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Elastic Compute Service

Billing methods change

Changing billing method from Pay-as-you-go to Subscription

Elastic Compute Service (ECS) allows you to change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription. This way, you can change pay-as-you-go instances to long-term stable subscription instances. By doing this, you can reserve resources in advance and reduce cost. This topic describes how to change pay-as-you-go instances to subscription instances in the ECS console.

Prerequisites

The instance type is not discontinued from sale. For discontinued types, see the instance type list.

The instance status is Running or Stopped.

The billing method of the target instance is Pay-as-you-go (except for spot instances and Elastic Scheduled Instances).

The account has no outstanding fees. How to view the arrears amount?

Limits

When you change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription, the billing method for the system volume and images is automatically synchronized and changed.

By default, data volumes are not changed to subscription. You must manually select the option during the billing change process to cover them.

You can select up to 20 instances for batch changing at a time.

Precautions

The cost displayed on the billing change page represents the payable amount for changing to subscription. Data volumes that are not changed to subscription will continue to be billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

If the account has outstanding fees, you can not change the billing method to subscription. Click the "Go to top up" button and settle the bill. Then, try it again.

Procedure

Log on to the ECS console.

In the left-side navigation pane, select "Instances & Images > Instances".

In the top menu bar, select the region and project where the target instance resides.

On the Instances page, change the billing method based on your needs.

Single instance changing: Find the pay-as-you-go instance for which you want to change the billing method. Click the ellipsis (···) icon in the Actions column, and select "Resource allocation > Switch to subscription".

You can also click the target instance name to enter the instance overview page. Then, in the billing information section, click the "Change billing method" button.

Batch changing: Select one or more target instances, click the ellipsis icon, and select "Switch to subscription" at the top.

tip

You can select up to 20 instances for batch changing at a time.

Note that if you select instances with different billing methods, you can not change from pay-as-you-go to subscription.

Review the instance information and complete setting based on the prompts on the page.

Parameter	Description
Subscription duration	Set a subscription duration. If you want to make a batch change, you can set only one subscription duration for multiple instances.
Auto renewal	Specify whether to enable auto renewal. This feature is disabled by default.
Data volume	Specify whether to change pay-as-you-go data volumes to subscription simultaneously.

follow the console instructions to review and confirm the legal agreements.

Click "Confirm order". Complete the payment, the billing method is changed.

Result

Success: On the "Order management" page, an order with the Change config type is generated.

Failure: On the "Order management" page, an order with the Change config type and a "Refunded" status is generated. The amount of unsubscribed services is automatically refunded.