This topic describes the billing method for the Image Search service.
The Image Search service is billed based on a monthly (calendar month) subscription resource plan. The only billable items are Maximum image capacity and Access frequency (QPS). All other features are free of charge.
Maximum image capacity: The maximum number of images that you can index. For example, if you purchase a plan for 2.5 million images and 5 QPS, the instance can index up to 2.5 million images. For more information, see Maximum image capacity.
Access frequency (QPS): The number of requests that the Image Search service can process per second. A higher QPS lets you process more requests in the same amount of time. For example, an Image Search service plan with 5 QPS lets you perform 5 image search operations per second. The QPS for deleting images is fixed at 20. For more information about QPS, see Access frequency (QPS).
If an instance expires or has an overdue payment, it is at risk of downtime. You should renew the instance promptly to prevent service disruptions. For more product details or to obtain technical support, click Online Support or contact us through our DingTalk group (35035130).
Price list
The current prices for subscription resource plans on the Alibaba Cloud China Website (www.aliyun.com) are as follows:
Subscription module | Billing method | Maximum image capacity (images) | Call QPS | Price (CNY) |
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription (1-month free trial) | 100,000 | 1 | ￥980.00 |
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 500,000 | 5 | ￥1,500.00 |
10 | ￥2,500.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 1,000,000 | 5 | ￥2,200.00 |
10 | ￥3,300.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 2,500,000 | 5 | ￥3,800.00 |
10 | ￥6,800.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 5,000,000 | 5 | ￥6,700.00 |
10 | ￥12,300.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 10,000,000 | 5 | ￥12,000.00 |
10 | ￥22,000.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 20,000,000 | 5 | ￥21,600.00 |
10 | ￥39,600.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 30,000,000 | 5 | ￥29,200.00 |
10 | ￥53,500.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 40,000,000 | 5 | ￥35,000.00 |
10 | ￥64,200.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 50,000,000 | 5 | ￥39,400.00 |
10 | ￥72,200.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 60,000,000 | 5 | ￥58,700.00 |
10 | ￥89,200.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 100,000,000 | 5 | ￥85,000.00 |
10 | ￥124,000.00 | |||
Monthly (1 calendar month) | Subscription | 200,000,000 | 5 | ￥170,000.00 |
10 | ￥230,000.00 |
The preceding tables list the maximum image capacity and call QPS supported by each subscription resource plan. For more information, contact us through the DingTalk group (35035130).
Cost composition:
The current billable items are maximum image capacity and call QPS. These are included in the corresponding subscription resource plans and cannot be purchased separately. You cannot stack resource plans. Other features of Image Search are free to use.
All subscription resource plans include unlimited API calls.
The 100,000 images/1 QPS plan includes a one-month free trial. This is a limited offer, and each user can purchase this plan only once.
If you require a larger resource plan, you can contact Alibaba Cloud customer service or email imagesearch-support@list.alibaba-inc.com for a custom quote.
You can select and purchase an Image Search service type and plan specification based on your scenario and usage. For more information about how to make a purchase, see Activate the service.
Service types: Product image search and Generic image search, Fabric image search, Trademark image search, Copyright image search, Furniture and home goods image search, and Industrial hardware image search.
Image Search offers service plans with a maximum image capacity of 100,000, 500,000, 1 million, 2.5 million, 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, 30 million, 40 million, 50 million, 60 million, 100 million, and 200 million, offering a total of 13 plans. You can also select from three Access QPS plans: 1 QPS (limited to a maximum image capacity of 100,000), 5 QPS, and 10 QPS.
Upgrades and downgrades
If you need a resource plan with higher specifications, you can upgrade your current plan. If you need a resource plan with lower specifications, you can downgrade your current plan.
The new resource plan takes effect immediately after an upgrade, and the original plan becomes invalid. The upgrade fee is the price difference between the new and original plans for the remaining subscription duration.
The new resource plan takes effect immediately after a downgrade, and the original plan becomes invalid. The price difference between the original and new plans is refunded to you for the remaining subscription duration.
You can upgrade or downgrade the maximum image capacity and access frequency (QPS) separately. For example, if you have an instance with a capacity of 2.5 million images and 5 QPS, you can upgrade the QPS to 10 while keeping the capacity at 2.5 million images. You can also upgrade the capacity to 5 million images while keeping the QPS at 5.
The plan with a 100,000 image capacity is a special case. If you upgrade this plan to a specification of 500,000 images or more, you can only downgrade it back to the 500,000 image plan. You cannot downgrade it to the 100,000 image plan. If you need the 100,000 image plan, you must purchase a new instance with that plan.
Renewal
You can renew your resource plan at any time. During renewal, you can specify the subscription duration and resource plan specification. The system displays the price for your selected configuration. After you complete the renewal, the new billing cycle begins.
You can renew your plan manually or enable auto-renewal. Image Search supports 7 auto-renewal cycles: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years.
For more information about how to renew a plan, see Renew an expiring resource.
Overdue payments
If your resource plan expires and is not renewed, your instance is retained for seven calendar days and then released.
Release
To release an instance before it expires, go to in the Alibaba Cloud console.
Alibaba Cloud offers two types of instance unsubscriptions: 5-day unconditional and non-5-day unconditional. Each user can unconditionally unsubscribe from one instance of each product for a full refund within a calendar year (January 1 to December 31), except for security reasons such as having the same account holder. If a malicious unsubscription request is identified, Alibaba Cloud has the right to reject the request.For more information about the unsubscription rules, see Unsubscription rules.
When you unsubscribe from an Image Search instance, only the fee for the remaining subscription duration is refunded.
For more information about the refund path, see Refund path.
For more information about unsubscriptions, see the Unsubscription FAQ.