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 explains billable items by ECS backup scenario, standard backup feature, and data source.

Note

Activating Cloud Backup is free. You are only charged when you use its features.

Billing methods

Most Cloud Backup features support both subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods, as shown in the table below. ECS Backup Essential Edition is an exception and only supports the subscription method.

Billing method	Description
Pay-as-you-go	You pay for services after you use them. Bills are generated hourly for standard backup features and daily for ECS File Backup Essential Edition. All fees are settled monthly. Pay-as-you-go is the default billing method. To use the subscription method, you must purchase a resource plan.
Subscription (resource plan)	A prepaid method that is more cost-effective than pay-as-you-go. You can combine multiple resource plans. Your resource plan covers usage during its validity 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. Usage that exceeds the quota of your resource plan is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. For information about the deduction scenarios for different types of resource plans, see Resource plan deduction scenarios.
Subscription	This method is exclusive to ECS Backup Essential Edition. You must purchase a subscription instance to use the service.

Pricing

Pricing is the same across all regions. For detailed pricing, see the Pricing page. If fees can be offset by resource plans, we recommend that you purchase them first.

ECS backup billing

ECS offers several backup methods with distinct fee structures. Choose the one that best suits your business needs. For a detailed comparison, see Feature comparison of different ECS backup editions.

Backup type	Billable item	Description
ECS File Backup Essential Edition (Recommended)	You are billed for the total block storage capacity of the backed-up ECS instance, regardless of the actual amount of file data.	The billed capacity is the total block storage capacity of the instance, measured as of the last successful backup before 00:00 (UTC+8) daily. Note This edition is easy to use and is billed based on the source data. Each Alibaba Cloud account and its RAM users share a free quota of 100 GiB across all regions.
ECS file backup	Software usage fee + storage capacity fee	The software usage fee is based on the number of servers or ECS instances where the backup client is installed. The storage capacity fee is based on the actual space 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 based on the number of backup vaults. Both this fee and the storage capacity fee are waived for the first 30 days of using the database backup feature. The database backup storage capacity fee is based on actual usage after deduplication and compression. After the 30-day waiver, each vault receives a 100 GB free monthly storage quota.
ECS instance backup	Software usage fee + snapshot fees	The software usage fee is based on the number of ECS instances. The ECS service bills the snapshot fees separately.
ECS Backup Essential Edition	You are billed per instance and must purchase an ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance in advance.	Each ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance can protect up to 500 GB of ECS data. If this limit is exceeded, backup jobs fail. Note To use instance backup, you must first activate the ECS snapshot service. The capacity used for instance backup does not count toward the total protected ECS data volume limit, and Cloud Backup charges no additional software or storage fees. However, the ECS service will bill for any snapshot fees incurred.

Note

To avoid overlapping coverage, choose only one backup plan per data source.

For ECS file backup, choose only one of the following options: ECS File Backup Essential Edition, file backup under ECS Backup Essential Edition, or ECS file backup under standard backup features.
For ECS database backup, choose either database backup under ECS Backup Essential Edition or ECS database backup under standard backup features.
For ECS instance backup, choose either instance backup under ECS Backup Essential Edition or instance backup under standard backup features.

Note

ECS snapshots are a feature provided by Elastic Compute Service (ECS). For more information about the backup principles and fees, see Snapshot overview.

Standard backup feature billing

Billable items for standard Cloud Backup features fall into four categories: backup fees, database backup fees, archiving fees, and traffic fees.

Note

Cloud Backup offers a one-month free trial for backing up each NAS file system and OSS bucket. The corresponding backup vault space is also free during this trial.

