ApsaraDB RDS charges for the instance type and storage capacity you select. Additional charges apply for read-only instances, SQL Audit, performance monitoring, and backup storage that exceeds your free quota. For a full breakdown, see Billable items.
Billing methods at a glance:
Billing method | Payment | Best for |
Subscription | Prepaid at purchase | Steady, long-term workloads |
Pay-as-you-go | Billed hourly based on usage | Short-term or variable workloads |
Cost saving
Why am I charged extra fees on top of my subscription?
The base subscription fee covers the instance type and storage capacity. Additional charges apply if you have created read-only instances, enabled SQL Audit, enabled performance monitoring, or used more backup storage than your free quota.
To see an itemized breakdown, go to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console and choose Expenses > Expenses and Costs. In the left navigation pane, choose Bills > Bill DetailsBill.
To reduce extra costs:
Backup storage: If your backup files exceed the free quota, reduce the backup frequency or shorten the backup retention period. See Free quota on backup storage.
Read-only and cloned instances: Use the subscription billing method instead of pay-as-you-go.
Cross-region backup and SQL Audit: You can purchase an ApsaraDB RDS savings plan to offset these costs. For more information, see General-purpose savings plans.
Note ApsaraDB RDS offers storage plans that can be used to offset the usage of SQL Audit (SQL Explorer) to help you save on costs. For more information, see Storage plans. If you upgrade to DAS Enterprise Edition's SQL Explorer and Audit, you cannot use storage plans to offset costs.
Performance monitoring: Use the 60-second or 300-second monitoring frequency — both are free.
Am I still charged if I don't use a pay-as-you-go instance?
Yes. Pay-as-you-go instances are billed hourly regardless of usage, because they continue consuming computing and storage resources. If you no longer need an instance, save any required data and release the instance.
How do I check whether backup fees are being charged?
On the Basic Information page of your RDS instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console, check the Backup Size value in the Usage Statistics section. If it exceeds your free quota, backup fees are being charged.
To check historical backup charges, go to the Billing Details tab in the Expenses and Costs console and look for bills where Billing Item is BackupCharged.
How do I release an instance I no longer need?
See Release or unsubscribe from an ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB instance.
Subscription instances cannot be released, but you can unsubscribe from them and receive a refund. There are three types of refunds: five-day unconditional refund, conditional refund, and refund for a renewal order that has not yet taken effect. For more information about the rules, see Unsubscription rules.
How do I check when a feature was enabled?
Two options are available:
Instance purchase and billing methods
I submitted a purchase order but can't find the instance in a Creating state. What happened?
Two common causes:
Wrong region: The console may be showing a different region. Use the region selector in the top navigation bar to switch to the region where you're creating the instance.
Insufficient resources in the zone: Resources are dynamically allocated. If the zone can't fulfill your order, the instance creation fails and a refund is issued automatically. Try selecting a different zone. Check the Orders page for details.
When an entry-level and an enterprise-level instance have the same CPU and memory, why does the entry-level instance support more connections and higher IOPS?
Entry-level instances belong to the shared or general-purpose instance family, which doesn't guarantee exclusive CPU access. This allows them to burst to higher connection counts and IOPS. Enterprise-level instances belong to the dedicated instance family, which has exclusive access to both CPU and memory — delivering better reliability and predictable performance. For a detailed comparison, see Instance families.
Can I switch between subscription and pay-as-you-go?
Yes. See the relevant guide for your current billing method:
If a resource plan expires or its quota is fully used, how is the excess usage billed?
The excess usage is automatically billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
How much does it cost to change instance specifications?
Is there a fee for enabling a public endpoint?
No. Inbound and outbound internet traffic for both subscription and pay-as-you-go instances is free, and bandwidth is not limited.
How can I reduce pay-as-you-go costs?
You can purchase a general-purpose savings plan to offset all pay-as-you-go billable items in ApsaraDB RDS, including instance types, data storage, backup storage, geo-redundancy, SQL Audit, second-level monitoring, and dedicated proxies.
You can purchase a storage plan to offset the usage of instance storage, backup storage (long-term backup and cross-region backup), and SQL Audit.
Instance expiration and overdue payments
What happens after my subscription instance expires?
The instance goes through a fixed sequence:
Period | State | What you can do |
Day 1–7 | Locked, inaccessible | Renew to unlock immediately |
Day 8–15 | Computing resources released; backups retained | Restore from backups via the recycle bin |
Day 16 | Backups deleted; data unrecoverable | Purchase a new instance and redeploy your data |
For full details, see Overdue payments and Renewal policy.
