backups, you can go to the Backups for Deleted Instances tab and set the retention policy for the destination instance to Do Not Retain. This prevents future backup storage costs.