Billing method
IDaaS Security Authentication is billed based on subscription packages of Cost Units (CUs). One CU is equivalent to CNY 1.25. The fees for any authentication method that you use are deducted from your CU balance.
CU is a virtual billing unit of IDaaS. Before you use the IDaaS Security Authentication service, you must purchase a CU plan. The fees generated when you use different authentication methods are automatically offset using the CU plan.
CU plans are different from other common resource plans. After the CUs in your CU plan are used up, IDaaS Security Authentication stops providing services. In this case, the billing method is not automatically changed to pay-as-you-go, and service fees are not deducted from your Alibaba Cloud account. Therefore, make sure that the CUs in your CU plan are sufficient so that your business is not affected. We recommend that you enable the balance alerting feature.
The following table describes how you are charged for different authentication methods.
Authentication method | Each deduction from the balance |
Short message service (SMS) authentication using verification codes in text messages | 0.045 CUs per text message |
Mobile Number Authentication (One-click App Login) | 0.036 CUs per time |
Internet Finance Authentication Alliance (IFAA) using biological methods such as fingerprint recognition and facial recognition on apps | 0.015 CUs per time |
Web Authentication (WebAuthn) using methods such as fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, and personal identification number (PIN) on PCs | 0.015 CUs per time |
TOTP (dynamic password) | 0.010 CUs per time |
Discounts
The CUs consumed per text message or per time for a specific authentication method are fixed. For example, SMS authentication consumes 0.045 CUs per text message, and WebAuthn consumes 0.015 CUs per time.
By default, the validity period of a CU plan is one year. The validity period displayed on the order prevails. After the CU plan expires, it becomes invalid and can no longer be used to offset service fees. If you purchase multiple CU plans, the fees generated when you use the service are preferentially offset using the CU plan with an earlier expiration time.
Billing rules
SMS authentication
Text messages sent to the Chinese mainland
Each simplified Chinese character, letter, digit, or symbol is calculated as one character.
If a message contains no more than 70 characters, you are charged for one message. If a message contains more than 70 characters, it is separated into multiple messages and each message contains no more than 67 characters.
Example: A 160-character text message is split into three messages (67, 67, and 26 characters), and is billed as three separate messages.
Text messages sent to countries or regions outside the Chinese mainland
Each letter, digit, or symbol is calculated as one character.
If a message contains no more than 140 characters, you are charged for one message. If a message contains more than 140 characters, it is separated into multiple messages and each message contains no more than 134 characters. A signature is enclosed in brackets [].
Example: A 300-character text message is split into three messages of 134, 134, and 32 characters, and billed as three messages.
If a message contains Chinese characters, digits, or symbols other than letters, the characters are calculated based on the length rules on the text messages sent to the Chinese mainland.
Unit price: For the convenience of using SMS authentication, the unit price of SMS authentication in different regions is the same. In the future, the unit price of SMS authentication will vary based on the region. You can use SMS authentication only in specific regions. If your business requirements cannot be met, contact the IDaaS Security Authentication team.
Mobile number-based authentication
Mobile number-based logon: When you use mobile number-based logon, you are charged if a mobile number is returned. Otherwise, you are not charged.
Mobile number verification: You are charged if an authentication result is returned to indicate whether the mobile number is consistent or inconsistent. You are not charged if an unidentified result is returned.
You are not charged when you initialize an SDK.
IFAA, WebAuthn, and TOTP
You are charged only when the authentication is passed. You are not charged for authenticator registration or authenticator authentication initialization. You are not charged when the authentication fails or unidentified results are returned.
You are charged for IDaaS Security Authentication based on the subscription billing method. Therefore, you cannot query resource usage in the Billing Management console or by calling common API operations. IDaaS Security Authentication lets you query fees and resource usage. You can contact the IDaaS Security Authentication team to obtain relevant API operations.