Billing overview
Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) charges for the network instance connections that you create through a transit router (TR). To enable network interconnectivity, first create a TR in CEN, and then create network instance connections through the TR. CEN bills these connections as follows:
Intra-region connections incur a connection fee and a traffic processing fee.
Inter-region connections incur an inter-region bandwidth fee.
Billing items
The following table describes each CEN billing item.
Billing item | Billing rule | Formula | Minimum billing cycle | Billing method |
Connection fee | Billed based on the number and duration of intra-region connections. Intra-region connections include VPC connections, ECR connections, VBR connections, and VPN connections. Duration is the time from when a network instance connection is created until it is detached. | Unit price (CNY/connection/hour) × number of intra-region connections × duration (hours) | 1 hour. Usage of less than 1 hour is billed as 1 hour. | Pay-as-you-go |
Traffic processing fee | Billed based on traffic ingressing into the transit router from intra-region connections. This rule does not apply to multicast traffic. For more information, see Multicast billing. | Unit price (CNY/GB) × traffic ingressing into the transit router from intra-region connections (GB) | 1 hour | Pay-as-you-go |
Inter-region bandwidth fee | Pay-by-data-transfer: Billed based on inter-region traffic egressing from each transit router. Charges are settled by the Cloud Data Transfer (CDT) service. Pay-by-bandwidth: First purchase a bandwidth plan, and then allocate bandwidth from the bandwidth plan to inter-region connections. Each bandwidth plan is billed based on its bandwidth value and subscription duration. | Pay-by-data-transfer: Unit price (CNY/GB) × inter-region traffic egressing from the transit router (GB). Pay-by-bandwidth: Unit price (CNY/Mbps/month) × bandwidth value (Mbps) × subscription duration (months) | Pay-by-data-transfer: 1 hour. Pay-by-bandwidth: 1 month | Pay-by-data-transfer: Pay-as-you-go. Pay-by-bandwidth: Subscription |
How do I choose a billing method for inter-region bandwidth fees?
Pay-by-data-transfer: Suitable for workloads with frequent, highly variable traffic peaks when bandwidth usage cannot be estimated. Examples include temporary scaling, testing, video conferencing, and real-time gaming.
Pay-by-bandwidth: Suitable for long-running workloads with relatively stable traffic peaks. Examples include file transfer, data migration, and data synchronization.
For proof of concept (POC) testing of inter-region bandwidth, use pay-by-data-transfer. Pay-by-data-transfer provides 1 Gbps of bandwidth by default. If the charge for a billing cycle is less than CNY 0.01, the charge is rounded down at settlement, and you can complete the test without paying inter-region data transfer fees. For example, assuming the link type is Gold, the inter-region data transfer fee is CNY 0.48/GB, and CNY 0.01 ÷ CNY 0.48/GB equals approximately 20 MB of traffic. For more information, see How is the rounding adjustment amount in a bill produced, and what are the rounding rules?
Connection fees and traffic processing fees are settled hourly on the hour. If you delete a network instance connection between hourly boundaries, charges for the current billing cycle continue until the end of that hour. For example, if you delete a transit router connection at 10:35, the connection fee and traffic processing fee for 10:00–11:00 are still included in your bill.
Pricing
The prices listed in this topic are catalog prices. For the actual purchase price, see the product purchase page.
Connection fee
Region | Unit price |
China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), China (Guangzhou), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Hohhot), China (Ulanqab), China (Chengdu), China (Zhongwei), China (Wuhan - Local Region) | CNY 0.35/connection/hour |
Singapore, China (Hong Kong), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia (Johor), Indonesia (Jakarta), Philippines (Manila), Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Thailand (Bangkok), Germany (Frankfurt), UK (London), France (Paris), US (Virginia), US (Silicon Valley), Mexico, UAE (Dubai) | CNY 0.40/connection/hour |
Brazil (São Paulo) | CNY 0.48/connection/hour |
Traffic processing fee
All regions worldwide except Brazil (São Paulo): CNY 0.13/GB.
Brazil (São Paulo): CNY 0.156/GB.
Inter-region bandwidth fee
Pay-by-data-transfer
Pay-by-data-transfer charges are settled by the CDT service. The prices below are reused from the CDT documentation.
