To unsubscribe from a resource or service, follow these steps:
-
Check eligibility for unsubscription
-
Unsubscription is available for subscription products (pay-before-you-use). Eligibility for a full or partial refund depends on the purchase duration and usage.
-
Pay-as-you-go products do not require unsubscription (pay-after-you-use). For pay-as-you-go services like ECS, you can stop billing by backing up your data and then releasing the resources in the Console.
-
-
Request an unsubscription
-
Go to the Expenses and Costs > Resource Unsubscription page. Submit an unsubscription request for the specific order, verify the refund amount, and confirm.
ImportantUnsubscriptions are irreversible. Double-check the order details to prevent mistakes. Unsubscribing releases the associated resources, so be sure to back up your data beforehand.
-
-
Check the refund status
-
The refund amount is calculated as: Actual Cash Paid - Consumed Amount.
-
After a successful unsubscription, the refund is returned to your original payment method (credit card, PayPal, or account balance) within 30 business days. If the original payment method is no longer valid (for example, a canceled bank card), the refund is credited to your Alibaba Cloud account balance.
-
Supported unsubscription scenarios
Unsubscriptions fall into three categories—full refund for unused resources, partial unsubscription, and unsubscription from a pending renewal order—depending on factors like resource properties, subscription duration, and usage. The following table lists the supported unsubscription scenarios for common products. indicates that a scenario is supported, and indicates that it is not.
The following table details the rules and conditions for each unsubscription scenario:
|
Unsubscription scenario |
Conditions |
Common products |
|
|
Full refund |
Full refund for unused resources / Unsubscription for a pending activation |
|
|
|
Unsubscription from a pending renewal order |
Note
If the resource configuration has changed, you must unsubscribe from the entire instance, not just the renewal order. |
||
|
Partial unsubscription |
|
||
|
Resource downgrade |
Subscription instances that support downgrades are eligible for a refund calculated based on the price difference between the old and new configurations. For more information, see Downgrade refund rules. |
||
|
Subscription to pay-as-you-go |
Products that support changing the billing method are eligible for a refund of the remaining fee. For more information, see Refund rules for changing the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go. |
||
Unsupported unsubscription scenarios
-
Pay-as-you-go resources: Go to the product console, release the resources, and delete all billable components. Billing stops after deletion. A consumption summary is generated at the end of the current billing cycle.
-
Promotional restrictions: The product was purchased as part of a promotion with a "no refunds" policy.
-
Resource transfer: Before you transfer a resource, a pop-up notice informs you that refunds are unavailable for unsubscription or downgrade after the transfer.
-
Mismatched settlement currencies: The order's historical settlement currency differs from your account's current settlement currency.
-
The product's rules do not permit unsubscription.
-
Upgraded resources: An upgrade order cannot be unsubscribed from individually; you must unsubscribe from the entire instance.
-
The resource instance has unpaid orders.
-
Unsubscription is not supported for reseller customers.
If your situation does not match any of these scenarios, submit a ticket for assistance.
Refund calculation
The unsubscription rules for Resource Plans have been updated. If a Resource Plan is unused within its validity period, a full refund is available. If a coupon was used to purchase the Resource Plan, the coupon can be refunded proportionally based on the payment structure when you request an unsubscription. For more information, see Extension of the full refund window for unused public cloud Resource Plans and Notice on the upgrade of public cloud Resource Plan refund rules.
Full refund
Refund amount = Amount paid for the order (the cash amount you paid).
|
Unsubscription type |
Example |
|
Full refund for unused resources |
You purchase a new Resource Plan for USD 200 (USD 150 cash + USD 50 coupon). If you request an unsubscription while the plan is unused and within its validity period, you receive a refund of USD 150 in cash and the USD 50 coupon. |
|
Unsubscription from a pending renewal order |
You have an existing ECS instance and pay for a renewal order of USD 300 (all cash). If you request to unsubscribe from this renewal order before it takes effect, you receive a refund of USD 300. |
Partial refund
Partial refunds include three types: partial unsubscription, downgrade refund, and subscription-to-pay-as-you-go refund.
Partial unsubscription
Refund amount = Amount paid for the order - Consumed amount
The amount paid for the order is the cash portion of your payment. The consumed amount is calculated as: Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration × Refund coefficient. The calculation rules for common cloud products are as follows:
|
Product and usage |
Calculation rule |
|
|
ECS (subscription) Cloud Firewall |
Usage duration < 30 days |
(Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5 |
|
Usage duration ≥ 30 days |
Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration |
|
|
Edge Node Service |
Usage duration < 28 days |
(Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5 |
|
Usage duration ≥ 28 days |
Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration |
|
|
Web Application Firewall |
(Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5 |
|
|
Other (refer to product documentation for details) |
Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration |
|
|
Resource Plan |
Quantity-based |
Used amount × Unit price × Applicable discount for the used amount |
|
Periodic usage-based |
Number of used periods × Periodic price × Applicable discount for the used periods |
|
Calculation example
You purchase a new Simple Application Server for 3 years. The list price is USD 140/month or USD 5,040/3 years. You receive a 45% discount for a 3-year subscription and pay USD 2,736. You request an unsubscription after 1 year (365 days) of use.
-
Days used: 365 days.
-
Applicable discount: Based on the 1-year usage, a 15% discount applies.
-
Daily price:
USD 5,040 / (365 days × 3) = USD 4.6027/day. -
Consumed amount:
USD 4.6027/day × 365 days × 0.85 = USD 1,428. -
Final refund amount:
USD 2,736 - USD 1,428 = USD 1,308.
Downgrade refund
Downgrading a subscription instance automatically refunds a portion of the fee, unless the calculated refund is zero or less.
