Managed Service for OpenTelemetry charges based on the volume of observability data ingested after processing.
This billing model applies to new users by default. Existing users can switch via the billing change wizard in the console. For questions, join DingTalk group 37120013838.
Billable items
Managed Service for OpenTelemetry charges for two categories: data ingestion and archive storage.
Data ingestion
Metrics, traces, and profiling share a single per-GB price that varies by region.
| Data type | Included storage period | Price per GB (Chinese mainland) | Price per GB (regions outside the Chinese mainland) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metrics | 90 days | USD 0.062 | USD 0.087 |
| Traces | 30 days | USD 0.062 | USD 0.087 |
| Profiling | 7 days | USD 0.062 | USD 0.087 |
Archive storage
Only trace data supports archiving. Archived data is billed based on its uncompressed size:
Daily archive storage fee = Daily cumulative uncompressed storage (GB) x Price per GB| Archive item | Price per GB (Chinese mainland) | Price per GB (regions outside the Chinese mainland) |
|---|---|---|
| Trace archive storage | USD 0.000263 | USD 0.000378 |
Supported archive periods: 60, 90, and 180 days.
To configure archive storage, go to System Configuration > Cluster Configuration in the Managed Service for OpenTelemetry console. In the Storage Retention Period Configuration section, select an archive period or disable archiving. Archive storage settings apply per region.
What counts as billable data
Billable volume is the data stored after processing (cleaning, aggregation, conversion, and analysis) — not the raw traffic reported by agents or SDKs.
Free tier
Each Alibaba Cloud account receives a monthly free tier upon activating a paid plan, shared across all applications and instances.
| Allowance | Details |
|---|---|
| Monthly free ingestion (total) | 50 GB |
| -- Metrics | 25 GB |
| -- Traces | 25 GB |
| Included storage for metrics | 90 days |
| Included storage for traces | 30 days |
| Included storage for profiling | 7 days |
Rules:
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The free tier for Application Monitoring and Managed Service for OpenTelemetry applies across regions. Deductions follow billing order — the first item billed consumes the allowance.
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Metrics and traces free tiers are separate and non-transferable. Example: 40 GB traces + 5 GB metrics → 15 GB of traces billed (40 − 25 GB free tier). The unused 20 GB metrics allowance is forfeited.
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Included storage periods are fixed and cannot be modified.
Minimum daily usage
For Application Monitoring and Managed Service for OpenTelemetry, the minimum daily billable volume per application is 0.1 GB per data type. If no data is ingested for a given type, no minimum applies.
For example, if an application uses 20 MB of metrics, 10 MB of traces, and 0 MB of profiling data in a day:
| Data type | Actual usage | Billed amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metrics | 20 MB | 0.1 GB | Minimum applied |
| Traces | 10 MB | 0.1 GB | Minimum applied |
| Profiling | 0 MB | 0 GB | No data ingested |
Metrics billing
Starting July 1, 2024, default performance statistics metrics are billable. Custom metrics are billed by ingestion volume. All metrics share the 25 GB monthly free tier.
Profiling data
Profiling data includes files from Continuous Profiling and Application Diagnosis:
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Memory snapshots
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Flame graphs from performance analysis
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Thread status and call stacks from thread analysis
Billing cycle
ARMS calculates the previous day's consumption at 00:00 daily. Bills are typically issued by 08:00 and fees are deducted automatically. View bills in the Expenses and Costs console, or check resource-level usage in Resource usage and bills.
Cost estimation
Estimate from actual usage
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New to ARMS: Connect a test application, then check data volume on the Usage Statistics tab of the Overview page.
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Already using ARMS: Check data volume directly on the Usage Statistics tab of the Overview page.
Estimate from business scale
The following table compares the new and previous billing models (assuming 1.27 KB average span size, 100 million spans/day, 30-day storage):
| Business scale | Estimated daily data volume | New pay-as-you-go pricing | Previous pay-as-you-go pricing | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 million spans stored for 30 days | 121 GB | USD 7.5 per day | USD 10.75 per day | 30% |
The new model no longer bills separately for data reporting, trace storage, or metric storage.
Activate the service
Open the Managed Service for OpenTelemetry buy page and follow the prompts.
Change the billing method
Billing changes take effect account-wide. Review the cost comparison for all regions in use. If your account spans Chinese mainland and other regions, switch between them at the top of the page to compare costs.
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On the Overview page, in the Resource status section, click Billing Change Wizard.
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In the Comparison Between New and Old Prices step, review the cost comparison and click Next.
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In the Activate New Billing step, click Click to Activate, then click Redetect to verify the activation status.
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Click Complete.