Gold
Inbound region | ||||||
Outbound region | Chinese mainland | Asia-Pacific | Europe | North America | South America | Middle East |
Chinese mainland | CNY 0.48 per GB | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 5.6 per GB |
Asia-Pacific | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB |
Europe | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 0.131 per GB | CNY 0.35 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB |
North America | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 0.35 per GB | CNY 0.131 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB |
South America | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB |
Middle East | CNY 5.6 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB | CNY 2.5 per GB |
The price from Region A to Region B is the same as that from Region B to Region A.
Platinum
Inbound region | ||||||
Outbound region | Chinese mainland | Asia-Pacific | Europe | North America | South America | Middle East |
Chinese mainland | CNY 0.72 per GB | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 8.4 per GB |
Asia-Pacific | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 0.788 per GB | CNY 0.788 per GB | CNY 0.788 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB |
Europe | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 0.788 per GB | CNY 0.197 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB |
North America | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 0.788 per GB | CNY 0.525 per GB | CNY 0.197 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB |
South America | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB |
Middle East | CNY 8.4 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB | CNY 3.75 per GB |
The price from Region A to Region B is the same as that from Region B to Region A.
For a list of supported regions, see Supported regions.
The prices on your bill are final.
Pay-by-bandwidth
When you select pay-by-bandwidth:
Inter-region links support only the Gold link type.
Tiered pricing applies. The total fee is the sum of the fees for all tiers. Go to the bandwidth plan purchase page to view the price for the required bandwidth value.
The following tables list the tiered unit prices for connected areas:
Connected areas | Inter-region bandwidth tiered unit price (CNY/Mbps/month) | ||
(0~100Mbps] | (101~1000Mbps] | >1000Mbps | |
Chinese mainland-Chinese mainland | 220 | 80 | 50 |
Asia-Pacific-Asia-Pacific | 180 | 120 | 100 |
Asia-Pacific-North America | 470 | 280 | 240 |
Asia-Pacific-Europe | 470 | 280 | 240 |
Asia-Pacific-Middle East | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
North America-North America | 180 | 120 | 100 |
North America-Europe | 470 | 280 | 240 |
North America-Middle East | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
Europe-Europe | 180 | 120 | 100 |
Europe-Middle East | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
Chinese mainland-Asia-Pacific | 860 | 540 | 480 |
Chinese mainland-North America | 1110 | 670 | 580 |
Chinese mainland-Europe | 1000 | 610 | 530 |
Chinese mainland-Middle East | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
South America-Asia-Pacific | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
South America-North America | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
South America-Europe | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
South America-Middle East | 1100 | 670 | 580 |
Connected areas | Inter-region bandwidth tiered unit price () | ||
(0~100Mbps] | (101~1000Mbps] | >1000Mbps | |
Chinese mainland-Chinese mainland | 34 | 13 | 8 |
Asia-Pacific-Asia-Pacific | 28 | 19 | 16 |
Asia-Pacific-North America | 72 | 43 | 37 |
Asia-Pacific-Europe | 72 | 43 | 37 |
Asia-Pacific-Middle East | 159 | 97 | 84 |
North America-North America | 28 | 19 | 16 |
North America-Europe | 72 | 43 | 37 |
North America-Middle East | 159 | 97 | 84 |
Europe-Europe | 28 | 19 | 16 |
Europe-Middle East | 159 | 97 | 84 |
Chinese mainland-Asia-Pacific | 132 | 83 | 74 |
Chinese mainland-North America | 170 | 103 | 89 |
Chinese mainland-Europe | 153 | 93 | 81 |
Chinese mainland-Middle East | 159 | 97 | 84 |
South America-Chinese mainland | 159 | 97 | 84 |
South America-Asia-Pacific | 159 | 97 | 84 |
South America-North America | 159 | 97 | 84 |
South America-Europe | 159 | 97 | 84 |
South America-Middle East | 159 | 97 | 84 |
Inter-region bandwidth tiered pricing example
Assume that you purchase one bandwidth plan instance connecting two areas in the Chinese mainland, with a peak bandwidth of 110 Mbps and a subscription duration of 1 month. The cost of this bandwidth plan instance is:
CNY 220/Mbps/month × 100 Mbps × 1 month + CNY 80/Mbps/month × 10 Mbps × 1 month = CNY 22,800
Starting March 31, 2021, Alibaba Cloud offers a free trial of CEN bandwidth plans to first-time purchasers with an Alibaba Cloud account. The free trial lasts 1 month and includes up to 5 Mbps of free bandwidth. For more information about the promotion, see Free trial of CEN bandwidth plans.