Billable items diagram

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 on which the backup client is installed. If a client is activated but has not performed a backup, no file backup software usage fee is charged. If a client is uninstalled but its backup data is retained, the file backup software usage fee is still charged. Billing stops only after all backup data generated by this 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 on which the backup client is installed.
	ECS instance backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	You are charged based on the number of ECS instances that have an instance backup plan. Separately, the ECS service charges for the capacity of snapshots created by using this feature. If you enable automatic archiving, you are also charged for the capacity of archive snapshots and any early deletion fees. If you enable cross-region replication, you are also charged for destination region snapshots, cross-region traffic, cross-region archive snapshots, and any associated 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	This feature supports virus detection for backup points from on-premises files, ECS files, OSS, and NAS. Whether triggered automatically by a policy or manually, you are billed for each file scanned. You are not charged for failed scans.
	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	This service is free for the first 30 days. Afterward, billing is based on the number of protected ECS instances. During a disaster recovery event, you will incur separate pay-as-you-go fees for any new ECS, Elastic Block Storage (EBS), and ECS snapshot resources used.
	VM migration to cloud service usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	You are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis for each successfully migrated virtual machine. A bill is generated upon completion of the migration.
	(Old version) SQL Server backup software usage fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of instances on which the backup client is installed.
Storage capacity fee	Backup storage capacity fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	You are charged for the storage capacity used after deduplication and compression, not the source data capacity. The first 30 days of storage are free for each OSS bucket and each NAS file system.
	Backup vault archive-tier storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged for automatic archiving of a backup vault, calculated based on the source data size at the time of archiving. Archive-tier data is subject to a minimum billable size. Source 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	You are charged based on the amount of data restored from an archive-tier backup point. A minimum billable size of 64 KB applies; files smaller than 64 KB are billed as 64 KB, while larger files are billed based on their actual size. Note A destination backup vault for replication is a type of backup vault. Its 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 based on the number of backup vaults. This fee is waived for the first 30 days after you start using the database backup feature.
Storage capacity fee	Database backup storage capacity fee	Subscription, pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the actual usage after deduplication and compression. This fee is waived for the first 30 days after you start using the database backup feature. After that, a free quota of 100 GB is provided for each vault per month. Tiered pricing applies to usage that exceeds the free quota.

Archiving fees

Billable item		Billing method	Description
Vault rental fee	Archive vault rental fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of archive vaults. A free quota of 5 TB per vault per month is provided.
Vault rental fee	Cold Archive vault rental fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the number of Cold Archive vaults. A free quota of 10 TB per vault per month is provided.
Storage capacity fee	Archive vault storage capacity fee	Pay-as-you-go	Files in an archive vault are subject to 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	Files in a Cold Archive vault are subject to 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	You can enable the full-text search feature when creating an archive. Enabling it immediately creates an index vault, and you will be charged for the storage capacity it consumes.
Early deletion fee	Archive vault early deletion fee	Pay-as-you-go	If you overwrite or delete a file that has been stored for less than 60 days (1,440 hours), you will be billed for the remaining portion of the 60-day minimum storage period.
Early deletion fee	Cold Archive vault early deletion fee	Pay-as-you-go	If a file is overwritten or deleted after being stored for less than 180 days (4,320 hours), you are charged a storage fee for the remaining duration (4,320 hours minus the actual storage duration).
Recovery fee	Archive vault data restoration capacity	Pay-as-you-go	You are charged based on the volume of data you restore from the archive vault. Data restoration typically takes less than 5 minutes, and the actual speed depends on your bandwidth.
Recovery 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 a Cold Archive vault is less than 5 hours. The restoration speed depends on the bandwidth.

Traffic fees

Billable item	Billing method	Description
Outbound traffic fee	Pay-as-you-go	Charged based on the amount of 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, such as restoring data to an ECS instance. When you back up and restore data by using an Express Connect circuit or a VPN gateway, bandwidth and traffic fees are charged by the respective services. Cloud Backup does not charge additional fees. When you back up OSS data, no traffic fees are charged, but OSS request fees are incurred. For more information, see OSS backup fees.
Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee	Pay-as-you-go	The traffic fee that is incurred when you replicate backup data from a source backup vault to a destination backup vault.
Disaster recovery cross-region replication traffic fee	Pay-as-you-go	The traffic fee that is incurred when you replicate ECS disk data to a disaster recovery site.

Billable items by data source

In standard backup features, billable items vary by data source.

