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Elastic Compute Service

FAQ

Billing FAQ

Category			Question
Instance billing	Price calculator	How can I view the price of an ECS instance? Am I charged for the security enhancement feature of ECS? Is there a free trial available for ECS instances? For a subscription-based instance I purchased at a discounted price, may I renew it at the same price when it expires? What other costs may be incurred when I use Subscription instances?
		Changing billing method	Can I switch between the billing methods of an ECS instance? Why do I fail to change the billing method from Pay-as-you-go to Subscription for an instance?
		Billing cycle	How is the billing cycle calculated for Pay-as-you-go ECS instances?
		Stopping billing	How do I terminate billing for an instance? Will billing terminate after a Pay-as-you-go instance is stopped? Why is a deleted instance still being billed?
		Expiration	How do I view the expiration time of a Subscription instance?
		Unsubscription	How is the refund for subscription instances settled? After a subscription-based instance is unsubscribed, where will the refund be returned?
		Renewal	Is renewal required for pay-as-you-go instances? How do I renew a subscription-based instance that has been unsubscribed?
Reserved Instance/Spot instance billing	Price calculator	How do I view the prices of Reserved Instances? What is the billing method of RI? What resources are covered by the price discount for spot instances?
		Fee offset	Can I use RIs to deduct bills for spot instances? Can I use RIs to deduct the storage and network parts of Pay-as-you-go instance bills? How to view RI deduction details?
		Refund	Can I get a refund for an RI?
Image billing			Do I need to pay an additional fee for Windows license activation on an ECS instance?
Network billing	EIP	How am I charged for the EIP of an ECS instance? What is the difference between billing by bandwidth upper limit and billing by data transfer for EIPs? Can I modify the bandwidth upper limit that I specify when I purchase the EIP?

ECS billing FAQ

How can I view the price of an ECS instance?

On the Price calculator page, you can see the instance price and configuration items (such as root volumes, storage volumes, and EIPs). The price calculator provides reference prices. The actual costs are the fee results displayed when you order in the ECS console.

Can I switch between the billing methods of an ECS instance?

You can switch from the Pay-as-you-go billing method to the Subscription billing method and switch from the Subscription billing method to the Pay-as-you-go billing method for an ECS instance. For more information, see Changing billing method from Pay-as-you-go to Subscription and Changing billing method from Subscription to Pay-as-you-go.

Am I charged for the security enhancement feature of ECS?

You are not charged for using the security enhancement feature of ECS.

How is the billing cycle calculated for Pay-as-you-go ECS instances?

Billing for pay-as-you-go ECS instances is settled every hour (UTC+8). After this, the next settlement cycle starts. If the available amount in your account (including account balance and vouchers) is less than the outstanding bill, you will receive a notification via SMS or email regarding insufficient balance.

Will billing terminate after a Pay-as-you-go instance is stopped?

You can stop an ECS instance when the ECS instance is running as expected in the ECS console or by calling the API operation. After you stop an instance, the instance is in the Stopped state. At this time, you are still charged for the instance. The billing of the instance is determined based on the stop mode of the instance. Stop modes:

Keep Charging: After the instance enters the Stopped state, you are still charged for all resources.

Stop Charging: After the instance enters the Stopped state, you are not charged for the computing resources (vCPU, GPU, and memory) of the instance. You are still charged for the mounted volume and EIP resources.

tip

Currently, only Pay-as-you-go instances without local volumes mounted (excluding EBM and HPC-optimized instances) support Economical Mode. For more information about the Economical Mode, please refer to the Description of Pay-as-you-go Economical Mode.

How do I terminate billing for an instance?

Stopping an instance does not terminate billing. Billing will only be terminated after the instance and the associated resources (volumes and EIPs) are deleted.

Why is a deleted instance still being billed?

Possible causes are as follows:

If you do not specify that the data volumes associated with an instance should be deleted when the instance is deleted, the data on those volumes will be retained by default. You will be charged for these data volumes.

If you do not specify that the EIP associated with the primary network interface of an instance should be deleted when the instance is deleted, the EIP will be disassociated from the instance and will not be automatically released. You will still be charged for the EIP.

How do I view the expiration time of a Subscription instance?

You can view the expiration time of a Subscription instance by using either of the following methods.

