Cloud Backup billing methods and billable items-Cloud Backup(Cloud Backup)-阿里云帮助中心

This topic describes the billing methods, pricing, and billing examples for Cloud Backup. It also details the billable items from three perspectives: different backup solutions for ECS, backup features, and various backup sources.

Important

Activating Cloud Backup is free, but fees may apply when you use its features.

Billing methods

Most Cloud Backup features and billable items support both subscription and pay-as-you-go billing.

Billing method	Description
Pay-as-you-go	A postpaid billing model where you pay for what you use. Bills for all backup types are generated hourly, except for ECS File Backup Essential Edition, for which bills are generated daily. Fees are settled monthly. Pay-as-you-go is the default billing method when you activate the product. To use the subscription billing method, you can purchase a resource plan.
Subscription (resource plan)	A prepaid model with lower pricing than pay-as-you-go. Multiple resource plans can be stacked. Usage is deducted from the resource plan during the subscription period. After the plan expires, billing automatically reverts to pay-as-you-go. Note Resource plans take effect immediately after purchase and are non-refundable. Any usage that exceeds the quota of your resource plan is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. For information about the billable items that can be offset by different types of resource plans, see Deductible scenarios of resource plans.

Pricing

Pricing is consistent across all regions. For detailed prices, see the Pricing page. If a fee can be offset by a resource plan, we recommend that you purchase a resource plan first.

ECS backup billing

ECS provides multiple backup methods, each with a different cost structure. Choose the one that best fits your business needs. For a detailed comparison of features, see Feature comparison of different ECS backup editions.

Backup type	Billable item	Description
ECS File Backup Essential Edition	Billed based on the total capacity of block storage attached to the backed-up ECS instance, regardless of the actual file data size.	The total block storage capacity is calculated based on the capacity of the latest backup completed before 00:00 (UTC+8). Note Billed at the backup source. Each Alibaba Cloud account and its RAM users share a 100 GiB free quota across all regions.
ECS File Backup Standard Edition	Software usage fee + Storage capacity fee	The software usage fee is charged based on the number of servers or ECS instances with the backup client installed. The storage capacity fee is billed based on the actual capacity consumed after deduplication and compression.
ECS database backup	Database backup vault rental fee + Database backup storage capacity fee	The database backup vault rental fee is charged per backup vault and is waived for the first 30 days of using the database backup feature. The database backup storage capacity fee is based on the actual usage after deduplication and compression. This fee is also waived for the first 30 days. Afterward, each vault includes a 100 GB free monthly quota.
ECS instance backup	Software usage fee + snapshot fees	The software usage fee is charged per ECS instance. snapshot fees are charged by the snapshot service.

Note

For an ECS instance, you can use either ECS File Backup Essential Edition or ECS File Backup Standard Edition, but not both.

Billing for backup features

Billable items for backup features include backup fees, database backup fees, data archiving fees, and traffic fees.

Note

Each NAS file system and OSS bucket on Alibaba Cloud includes a one-month free trial for backup. The corresponding backup vault storage is also free during the trial period.

Backup fees (excluding database backup)

Billable item		Billing method	Description
Software usage fee	File backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of servers or ECS instances with the backup client installed. If a client is activated but has no backup data, the file backup software usage fee is not charged. If you uninstall a client but its backup data remains, the software usage fee is still charged. Billing stops only after all backup data from the client is deleted or automatically purged upon expiration.
	SAP HANA backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of instances with the backup client installed.
	ECS instance backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of ECS instances configured with an instance backup plan. The snapshot service charges for the snapshot capacity created by this feature. After you enable automatic archiving, you are also charged for the capacity of archive snapshots and, if applicable, fees for archive-tier capacity retained for less than the minimum duration. If you enable cross-region backup replication, additional charges apply for destination region snapshot capacity, cross-region traffic, cross-region archive snapshot capacity, and, if applicable, archive-tier early deletion fees.
	OSS/NAS/Tablestore backup software	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Free of charge.
	Backup point virus detection fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	You are charged per scanned file for both automatic and manual scans. You are not charged for files that fail to scan.
	VMware backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the allocated disk space of the virtual machine.
	ECS disaster recovery software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Free for the first 30 days. Charged based on the number of ECS instances. Additional fees apply for ECS instances, ECS disks, and ECS snapshots used during ECS disaster recovery. Only the pay-as-you-go billing method is supported.
	VM migration to cloud service usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of successfully migrated virtual machines. A bill is generated after migration is complete. Only the pay-as-you-go billing method is supported.
	(Old version) SQL Server backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of instances with the backup client installed.
Storage capacity fee	Backup storage capacity fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression, not raw data capacity. OSS backup is free for the first 30 days per bucket. NAS backup is free for the first 30 days per file system.
	Backup vault archive-tier storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Fees for automatic archiving in a backup vault are calculated based on the source data size of the backup point at the time of archiving. The archive tier has a minimum billable size. Objects or files smaller than 64 KB are billed as 64 KB. Objects or files that are 64 KB or larger are billed based on their actual size.
	Backup vault archive-tier data restoration capacity	Pay-as-you-go	Restoring data from an archive-tier backup point incurs a fee based on the actual size of the restored data. Data restoration from the archive tier has a minimum billable size: items smaller than 64 KB are billed as 64 KB, while larger items are billed based on their actual size. Note A replication destination vault is a type of backup vault. The storage capacity fees are identical to those of a standard backup vault.

Database backup fees

Billable item		Billing method	Description
Vault rental fee	Database backup vault rental fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged per backup vault. This fee is waived for the first 30 days of using the database backup feature.
Storage capacity fee	Database backup storage capacity fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Billed based on actual usage after deduplication and compression. This fee is waived for the first 30 days. Afterward, each vault includes a 100 GB free monthly quota. Usage beyond the free quota is subject to tiered pricing.

Data archiving fees

Billable item		Billing method	Description
Vault rental fee	Archive vault rental fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged per archive vault. Includes a free quota of 5 TB per vault per month.
Vault rental fee	Cold Archive vault rental fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged per Cold Archive vault. Includes a free quota of 10 TB per vault per month.
Storage capacity fee	Archive vault storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Archive vaults have a minimum billable size. A file smaller than 64 KB is billed as 64 KB. A file that is 64 KB or larger is billed based on its actual size.
	Cold Archive vault storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Cold Archive vaults have a minimum billable size. A file smaller than 64 KB is billed as 64 KB. A file that is 64 KB or larger is billed based on its actual size.
	Index vault storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Full-text search can be enabled only when you create an archive vault. Enabling this feature immediately creates an index vault. You are charged for the storage capacity of the index vault.
Fee for early deletion	Fee for early deletion from archive vault	Pay-as-you-go	If you overwrite or delete a file that has been stored for less than 60 days (1,440 hours), you are charged a storage fee for the remaining duration.
Fee for early deletion	Fee for early deletion from Cold Archive vault	Pay-as-you-go	If you overwrite or delete a file that has been stored for less than 180 days (4,320 hours), you are charged a storage fee for the remaining duration.
Restoration fee	Archive vault data restoration capacity	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the volume of data restored from the archive vault. The restoration latency for archive vaults is less than 5 minutes. Restoration speed depends on your bandwidth.
Restoration fee	Cold Archive vault data restoration capacity	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the volume of data restored from the Cold Archive vault. The restoration latency for Cold Archive vaults is less than 5 hours. Restoration speed depends on your bandwidth.

Traffic fees

Billable item	Billing method	Description
Outbound Internet traffic fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the actual outbound traffic when you restore (download) data over the Internet. Note No traffic fees are charged for uploading backup data or restoring data over the Alibaba Cloud internal network (for example, to an ECS instance). When you back up and restore data using Express Connect or a VPN gateway, bandwidth and traffic fees are charged by the respective services. Cloud Backup does not charge additional fees. Backing up OSS data does not incur traffic fees, but it generates OSS request fees. For more information, see OSS backup fees.
Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults	Pay-as-you-go	This fee is for traffic generated when you copy backup data from a source backup vault to a destination backup vault.
Cross-region replication traffic fee for disaster recovery	Pay-as-you-go	This fee is for traffic generated when you replicate ECS disk data to a disaster recovery site.

Billable items by data source

Billable items vary based on the data source.

On-premises data includes on-premises databases (MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server), local files, on-premises NAS, on-premises VMware, VMware disaster recovery, VMware migration, and data archiving.
Cloud data includes ECS files, ECS instances, OSS, NAS, CPFS, Tablestore, self-managed databases on ECS (MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server), SAP HANA, Alibaba Cloud VMware Service, ECS disaster recovery, and containers.

Note

ECS file backup is available in Essential and Standard editions, which have different billing methods. This section describes the billable items for the Standard edition. The Essential edition is billed based on total block storage capacity. For more information, see ECS backup billing.

