ApsaraDB for HBase supports two billing methods: subscription and pay-as-you-go. Choose based on how long you plan to use the cluster and how predictable your workload is.
You cannot change a subscription instance's billing method to pay-as-you-go after purchase.
Choose a billing method
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment model | Prepaid — pay when you purchase the cluster | Postpaid — billed hourly based on cluster specifications |
| Best for | Long-term, stable workloads | Short-term or variable workloads, such as testing |
| Cost efficiency | Lower unit cost; longer terms get steeper discounts | Higher unit cost, but no upfront commitment |
| Flexibility | Cannot switch to pay-as-you-go after purchase | Release the instance at any time to stop charges; switch to subscription when usage stabilizes |
Quick guidance:
Running a production cluster for months or years? Use subscription for lower costs.
Evaluating the service, running a test environment, or handling unpredictable traffic? Use pay-as-you-go.
Subscription
Subscription is a prepaid billing method. Pay upfront when you purchase the cluster. Longer subscription periods come with lower per-unit prices.
Pay-as-you-go
Pay-as-you-go is a postpaid billing method. Use the cluster first and pay afterward. The system generates a bill every hour and deducts the fee from your Alibaba Cloud account balance based on the cluster specifications.
This billing method suits short-term use cases such as testing. Release a pay-as-you-go instance at any time to stop accruing charges.
When you can accurately estimate your monthly or annual resource needs, switch to subscription to reduce costs. For instructions, see Change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription.