DSW billing
DSW is billed based on instance runtime and specifications. It supports pay-as-you-go, resource plans, and subscription billing.
Billing overview
Billing items
Compute instances
Instances are classified as public resources or dedicated resources (general computing resources or Lingjun AI Computing resources) and are billed differently.
|
Instance type |
Billing method |
Billing basis |
Billing rules |
Stopping billing |
|
Public resource |
Pay-as-you-go |
DSW instance service duration (duration of public resource usage). |
For specific instance prices, see the purchase page in the console. Important
Billing note: DSW instances are billed by the minute, but bills are generated hourly. Due to data aggregation and processing, your bill may be delayed by 2–3 hours. Refer to the final bill for actual charges. |
Important
To stop an instance, you must manually stop it or configure scheduled shutdown. For details, see Manage DSW instances. |
|
Dedicated resource (general computing resources or Lingjun AI Computing resources) |
Subscription |
The number of node specifications purchased and the purchase duration. |
Subscribe to dedicated resources. You are charged based on the number of node specifications purchased and the purchase duration. For details, see Subscribe to dedicated resources. |
Not applicable |
Public resource pay-as-you-go discounts and trials
New users can claim a free trial. For details, see Claim, use, and release free trial resources.
Supports offset by PAI savings plans. For details, see PAI savings plan.
Supports offset by resource plans. For details, see DSW resource plan.
System disk
|
Billing method |
Billing basis |
Billing rules |
Stopping billing |
|
Pay-as-you-go |
System disk capacity and usage duration. |
After you expand the system disk, you are billed for the capacity that exceeds the free quota and the usage duration.
|
Delete the DSW instance. Warning
After you expand the system disk, the expanded portion continues to be billed even if the DSW instance is stopped. To stop billing, back up your data and then delete the DSW instance. |
Pay-as-you-go discounts
PAI savings plan
You can use a PAI savings plan to prepay for a committed consumption amount, which is used to offset DSW pay-as-you-go bills.
|
Resource type |
Billing formula |
Unit price |
Billing period |
Scaling |
Other notes |
|
|
You can prepay a committed consumption amount from CNY 100 to CNY 1,000,000 to offset DSW pay-as-you-go bills. For pricing details, go to the PAI savings plan page. |
The savings plan takes effect immediately after you prepay the committed consumption amount. |
Not applicable |
|
View offset records: On the My Subscriptions page, click Subscription Offset Bill Details > View cross-resource savings plan offset details in the upper-right corner to go to the usage details page.
Savings plan expiration handling: A savings plan automatically becomes invalid upon expiration and does not auto-renew. If you continue to use DSW public resources after expiration, charges are calculated at the regular pay-as-you-go rates.
DSW resource plan
You can prepay for a DSW resource plan, which is used to offset the compute hours consumed by DSW instances in pay-as-you-go mode.
After you purchase a resource plan, you do not need to manually associate it with a workspace or bind a resource quota. When you create a DSW instance, select the "Public resource" type and choose a specification within the supported offset range. The system automatically uses the resource plan quota first.
|
Resource type |
Billing formula |
Unit price |
Billing period |
Scaling |
Other notes |
|
|
For pricing details, go to the DSW resource plan page. |
The resource plan takes effect immediately after you prepay. |
Not applicable |
|
Billing examples
The following billing examples are for reference only. Actual fees are subject to the console page (or purchase page).
Pay-as-you-go billing example
-
Example scenario:
Assume that you create a DSW instance in the China (Shanghai) region using a public-resource ecs.g6.13xlarge specification, and the DSW instance runs for 2 minutes.
-
Cost calculation:
Bill amount=14.3÷60×2=0.4767 CNY
The above fee is an estimate calculated based on actual usage duration. DSW pay-as-you-go instances are billed by the minute, and bills are pushed to the Billing Center hourly. Due to data aggregation, bills may be delayed by 2–3 hours. Refer to the actual bill issued by the Billing Center for final fees.
Subscription billing example
-
Example scenario:
Assume that you create a DSW instance using dedicated resources. You subscribe to two ecs.g6.13xlarge instances (52 vCPUs, 192 GiB) in the China (Shanghai) region for 2 months. The monthly price is 6864 CNY (actual prices are subject to the product purchase page).
-
Cost calculation:
Total amount=2×6864×2=27456 CNY
FAQ
Q: Why am I still charged after stopping a DSW instance?
Charges may continue after you stop a DSW instance for the following reasons:
System disk expansion fees: If you expanded the system disk when creating the instance, the storage capacity exceeding the free quota continues to be billed even after the instance is stopped. To completely stop these charges, back up your data and delete the instance.
OSS storage fees: If the instance is mounted with OSS Standard ZRS (zone-redundant storage) or other resources, the unreleased or uncleared OSS storage continues to incur fees even after the DSW instance is stopped. Check and clean up associated storage resources.
Bill delay: DSW pay-as-you-go bills have a 2–3 hour delay. It is normal to receive a bill shortly after stopping an instance, and this does not indicate ongoing charges.
Troubleshooting recommendation: Switch between workspaces and regions to confirm that all running instances and associated storage resources have been stopped or released.
Q: How are NAT Gateway and EIP charges for DSW public network access billed?
The NAT Gateway and EIP required for DSW public network access are independently billed products and are not included in DSW instance fees. NAT Gateway fees vary by region. For more information, refer to the NAT Gateway billing documentation for your region and choose a suitable low-cost plan. For more information about public network access configuration, see Access services in an instance over the public network.
Q: Is it feasible to purchase GPU ECS instances instead of PAI-DSW?
It is feasible to purchase GPU ECS instances instead of PAI-DSW for AI business deployment.
Core difference: ECS requires you to build an AI development environment yourself (install drivers, frameworks, etc.). PAI-DSW provides preset images and an out-of-the-box development environment, reducing environment configuration costs.
Billing composition reminder: When choosing the ECS option, consider the independent billing of instance specifications, public network bandwidth, cloud disk storage, NAT gateway, and other add-on services. This differs from the integrated billing model of DSW, so evaluate the total cost comprehensively.
Q: Do I need to manually release a PAI savings plan after it expires?
No. A PAI savings plan is a prepaid committed consumption product. It automatically becomes invalid upon expiration, and no manual release or deletion is required. No additional fees are incurred after expiration. After you receive the expiration reminder message, you do not need to take any action if you do not want to continue using it. If you have running DSW instances in the PAI console and no longer use them, stop or delete the service instances to avoid pay-as-you-go charges.
Q: How do I check whether my savings plan or free trial quota is used up?
Log in to the Billing and Cost Management console, and go to the My Subscriptions page to view the remaining quota and validity period of the savings plan. If the quota is used up or expired, subsequent use of DSW public resources is charged at regular pay-as-you-go rates.
Q: Will instances be automatically stopped when the free trial quota or DSW resource plan is used up?
No. After the quota is used up or expires, if the DSW instance is still in the Running state, the system automatically switches to pay-as-you-go mode. We recommend that you regularly check the remaining quota and validity period of the resource plan in the Billing Center, and manually stop or delete instances when they are not in use.
Q: Why am I receiving a pay-as-you-go bill when my resource plan still has quota?
Check whether the specifications and region of the DSW instance you created are within the offset range of the resource plan. If the specifications or region do not match, the system charges at pay-as-you-go rates directly and does not use the resource plan for offset. For the specific supported range, see the "DSW resource plan" table in this document.
Q: Why am I still receiving PAI-DSW charges even though I have not created any DSW instances (or have deleted all instances)?
Possible causes include:
Bill delay: Pay-as-you-go bills are generated hourly and have a 2–3 hour delay. You may still receive bills for previous billing periods after deleting an instance.
System disk expansion fees: If you expanded the system disk of an instance, the expanded portion continues to be billed even if the instance is stopped. You must delete the instance to completely stop the charges.
Resource plan prepayment: Purchasing a DSW resource plan or savings plan is a prepaid action. Fees are incurred at the time of purchase, regardless of whether instances are created.
Multi-region or multi-workspace oversight: Switch between all regions and workspaces to check whether any instances are still running.
Q: Will a DSW instance continue to be billed if it remains in the "Stopping" or "Saving" state for a long time?
For pay-as-you-go public resource instances, no new compute fees are incurred during stopping, restarting, or saving.
For dedicated resource instances, node rental fees are charged by purchase cycle, regardless of instance state.
If the image is large, it may take several hours to complete image caching when stopping or restarting with reserved resources.
If the state does not recover for a long time or a LifecycleNotExistError occurs, wait patiently or submit a ticket for assistance.
Q: How is DSW billed? Why am I charged when my instance is running but no code is being executed?
DSW supports subscription and pay-as-you-go billing. You can choose a billing method based on your actual needs. For billing details, see Billing of DSW.
Pay-as-you-go billing is based on the actual running duration of the instance. Because a running instance continuously occupies compute resources, DSW pay-as-you-go instances start to be billed from the time they are created and enter the Running state. This billing is independent of whether you open the browser, log in to the console, or execute code. Note that closing the browser or logging out does not stop the instance, so billing does not stop. To stop billing, you must go to the PAI console and manually stop or delete the instance.
**Q: How do I view the DSW bills?**
For pay-as-you-go users, you can go to the Billing and Cost Management page to view bill details. For details, see View PAI billing details.
Q: How can I completely stop all DSW instance-related charges?
The most thorough way to completely stop all charges for a DSW instance is to delete it. Be sure to back up all required data before deletion. Data cannot be recovered after the instance is deleted.
You can switch between different workspaces and regions to ensure that all instances are deleted.
Q: How are fees calculated if a pay-as-you-go DSW instance runs for less than one hour?
Pay-as-you-go instance fees are calculated based on the actual number of minutes used. The formula is: Bill amount = (Unit price / 60) × Actual service duration (minutes).
Q: Why does it say insufficient balance when I create a DSW instance?
When you enable pay-as-you-go billing, your account must reserve a cash balance of CNY 100. However, the actual fees incurred are deducted from the quota of the managed main account.