On-premises data

Data source	Billable items	Related documentation
On-premises databases (MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server)	Database backup vault rental fee: Charged per backup vault. Database backup storage capacity fee: Tiered pricing.	Back up an on-premises database
Local files	File backup software usage fee: Charged per client. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound Internet traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the Internet. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Back up local files
On-premises NAS	Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound Internet traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the Internet. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Back up an on-premises NAS device
On-premises VMware	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data size. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound Internet traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the Internet.	VMware backup and disaster recovery
VMware disaster recovery	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data size. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. ECS fees, ECS disk fees, and ECS snapshot fees: Charged for new resources created during ECS disaster recovery.	VMware backup and disaster recovery
VMware migration	VMware to cloud migration service fee: Charged per successfully migrated virtual machine. ECS image fees: Charged for incremental migration. ECS instance, ECS disk, and snapshot fees for new resources created during ECS disaster recovery.	Migrate VMware virtual machines
Data archiving	Vault rental fee: Charged per archive vault. Storage capacity fee: Charged based on the storage capacity of the archive vault. Fee for early deletion: Charged if the archival duration is less than the minimum requirement. Restoration fee: Charged based on the restoration capacity.	Data archiving

Cloud data

Data source	Billable items	Related documentation
ECS files	File backup software usage fee: Charged per client. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Back up ECS files by using the Standard edition
ECS instances	ECS instance backup software usage fee: Charged per ECS instance. The snapshot service charges for the snapshot capacity created by this feature. If cross-region replication is enabled, the snapshot service also charges for the snapshot capacity in the destination region and for cross-region traffic.	Back up ECS instances
OSS	Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults. OSS request fees generated by the backup service: Charged by the OSS service.	Back up OSS data
NAS, CPFS, and Tablestore	Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Back up Alibaba Cloud NAS Back up CPFS Back up Tablestore
Self-managed databases (MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server)	Database backup vault rental fee: Charged per backup vault. Database backup storage capacity fee: Tiered pricing.	Back up a database on an ECS instance
SAP HANA	SAP HANA backup software usage fee: Charged per instance. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Cross-region replication traffic fee for backup vaults: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Back up SAP HANA
Alibaba Cloud VMware Service	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data size. Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound Internet traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the Internet.	VMware backup and disaster recovery
ECS disaster recovery	Continuous replication Disaster recovery software usage fee: Charged per ECS instance. ECS fees, ECS disk fees, and ECS snapshot fees: Charged for new resources created during ECS disaster recovery. Cross-region replication traffic fee Async replication for ECS disks Disaster recovery software usage fee: Charged per ECS instance. ECS charges for pay-as-you-go ECS instances and disks created at the disaster recovery site. Cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged by ECS on a pay-as-you-go basis.	ECS disaster recovery
Containers	Backup vault storage capacity fee: Charged based on the storage capacity of the container backup vault.	Back up ACK containers

Billing examples

Cloud Backup provides billing examples for typical scenarios. For more information, see Billing examples.

Stop billing

If you no longer need Cloud Backup, you can stop billing for each data source to avoid further charges. For more information, see Stop billing for Cloud Backup.

FAQ

Charges after purchasing a resource plan

Common reasons for continued charges after purchasing a Cloud Backup resource plan include:

Resource plan type mismatch: The purchased resource plan does not cover the service that incurred the fees. For example, a Cloud Backup storage capacity resource plan cannot offset snapshot fees from ECS instance backup.
Usage exceeds plan quota: Usage that exceeds the resource plan quota is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Non-deductible billable items: Some billable items, such as traffic fees, data archiving fees, and vault rental fees, support only pay-as-you-go billing and cannot be offset by resource plans.
Resource plan not linked to the active account: Verify that the resource plan is linked to the account that is incurring charges.

Billing for local and cross-region backups

Yes. When you use cross-region backup, you are charged for the storage capacity of the source backup vault, the storage capacity of the destination backup vault, and the cross-region replication traffic. For more information, see Cross-region backup billing.

Charges for paused backup plans

Pausing a backup plan only stops new backup tasks from running but does not delete existing backup data.

Storage capacity fees: Existing backup data still occupies storage space and continues to incur storage capacity fees.
Software usage fees: Software usage fees continue to accrue if a client has associated backup data, even if that client is paused or uninstalled.

If you no longer need Cloud Backup, you can stop billing for each data source to avoid further charges. For more information, see Stop billing for Cloud Backup.

Online technical support

To receive faster support and avoid ticket queues, you can contact Cloud Backup technical support directly with questions about fees, features, and usage.

Cloud Backup Service Support Group
You can quickly consult on issues such as fees, features, and usage. Click to join the Cloud Backup Service Support group (We recommend using Chrome to open the link), or manually search for the DingTalk group ID: 174895001544
Cloud Backup Expert Support
You can obtain live analysis from technical experts to quickly resolve product issues. Click to contact expert support (Use Chrome to open the link), or add the expert as a DingTalk contact: d37_g935gslgo