All Products
Search
Document Center

ApsaraVideo VOD:Billing of value-added services

Last Updated:Jun 17, 2025

You are charged for the following value-added services in ApsaraVideo VOD: ApsaraVideo Player SDK, Short Video SDK, video editing and production, transfer acceleration, and digital rights management (DRM) encryption. By default, the pay-as-you-go billing method is used. This topic describes the pay-as-you-go prices for value-added services and provides billing examples.

Billable items

Note

The prices in this topic may be different from those on the ApsaraVideo VOD pricing page. The latter shall prevail.

ApsaraVideo Player SDK

Short Video SDK

Video editing and production

Transfer acceleration

Media security

ApsaraVideo Player SDK

The price of the ApsaraVideo Player SDK depends on the SDK version and value-added modules.

For more information about the SDK features, see Features.

Important
  1. As of February 14, 2025, ApsaraVideo Player mobile SDK (V7.0.0 and later) has introduced a Professional Edition in addition to the Standard Edition. To use the Professional Edition, contact your account manager and bind the license.

  2. When your spending on resources of ApsaraVideo VOD, ApsaraVideo Live, and Intelligent Media Services (IMS) reaches a certain threshold, you can obtain a one-year license for Player SDK Professional Edition free of charge. For details, see Spend-and-Get promotion.

  3. The newly acquired license for the mobile SDK Professional Edition only applies to SDK V7.0.0 and later. Confirm the version of the integrated SDK before applying for a license.

Pricing and examples

  • Pricing: The pricing for value-added modules is described in the following table.

    Module

    H.265 playback for web

    Client-side super-resolution

    Client-side sharpening

    Client-side frame interpolation

    Price (USD per year)

    7400

    7400

    4400

    3000

  • Billing example: If you purchase the H.265 playback for web and client-side sharpening modules for a year, the fee = USD 7,400 + USD 4,400 = USD 11,800.

Spend-and-Get promotion

If your monthly spending on resources of ApsaraVideo VOD, ApsaraVideo Live, and IMS reaches a certain threshold, you can apply for a one-year license for ApsaraVideo Player SDK Professional Edition free of charge.

Click this link to apply.

Promotion

Purchase services

Threshold (USD)

Gift

Spend-and-Get

(Based on the original prices)

ApsaraVideo VOD

ApsaraVideo Live

IMS

≥ 15000

One-year license for ApsaraVideo Player SDK Professional Edition

Purchase the official edition

Go to the ApsaraVideo MediaBox SDK buy page to purchase the official edition of ApsaraVideo Player SDK. Then, integrate the SDK license.

Short Video SDK

You are charged for Short Video SDK based on the version and the features that you use.

For more information, see Feature list.

SDK version

Platform

Price (USD per year)

Basic

Mobile (Android and iOS)

1,800

Standard

Mobile (Android and iOS)

30,000

Professional

Mobile (Android and iOS)

50,000

Billable item

Description

Billing method

Feature

  • Billing rule: You are charged for the features that you use.

  • Billing cycle: You are charged on a yearly basis. After you submit an order, fees are deducted from your account in real time and a bill is generated within 2 to 3 hours. The validity period of your subscription is 1 year.

  • Pricing: For more information, see the following table.

  • Pay-as-you-go: not supported.

  • Resource plan: You can purchase resource plans for features that you want to use.

Pricing and examples

  • Pricing: The pricing of feature modules is described in the following table.

    Module

    Recording

    Import

    Frame animation

    MV

    Subtitles

    Price (USD per year)

    4400

    3000

    7400

    7400

    7400

  • Billing example: If you purchase the import and frame animation modules for a year, the fees = USD 3,000 + USD 7,400 = USD 10,400.

Editing and production

ApsaraVideo VOD supports basic and advanced editing. You can edit audio, video, image, and text files in the cloud. More features will be added in the future.

You are charged based on the specifications and durations of the output files. Prices may vary based on the region in which ApsaraVideo VOD is activated.

Billable item

Description

Billing method

Editing and production of media files in different specifications and duration

  • Billing rule: You are charged for the total cost of basic and advanced editing on media files. If you use basic and advanced editing on a video and produce videos with the same specification and resolution, you are charged only for advanced editing.

  • Billing cycle: You are charged on an hourly basis. The fees are automatically deducted from the balance of your Alibaba Cloud account. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The time when bills are generated is determined by the system.

  • Pricing: For more information, see the following table.

  • Pay-as-you-go: Editing fee = Output video duration (minutes) × Unit price. You are charged for the total editing cost of media files.

  • Resource plan: not supported.

Pricing and examples

  • Pay-as-you-go: The pricing for video editing and production is described in the following table.

