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Metering and billing

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This topic answers frequently asked questions about metering and billing for Alibaba Cloud Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

Viewing API call usage

API call deduction order

  • Free tier > dedicated resource plan > shared resource plan > pay-as-you-go.

  • After your free tier and resource plans are consumed, the system automatically charges you on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Guaranteed concurrency

  • After activating the OCR service, a concurrency of 10 queries per second (QPS) is guaranteed for your account.

Using OCR without a resource plan

  • Yes, you can use the service as long as it is activated. When you activate the service, the pay-as-you-go billing method is enabled by default. Alibaba Cloud charges you for each billable API call you make, with no upper limit.

  • If you do not make any API calls, you will not incur any charges for the OCR service.

Refunds for incorrect resource plans

  • If you purchased the wrong plan due to incorrect information in the product description and the resource plan has not been used, you can submit a ticket to request a refund. The approval process takes approximately 3 to 4 business days, and the refund is returned to your original payment method. If you need to use another product urgently, you can purchase the correct resource plan while waiting for approval.

Refunds for partially used resource plans

  • A resource plan is not refundable once it has been used to cover API calls. Resource plans are a prepaid product. We recommend that you estimate your usage accurately before you purchase a plan to avoid waste. Thank you for your understanding.

Configuring resource plan alerts

The Alert Settings page includes the following options: resource plan balance alert, resource plan budget settings, and resource plan expiration alert (enabled by default) for resource plans from the Alibaba Cloud website; resource plan balance alert for resource plans from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace; and pay-as-you-go daily consumption alert for the pay-as-you-go model. Click the Go to Settings link next to each item to configure the corresponding alert.

Deduction rules and error charges

  • Charges are deducted from your resource plan based on the following rules:

    • Only successful recognition attempts are billable. You are not charged for errors.

    • Each image is counted as a single API call.

    • If your image contains multiple documents, the API call may fail. In this case, you have the following options:

      • Option 1: Split the image into individual document images before you make the API call.

      • Option 2: Use the mixed-document recognition API. This API supports multiple documents in a single image, but only for card and certificate types that are supported by Alibaba Cloud OCR.

Viewing bills for RAM users

  • All charges incurred by RAM users are billed to the main account. You can view detailed billing information in Alibaba Cloud Billing Management.

Checking remaining resource plan calls

Billing for mixed-invoice recognition

  • The mixed-invoice recognition API is billed per API call. For example, if you process one image that contains five invoices in a single API call, you are charged for one API call.

  • Note: Processing an image with a large number of sub-images can affect recognition accuracy.

Overdue payments after resource plan depletion

  • After your OCR resource plan is depleted, the system automatically switches to the pay-as-you-go billing method. If your account balance is insufficient to cover these charges, an overdue payment occurs. To resolve this, add funds to your account in Billing Management. Ensure your account has a sufficient balance. You can view your billing details for a breakdown of charges. For information about service suspension due to an overdue payment, see the Overdue payments documentation.

  • Billing delay: OCR metering and billing is not real-time. After you purchase a resource plan, you may still receive pay-as-you-go bills or quota depletion SMS notifications for API calls made before the plan was purchased. These notifications reflect historical fee settlements and do not indicate that your current resource plan balance is depleted.

  • Deduction rules: A resource plan only covers new API calls made after the plan takes effect. It cannot retroactively cover overdue payments or pay-as-you-go charges incurred before the resource plan was purchased.

  • Verification: If you receive such notifications, refer to the real-time remaining balance shown in the OCR console under Data Monitoring or OCR console under Settings > Resource Plan Management as the authoritative source. Subsequent API calls will be deducted from your resource plan first.

Marketplace resource plan usage and conversion

  • No. Resource plans from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and the official Alibaba Cloud website are sold through different channels, have different billing methods, and are eligible for separate free tiers. A resource plan from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace cannot be used to cover pay-as-you-go charges from the website, nor can it be converted into a website resource plan.

Transferring resource plans

  • No.

Disabling the service and charges for non-use

  • You cannot disable the OCR service after you activate it. However, you will not incur any charges if you do not use the service. Please keep your AppKey and AppSecret secure.

Dedicated vs. shared resource plans

  • A shared resource plan can be used to cover calls across multiple APIs, while a dedicated resource plan can only be used for a single, specific API.

  • You cannot convert between shared and dedicated resource plans.

Dedicated vs. shared plan pricing

  • For the same API, the unit price per API call may differ slightly between shared and dedicated resource plans depending on the plan's capacity. Choose the resource plan type that best suits your needs.

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