You can view the expiration time of a Subscription instance in the "Billing method" column of the instance list page.

Click the instance name to enter the details page. In the Billing information section, find the expiration time.

Why do I fail to change the billing method from Pay-as-you-go to Subscription for an instance?

You need to check whether your Pay-as-you-go instance meets the following conditions:

The instance type has not been discontinued.

The instance status is Running or Stopped.

The billing method for the instance is Pay-as-you-go.

The account has no outstanding fees. If the account has overdue payments, settle the payments first.

Is renewal required for pay-as-you-go instances?

For Pay-as-you-go instances, fees are automatically deducted from the account at each full hour. The concept of renewal does not apply.

How is the refund for subscription instances settled?

The rules for calculating the refund amount are related to the duration of instance usage. For more information, see Unsubscription management .

How do I renew a subscription-based instance that has been unsubscribed?

You can renew resources by clicking "Billing > Renewal management," or refer to the Renewal policies topic to perform renewal operations.

After a subscription-based instance is unsubscribed, where will the refund be returned?

When you unsubscribe from a Subscription instance, the platform will refund the actual payment amount (the portion paid in cash by the user, excluding amounts deducted via coupons) to your account balance. Note that used coupons are non-refundable.

For a subscription-based instance I purchased at a discounted price, may I renew it at the same price when it expires?

No. ECS instances purchased at promotional prices during events will be renewed at the official website price upon expiration (renewals for more than one year qualify for the platform’s annual discount). The renewal price displayed in the console shall prevail.

Is there a free trial available for ECS instances?

No. Currently, there is no free trial available for ECS instances, but various new user discount offers for different instance types are available for you to choose from.

What other costs may be incurred when I use Subscription instances?

After you purchase a Subscription instance, if you use postpaid services such as Pay-as-you-go data volumes or EIPs billed by bandwidth upper limit or actual traffic, you are not charged these fees at the time of Subscription instance purchase. As a result, you will still receive postpaid bills when you use the instance.

What resources are covered by the price discount for spot instances?

Discounts only cover instance compute resources (vCPU, GPU, and memory). Prices for other resources such as volumes and Internet bandwidth are not discounted and depend on the prices of pay-as-you-go instances.

How do I view the prices of Reserved Instances?

On the Price calculator page, you can view the monthly/yearly prices of RIs with different specifications. The price calculator provides reference prices. The actual costs are the fee results displayed when you order in the Offsetting Resources console.

What is the billing method of RI?

You are separately charged for Reserved Instances. Full prepayment is supported at the time of purchase, meaning all fees are paid in one lump sum upon purchase, with no additional fees incurred during the validity period.

Can I use RIs to deduct bills for spot instances?

No, you cannot. You can use RIs to deduct bills for pay-as-you-go instances only.

Can I use RIs to deduct the storage and network parts of Pay-as-you-go instance bills?

No, you cannot. You can use RIs to deduct bills generated by compute resources (vCPU, GPU, and memory) part of pay-as-you-go instances.

How to view RI deduction details?

You can refer to Viewing RI usage details to go to the billing center to check matching and deduction details between RIs and pay-as-you-go instances.

Can I get a refund for an RI?

Currently, RI only supports regular unsubscription and does not support unsubscription in seven days without reasons. For more information, refer to Renewal and unsubscription.

Image billing FAQ

Do I need to pay an additional fee for Windows license activation on an ECS instance?

Currently, licenses are provided free of charge in the Chinese mainland, with no additional payment required. You are charged for using a Windows Server public image in the Asia Pacific (Johor) region. For more information, see Image billing.

Network billing FAQ

How am I charged for the EIP of an ECS instance?

For the billing rules of EIPs, see EIP billing overview.

What is the difference between billing by bandwidth upper limit and billing by data transfer for EIPs?

When you select billing by bandwidth upper limit, you are charged based on the bandwidth upper limit specified when you purchase the EIP, regardless of actual data transfer.

When you select billing by data transfer, you are charged based on the actual data transfer volume, and the peak bandwidth during usage will not exceed the bandwidth upper limit specified when you purchase the EIP.

Can I modify the bandwidth upper limit that I specify when I purchase the EIP?

Yes. For more information, see Modifying bandwidth upper limit.

Last updated: 2026.06.18 17:48:24