    Basic editing (Billing unit: USD per minute)

    Output specification

    Output resolution

    Chinese mainland

    Japan (Tokyo)

    Singapore

    Indonesia (Jakarta)

    Germany (Frankfurt)

    US (Silicon Valley)

    H.264

    ≤ 4K (3840 × 2160)

    0.0427

    0.05

    0.05

    0.05

    0.045

    0.045

    H.264

    ≤ 2K (2560 × 1440)

    0.0213

    0.0375

    0.0375

    0.0375

    0.0338

    0.0338

    H.264

    ≤ HD (1920 × 1080)

    0.0099

    0.025

    0.025

    0.025

    0.0225

    0.0225

    H.264

    ≤ SD (1280 × 720)

    0.005

    0.0125

    0.0125

    0.0125

    0.0113

    0.0113

    H.264

    ≤ LD (640 × 480)

    0.0033

    0.0094

    0.0094

    0.0094

    0.0084

    0.0084

    Advanced editing (Billing unit: USD per minute)

    Output specification

    Output resolution

    Chinese mainland

    Japan (Tokyo)

    Singapore

    Indonesia (Jakarta)

    Germany (Frankfurt)

    US (Silicon Valley)

    H.264

    ≤ 4K (3840 × 2160)

    0.1922

    0.225

    0.225

    0.225

    0.2025

    0.2025

    H.264

    ≤ 2K (2560 × 1440)

    0.0959

    0.1688

    0.1688

    0.1688

    0.1521

    0.1521

    H.264

    ≤ HD (1920 × 1080)

    0.0446

    0.1125

    0.1125

    0.1125

    0.1013

    0.1013

    H.264

    ≤ SD (1280 × 720)

    0.0225

    0.0563

    0.0563

    0.0563

    0.0509

    0.0509

    H.264

    ≤ LD (640 × 480)

    0.0149

    0.0423

    0.0423

    N/A

    0.0378

    0.0378

  • Billing example: If you use basic editing to edit a 100-minute video from 08:00 to 09:00 in the Chinese mainland and generate a H.264 video in LD resolution, the editing fee is calculated based on the following formula: 100 × 0.0033 = USD 0.33. Then, if you use advanced editing to edit a 100-minute video and generate a H.264 video in 2K resolution, the editing fee is calculated based on the following formula: 100 × 0.0959 = USD 9.59. In this case, your total editing fee for the billing cycle from 08:00 to 09:00 is calculated based on the following formula: 100 × 0.0033 + 100 × 0.0959 = USD 9.92.

Transfer acceleration

ApsaraVideo VOD supports upload and download acceleration across regions. You are charged transfer acceleration fees. Prices vary based on the region in which ApsaraVideo VOD is activated.

Note
  • Transfer acceleration fees are separately calculated but generated together with outbound traffic (oss_flow_out) fees. For example, you enable the transfer acceleration feature for a bucket and use an acceleration endpoint to download 1 GB of data from the bucket. In this case, you are charged transfer acceleration fees and outbound traffic fees for 1 GB of data.

  • If you upload and download resources only to and from the VOD bucket, the transfer acceleration fees are added to your ApsaraVideo VOD bill. If you enable the transfer acceleration feature for an Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket in ApsaraVideo VOD and then upload and download resources to and from the OSS bucket, the transfer acceleration fees are added to your OSS bill.

Billable item

Description

Billing method

  • Upload acceleration traffic

  • Download acceleration traffic

  • Billing rule: You are charged transfer acceleration fees when you upload and download resources to and from ApsaraVideo VOD in different regions over the Internet.

  • Billing cycle: You are charged on an hourly basis. The fees are automatically deducted from the balance of your Alibaba Cloud account. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The time when bills are generated is determined by the system.

  • Enable transfer acceleration: submit a ticket or contact your business manager.

  • Pricing: For more information, see the following table.

  • Pay-as-you-go: Transfer acceleration fee = Upload and download acceleration traffic × Unit price.

  • Resource plan: not supported.

Pricing and examples

  • Pay-as-you-go: The pricing for transfer acceleration is described in the following table.

    Billable item (Billing unit: USD per GB)

    Chinese mainland - Chinese mainland

    Chinese mainland - Outside Chinese mainland

    Outside Chinese mainland - Outside Chinese mainland

    Outside Chinese mainland - Chinese mainland

    Upload acceleration traffic

    0.12

    0.2

    0.12

    0.2

    Download acceleration traffic

  • Billing example: If you enable the transfer acceleration feature, upload resources from the Chinese mainland to a region outside the Chinese mainland from 08:00 to 09:00, and generate 900 GB acceleration traffic, the transfer acceleration fees are calculated based on the following formula: 900 × 0.2 = USD 180.

Video security

DRM encryption

You can use the DRM encryption feature provided by ApsaraVideo VOD to encrypt videos. DRM encryption is implemented during video transcoding. You are charged only for transcoding when you transcode a video. You are charged for DRM encryption every time a device requests a license to play a DRM-encrypted video.

Billable item

Description

Billing method

DRM

  • Billing rule: You are charged for requests sent by devices to obtain licenses to play DRM-encrypted videos.

  • Billing cycle: You are charged on an hourly basis. The fees are automatically deducted from the balance of your Alibaba Cloud account. Bills are generated 4 to 6 hours after a billing cycle ends. The time when bills are generated is determined by the system.

  • Enable DRM encryption: Enable the feature in the ApsaraVideo VOD console. For more information, see DRM encryption.

  • Pricing: For more information, see the following table.

  • Pay-as-you-go: The DRM encryption fee = Number of requests × Unit price.

  • Resource plan: not supported.

Pricing and examples

  • Pay-as-you-go: The pricing for DRM encryption is described in the following table.

    Region

    Unit price

    China (Beijing) and China (Shanghai)

    USD 0.0012 per request

    Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), and Japan (Tokyo)

    USD 0.0015 per request

  • Billing example: If 1,000 requests are sent to obtain licenses to play DRM-encrypted videos in the China (Shanghai) region, your DRM encryption fee is calculated based on the following formula: 1,000 × 0.0012 = USD 1.2.