This topic describes the billing methods for Classic Load Balancer (CLB).
Adjustments are made to the billable items of CLB. Beginning 00:00:00 (UTC+8), December 1, 2024, the following new billable items are used by pay-as-you-go CLB instances:
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Instance fee is renamed public IP retention fee.
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A billable item instance fee is added.
For more information, see CLB billing adjustments.
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New purchases of pay-by-specification CLB instances are discontinued as of 00:00:00 on June 1, 2025 (UTC+8). For more information, see Discontinuation of pay-by-specification Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances.
Billing methods overview
Pay-as-you-go includes two instance billing methods: pay-by-LCU and pay-by-specification (discontinued).
Internet billing methods include pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-data-transfer.
Billing method | Instance billing method | Instance type | Internet billing method | Scenarios |
Pay-As-You-Go | Public network | Pay-by-data-transfer |
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Private network | Not applicable | |||
Pay-by-specification (discontinued) | Public network | Pay-by-data-transfer |
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Pay-by-bandwidth | ||||
Private network | Not applicable |
Billable items
The following figure shows the billable items for a pay-as-you-go CLB instance.
Description of billable items
A pay-as-you-go CLB instance may incur fees for the following billable items. The billable items vary based on the network type and billing method of the instance.
Billable item | Description | Scope |
Public IP address retention fee | The configuration fee for a public IP address. This fee is charged as long as the public IP address exists, regardless of whether it is used. | Public network instances only |
Instance fee | The basic fee for a CLB instance. This fee is charged as long as the instance exists and is not released. | All instances |
LCU fee | For pay-as-you-go instances, performance capacity units are billed hourly based on actual usage. | Pay-as-you-go instance |
Specification fee | The fee for the specifications of a pay-by-specification instance. This is a fixed fee based on the selected specifications and does not change with actual usage. | Pay-by-specification instances |
Data transfer fee | The fee for outbound Internet traffic. You are charged for the actual amount of outbound traffic. Inbound traffic is free of charge. | Public network instances (pay-by-data-transfer) |
Bandwidth fee | The fee for a pay-by-bandwidth instance. This is a fixed fee based on the purchased bandwidth and is not related to the actual traffic usage. | Public network instances (pay-by-bandwidth) |
Pay-as-you-go instances on a private network do not incur public IP address retention fees, data transfer fees, or bandwidth fees. If you associate an independently purchased EIP with a private network CLB instance, the Internet fees generated by the EIP are billed for the EIP and are not included in the CLB bill.
Internal network communication between a CLB instance and backend ECS instances in the same region does not incur additional data transfer fees.
Billing cycles
CLB's billing cycle is as follows:
Pay-as-you-go
Billing cycle | Fee deduction and bill generation time | Applicable billable items |
Hour | Fees are settled on an hourly basis. A bill is typically generated in the next hour after a billing cycle ends. The actual bill generation time is subject to the system. | The following billable items are associated with the pay-as-you-go billing method:
For more information, see Pay-as-you-go. |
Daily | Fees are settled on a daily basis. A bill is typically generated in the early morning of the next day. The actual bill generation time is subject to the system. | Bandwidth fee (pay-as-you-go) For more information, see Pay-as-you-go. |
Pricing
For the list prices of CLB, see Pay-as-you-go. The final price is the one displayed on the purchase page in the console.
You can use the CLB LCU Calculator to estimate LCU consumption.
References
Billing method: Pay-as-you-go
Upgrade/Downgrade: Change the configurations of a pay-as-you-go instance
FAQ: CLB billing FAQ
More information
Overdue payments
Status | Resource status | How to proceed |
Overdue | If your Alibaba Cloud account has an overdue payment, all pay-as-you-go instances within your account are affected.
| After you top up the account balance, your service is resumed. |
If the overdue payment is not paid within 15 days after the instance is suspended, the CLB instance is released. You receive an email reminder one day before the instance is released. The configurations and data of the instance are deleted and cannot be recovered. | Cannot be recovered. |
View overdue payments
Log on to Expenses and Costs.
On the Account Overview page, view the overdue payment amount.
CLB instance recycle bin
CLB lets you manage instances with overdue payments in the recycle bin.
Background information
The instance runs as normal within 15 days after a payment becomes overdue.
After a payment is overdue for 15 days, the instance is suspended and moved to the recycle bin.
If you settle the overdue payment within 15 days after the instance is stopped, the instance is moved from the Recycle Bin to the Instance Management list and returns to normal.
If the overdue payment is not paid within 15 days after the instance is suspended, the instance is automatically released.
Renew an instance in the recycle bin
Log on to the Classic Load Balancer (CLB) console.
In the navigation pane on the left, choose Recycle Bin.
View the details of instances that have overdue payments.
Find the instance that you want to renew and click Renew in the Actions column. After the instance is renewed, it is moved from the recycle bin to the instance management list.
View usage details
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. In the navigation pane on the left, choose .
Click the View Usage Details tab. Set Product to Server Load Balancer and Billable Item to Classic Load Balancer (CLB). Configure the Usage Period and Granularity for which you want to view details, and then click Export CSV.
After you open the usage details file, you can view specific usage details by instance ID, region, or endpoint.
Query bills and consumption details
Log on to the Expenses and Costs bill details page.
On the Bill Details page, you can click the Billing History, Billing Details, and Usage Details tabs to view the corresponding consumption and billing information. For more information, see Billing history, Billing details, and Usage details.