A downgrade is equivalent to canceling the original order and creating a new one (the downgrade order). The downgrade order is used to calculate the used duration and consumed amount. The refund formula is:
Downgrade refund amount = Online refund amount × Price difference ratio of new and old configurations (For multiple orders, amounts are calculated separately and then summed.)
-
Online refund amount = Amount paid for the order - Consumed amount
-
"Amount paid for the order" refers to the cash portion that you paid.
-
The consumed amount is calculated as follows:
-
Product and usage
Calculation rule
ECS
Usage duration < 30 days
Consumed amount = (Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5
Usage duration >= 30 days
Consumed amount = Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration
Other cloud products that support downgrades
Consumed amount = Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration.
-
-
Price difference ratio of new and old configurations = (Daily list price of original configuration - Daily list price of new downgraded configuration) / Price difference of original configuration
-
Price difference of original configuration:
-
If no upgrade was performed before the downgrade, Price difference of original configuration = Daily list price of original configuration.
-
If an upgrade was performed before the downgrade, Price difference of original configuration = Daily list price of original configuration - Daily list price of the configuration before the upgrade.
-
-
Daily list price = Order's list price / Actual subscription duration of the order.
-
Parameter descriptions:
|
Parameter |
Description |
|
Usage duration |
The actual consumption duration of the order. Usage duration = Conversion time - Order start time. The usage duration is measured in days. A period of less than one day is counted as one day. For example:
|
|
Applicable discount for the usage duration |
The optimal discount for which you are eligible is recalculated based on factors such as the resource configuration and the actual usage duration of the order at the time of unsubscription. |
|
Daily price |
|
Subscription to pay-as-you-go refund
If a cloud product supports converting from subscription to pay-as-you-go, the remaining subscription fee is automatically refunded according to the conversion rules. If the calculated refund amount is zero or less, no refund is issued. The refund amount is calculated as follows:
Refund amount = Amount paid for the order - Consumed amount. In this formula:
-
Amount paid for the order refers to the cash portion you paid.
-
Consumed amount = Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration × Refund coefficient.
The consumed amount is calculated as follows:
|
Product and usage |
Calculation rule |
|
|
ECS |
Usage duration < 30 days |
Consumed amount = (Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5 |
|
Usage duration >= 30 days |
Consumed amount = Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration |
|
|
Other cloud products that support conversion |
Consumed amount = Daily price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration. |
|
The following table describes the parameters.
|
Parameter |
Description |
|
Usage duration |
The actual consumption duration of the order. Usage duration = Conversion time - Order start time. The duration is measured in days. A period of less than one day is counted as one day. For example:
|
|
Applicable discount for the usage duration |
The optimal discount for which you are eligible is recalculated based on factors such as the resource configuration and the actual usage duration of the order at the time of unsubscription. |
|
Daily price |
|
Impacts of unsubscription
-
Unsubscribing deletes the resource or instance, and its data cannot be recovered. Back up your data beforehand.
-
After an unsubscription, you forfeit eligibility for the original promotions. Any benefits included with the order, such as a coupon, are forfeited.
-
An unsubscription from a Resource Plan takes effect at the start of the next billing cycle. For hourly plans, you can continue to use the plan for the current hour, after which the service automatically switches to pay-as-you-go. For monthly plans, they expire the following month. Ensure your account has a sufficient balance to avoid service interruptions or overdue payments.
-
If you unsubscribe from a pending renewal, the resource's expiration date reverts to the date before the renewal. Back up or migrate your data before the original expiration date.
Refund destination
Refund processing and bank transfers take time. Funds typically arrive within 30 business days. Refunds are returned to the original payment method by default.
|
Payment method |
Refund destination |
|
Credit card |
If you unsubscribe within 5 months (150 days) of payment, the refund is returned to the original credit card. If you unsubscribe after 5 months, the refund is credited to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. |
|
PayPal |
If you unsubscribe within 6 months (180 days) of payment, the refund is returned to the original PayPal account. If you unsubscribe after 6 months, the refund is credited to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. |
|
Alibaba Cloud account balance |
The refund is directly returned to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. |
If the refund to the original payment method fails due to issues like a canceled card or channel restrictions, the funds are credited to your Alibaba Cloud account balance.
Request an unsubscription
For products that support self-service unsubscription, follow these steps:
-
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud console and go to the Resource Unsubscription page under Expenses and Costs.
-
Find the order that you want to unsubscribe from and click Unsubscribe Resource in the Actions column.
-
Review the estimated refund amount, calculation details, and refund destination.
-
After confirming the details are correct, select the checkbox to agree to the unsubscription terms and submit the unsubscription request.
For detailed instructions, see Request an unsubscription.
FAQ
Why is my refund amount zero?
-
If you used a large coupon at purchase, your usage may have already consumed the entire cash portion of your payment.
-
For a downgrade refund, the calculated price difference between the original and new specifications is zero or negative.
-
The product was purchased as part of a special promotion with a "no refunds" policy.
-
Per the partial unsubscription rules, if the consumed amount exceeds your original payment, the refund amount is zero.
Can an unsubscription be reversed?
A processed unsubscription cannot be reversed. Review the order information carefully to avoid mistakes. The associated resources are deleted, so back up your data beforehand.
Why did costs increase after unsubscribing?
When you unsubscribe from a Resource Plan, services that were previously covered by the plan immediately switch to the pay-as-you-go billing model. If these services are still running, they will start to generate pay-as-you-go bills.
How to stop pay-as-you-go billing?
Pay-as-you-go products do not require unsubscription. To stop billing, log on to the product console, find the corresponding instance or service, and release or delete it. Back up your data before performing this action.
If you encounter problems during unsubscription, first check the Unsubscription FAQ. If you still have questions, please contact customer service.