ApsaraDB RDS bills can include charges beyond the base instance fee. This topic explains what each charge covers and how to find bill details in the Alibaba Cloud console.
What you're billed for
RDS charges fall into two categories based on your billing method:
| Billing method | What's included |
|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | Hourly charges for instance type and storage capacity, plus additional charges for SQL Audit, backups that exceed the free quota, and other add-on features |
| Subscription | Upfront charges for instance type and storage capacity only |
For a full list of billable items and their rates, see Billable items.
Billing methods
ApsaraDB RDS uses two billing methods. Each has a different fee structure:
| Billing method | Base charges | Optional add-on charges |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | Instance type and storage capacity, billed hourly | SQL Audit, backup storage exceeding the free quota, and other enabled features |
| Subscription | Instance type and storage capacity, paid upfront for the subscription term | Read-only instances, SQL Explorer, paid performance monitoring, database proxy, and backup storage exceeding the free quota |
For a full list of billable items, see Billable items.
View bill details
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console.
In the upper-right corner, choose Expenses > Expenses and Costs.
In the left navigation pane, choose Billing Management > Bill Details.
Click the Billing Details tab.
Set filter conditions to query your bills.
Queries are limited to a single calendar month. The time range cannot span multiple months — for example, January 10, 2022 to February 10, 2022 is not a valid range.
FAQ
My subscription instance shows extra hourly charges. What are they for?
The subscription fee covers only the base instance type and storage capacity. Any add-on features you enable — such as read-only instances, SQL Explorer, paid performance monitoring, database proxy, or backup storage that exceeds the free quota — are billed separately on an hourly basis.
To identify the specific charges, check the Billing Item column on the Bill Details tab.
Am I charged for a pay-as-you-go instance if I don't use it?
Yes. Pay-as-you-go instances are billed hourly as long as they exist, regardless of whether you run any queries. The instance continues to consume computing and storage resources in the background.
Is inbound and outbound Internet traffic free?
Yes. Inbound and outbound Internet traffic is free for both pay-as-you-go and subscription instances.
My bill shows backup storage charges under DMS with a product name of Database Backup (DBS). Is this a duplicate charge?
No. Starting June 25, 2025, Alibaba Cloud began migrating backup storage billing from Database Backup Service (DBS) to Data Management (DMS) as part of an ongoing integration of the two services. The "Database Backup (DBS) - Backup Storage" entries under DMS on your bill reflect this migration — not a duplicate charge. The billing owner changed, but the amount you pay has not.
On the Bill Details tab, I see multiple records with the product code DMS, product name Database Backup (DBS), and billable item Backup Storage. RDS has a built-in backup management feature. Why am I charged backup fees for DMS?
The backup storage for RDS instances that use cloud disks is provided by Database Backup Service (DBS) and was originally billed under DBS. Starting from June 25, 2025, Alibaba Cloud is integrating the capabilities of DBS and Data Management (DMS). The corresponding backup storage billable items are migrated to DMS for billing. Therefore, the "Database Backup (DBS) - Backup Storage" records under DMS on your bill are not duplicate charges. This is only an adjustment in billing ownership, and you are not double-billed.