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

On-premises data

Data source	Billable items	Related documentation
On-premises databases (MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server)	Database backup vault rental fee: Charged based on the number of backup vaults. The database backup storage capacity fee is based on tiered pricing.	Quick start: Back up an on-premises database
On-premises files	File backup software usage fee: Charged based on the number of clients. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the internet. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Quick start: Back up on-premises files
On-premises NAS	Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the internet. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Quick start: Back up an on-premises NAS
On-premises VMware	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data volume. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the internet.	Quick start: VMware backup and disaster recovery
VMware disaster recovery	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data volume. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. ECS fees, ECS disk fees, and ECS snapshot fees: Charged for new resources that are created during ECS disaster recovery.	Quick start: VMware backup and disaster recovery
VMware migration	VM migration to cloud service usage fee: Charged based on the number of virtual machines migrated to the cloud. ECS image fees: Charged when you perform an incremental migration. ECS fees, ECS disk fees, and ECS snapshot fees: Charged for new resources that are created during ECS disaster recovery.	Quick start: Migrate VMware virtual machines
Archiving	Vault rental fee: Charged based on the number of archive vaults. Storage capacity fee: Charged based on the storage capacity of the archive vault. Early deletion fee: Charged based on the storage capacity if the data is deleted before the minimum retention period ends. Recovery fee: Charged based on the restored data volume.	Quick start: Archive data

Cloud data

Data source	Billable items	Related documentation
ECS files	File backup software usage fee: Charged based on the number of clients. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Quick start: Back up ECS files
ECS instance	ECS instance backup software usage fee The snapshot capacity created by using this feature, and the destination region snapshot capacity and cross-region traffic generated after you enable cross-region replication are charged by the ECS service.	Quick start: Back up an ECS instance
OSS	Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults. OSS request fees generated by the backup service: Charged by the OSS service.	Quick start: Back up OSS data
NAS, CPFS, Tablestore	Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Quick start: Back up Alibaba Cloud NAS Quick start: Back up CPFS Quick start: Back up Tablestore
Self-managed databases (MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server)	Database backup vault rental fee: Charged based on the number of backup vaults. Database backup storage capacity fee: Tiered pricing.	Quick start: Back up an ECS database
SAP HANA	SAP HANA backup software usage fee: Charged based on the number of instances. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Backup vault cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged when you use cross-region replication for backup vaults.	Quick start: Back up SAP HANA
Alibaba Cloud VMware Service	VMware backup software usage fee: Charged based on the source data volume. Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the capacity after deduplication and compression. Outbound traffic fee for data restoration: Charged when you restore data over the internet.	Quick start: VMware backup and disaster recovery
ECS disaster recovery	Continuous replication Disaster recovery software usage fee: Charged based on the number of ECS instances. ECS fees, ECS disk fees, and ECS snapshot fees: Charged for new resources that are created during ECS disaster recovery. Cross-region replication traffic fee. Cloud disk asynchronous replication Disaster recovery software usage fee: Charged based on the number of ECS instances. Fees for pay-as-you-go ECS instances and cloud disks created at the disaster recovery site are charged by ECS. Cross-region replication traffic fee: Charged by ECS on a pay-as-you-go basis.	Quick start: ECS disaster recovery
Containers	Backup vault storage capacity: Charged based on the storage capacity of the container backup vault.	Back up Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) clusters

Billing examples

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

Stop billing

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

FAQ

Why am I still charged after I purchase a resource plan?

The following are common reasons why you are still charged after you purchase a Cloud Backup resource plan:

Resource plan mismatch: The purchased resource plan may not cover the specific fees incurred. For example, a Cloud Backup storage capacity resource plan cannot offset the snapshot fees that are incurred by ECS instance backup.
Usage exceeds resource plan quota: Usage that exceeds the quota of your resource plan is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Billable items not covered by resource plans: Some billable items, such as traffic fees, archiving fees, and vault rental fees, cannot be offset by resource plans and support only pay-as-you-go billing.
Resource plan not linked to the correct account: Check whether the resource plan is linked to the account that incurs the charges.

Are local backups and cross-region backups billed separately?

When you use cross-region backup, in addition to the storage capacity fee for the local backup vault, you are also charged a storage capacity fee for the cross-region backup vault and a cross-region replication traffic fee. For more information, see Billing of cross-region backups.

Am I still charged after I pause a backup plan?

Pausing a backup plan only stops future backup jobs; it does not delete existing backup data.

Storage capacity fee: You are still charged for the storage occupied by existing backup data.
Software usage fee: If a client still has associated backup data, even if the client is paused or uninstalled, software usage fees are still incurred.

If you no longer need the Cloud Backup service, you can stop billing for each data source to avoid unexpected 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