Link types Inter-region links support Gold and Platinum link types, which provide traffic transmission services at different service levels. The following table compares their service availability and applicable scenarios:
Link type | Service availability | Applicable scenarios |
Gold | 99.95% | Suitable for workloads that are not sensitive to link quality, such as data synchronization and file transfer. |
Platinum | 99.995% | Suitable for workloads that are highly sensitive to link jitter and latency and require high link quality, such as securities trading, online voice, video conferencing, and real-time gaming. |
Billing examples
The following examples show how CEN fees are calculated.
Example 1: Intra-region VPC interconnectivity
As shown in the preceding figure, assume that you create one transit router in China (Hangzhou) and use it to connect two VPCs (VPC1 and VPC2) in the same region. Over 1 month, VPC1 sends 100 GB of traffic to VPC2 through the transit router, and VPC2 sends no data to VPC1. In this scenario, the fees are calculated as follows:
Connection fee:
Two VPC connections are intra-region connections. The connection fee is CNY 0.35/connection/hour (Chinese mainland).
Assume that 1 month has 30 days: 30 days × 24 hours = 720 hours.
CNY 0.35/connection/hour × 2 VPC connections × 720 hours = CNY 504
Traffic processing fee:
The traffic processing fee is CNY 0.13/GB
Traffic ingressing from
VPC1into the transit router is 100 GB, and traffic ingressing fromVPC2into the transit router is 0 GB.CNY 0.13/GB × (100 GB + 0 GB) = CNY 13
Total for 1 month:
Connection fee: CNY 504
Traffic processing fee: CNY 13
Total payable: CNY 504 + CNY 13 = CNY 517
Example 2: Inter-region VPC interconnectivity
As shown in the preceding figure, assume that you create two transit routers in one CEN, one in China (Hangzhou) and the other in China (Shanghai). Each region has one VPC (VPC1 and VPC2), and each VPC is connected to the transit router in the same region. The two transit routers are connected through an inter-region connection. Over 1 month, VPC1 sends 100 GB of traffic to VPC2, and VPC2 sends no data to VPC1. In this scenario, the fees are calculated as follows:
Connection fee:
Two VPC connections are intra-region connections. The connection fee is CNY 0.35/connection/hour (Chinese mainland).
Assume that 1 month has 30 days: 30 days × 24 hours = 720 hours.
CNY 0.35/connection/hour × 2 VPC connections × 720 hours = CNY 504
Traffic processing fee:
The traffic processing fee is CNY 0.13/GB
Traffic ingressing from
VPC1into transit router 1 is 100 GB, and traffic ingressing fromVPC2into transit router 2 is 0 GB.CNY 0.13/GB × (100 GB + 0 GB) = CNY 13
Inter-region bandwidth fee:
Assume that pay-by-data-transfer is selected and the link type is Gold. The unit price for CDT is CNY 0.48/GB (for connectivity within the Chinese mainland).
Inter-region traffic egressing from transit router 1 to transit router 2 is 100 GB, and inter-region traffic egressing from transit router 2 to transit router 1 is 0 GB.
CNY 0.48/GB × (100 GB + 0 GB) = CNY 48
Total for 1 month:
Connection fee: CNY 504
Traffic processing fee: CNY 13
Inter-region bandwidth fee: CNY 48 (pay-by-data-transfer)
Total payable: CNY 504 + CNY 13 + CNY 48 = CNY 565
In the same scenario, if pay-by-bandwidth is selected for inter-region bandwidth, the unit price for bandwidth connecting areas within the Chinese mainland is CNY 220/Mbps/month. If the bandwidth plan has a bandwidth value of 10 Mbps, the inter-region bandwidth fee is CNY 220/Mbps/month × 10 Mbps = CNY 2,200. Adding the connection fee and traffic processing fee, the total for 1 month is CNY 504 + CNY 13 + CNY 2,200 = CNY 2,717.
Usage notes
CCN connections are intra-region connections, but they can be created only through Basic Edition transit routers and do not incur connection fees or traffic processing fees.
For more information about cross-account scenarios and Basic Edition transit routers, see Cross-account scenarios and Basic Edition transit routers.