Do I need to unsubscribe after my subscription instance expires? Will I still be charged?
No. You don't need to unsubscribe, and no charges are generated once the instance expires.
Which instances are affected by overdue payments?
Pay-as-you-go instances. For details, see Overdue payments.
If my Alibaba Cloud account has an overdue payment due to other billable items on a subscription instance (such as backup storage exceeding the free quota or using SQL Audit), what are the impacts?
The subscription instance and its pay-as-you-go billable items are not affected. However, all pay-as-you-go instances under the account will enter an overdue state.
Are fees charged while an instance is locked due to overdue payments?
No. No charges are generated while the instance is locked.
I renewed my instance, but it's still locked. What do I do?
It requires approximately 5 minutes to unlock the RDS instance after renewal.
Can I change the configuration of a locked instance?
No. Unlock the instance first by topping up your account or renewing, then change the configuration. See Overdue payments and Renewal policy.
Can I back up or export data from a locked instance?
No. Top up your account or renew the instance to unlock it first, then create a backup and export the files.
I received a text message reminder to renew an ApsaraDB RDS instance, but I cannot find the instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console. What should I do?
You can troubleshoot the issue as follows:
Confirm that you are logged on with the correct Alibaba Cloud account for the instance. The instance may belong to a different account.
In the ApsaraDB RDS console, switch regions. You can only see the instance in the region where it resides.
In the navigation pane on the left of the ApsaraDB RDS console, click Recycle Bin to check if the instance expired more than 8 days ago and has been moved to the recycle bin.
If the instance expired more than 16 days ago, it has been released and its data has been purged. The data cannot be recovered.
How do I change the contact for text message notifications about instance expiration?
Add a contact
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud console. Click your profile picture in the upper-right corner, and then click Addresses and Contacts from the navigation pane on the left.
On the Contacts tab, click Add Contact.
In the Add Contact dialog box, enter the new contact information and click OK.
Modify a contact
In the navigation pane on the left of the Message Center, choose Message Receiving Management > Basic Receiving Management.
Select the Text Message notification for the relevant message types and modify the Message Recipient. The default message recipient is the account contact.
Will a free trial instance be automatically shut down after it expires? Will it generate extra fees?
Free trial products are subscription-based.
After the product trial expires, the instance is automatically shut down and released. The instance cannot be recovered after it is released. Back up your data in advance.
The free trial product is the Serverless pattern.
After the product trial expires, the instance continues to run and generate fees. If you no longer need the instance, manually release it promptly. The instance cannot be recovered after it is released. Back up your data in advance.
You can go to the My Free Trial page to view the expiration dates, trial progress, and other information for all your trial products. For more information about free trials, see Free trial FAQ.
If I renew a locked instance and then downgrade its configuration, will I be refunded the price difference?
The price difference is refunded. For more information, see Downgrade refund rules.
How do I change the billing method of a locked subscription instance to pay-as-you-go?
You cannot directly change the billing method of an expired subscription instance to pay-as-you-go. You must first renew the instance for a short period to unlock it, and then change the billing method. When you switch from subscription to pay-as-you-go, the system refunds the price difference. For more information, see Refund rules for changing the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go.
My expired instance was renewed. Does it recover automatically?
Yes. If you renew during the first 7 days after expiration (while the instance is locked), it immediately returns to normal operation. No additional steps are needed.
I want to switch from subscription to pay-as-you-go after renewing. When can I do that?
Wait until the instance is in the Running state after renewal, then switch billing methods. See Switch from subscription to pay-as-you-go.
How do I restore a subscription instance that has expired?
Restoration options depend on how many days have passed since expiration:
Can I downgrade my configuration when renewing?
No. Downgrade the configuration first, then renew.
An expired instance was rebuilt from the recycle bin. Is the data the same?
Yes, the data is identical to the data at the time of release. However, the endpoint and instance ID are different.
Why is the price higher when I rebuild from the recycle bin?
When rebuilding, you must choose a currently available instance type, database version, and storage type — phased-out options are not selectable. If the new combination has a higher list price than the original, you'll pay the higher rate. The price shown in the ApsaraDB RDS console is the authoritative reference.
Where can I see which instances are about to expire?
In the ApsaraDB RDS console top navigation bar, hover over Expenses and click Renewal Management. This page shows all instances approaching expiration and lets you renew them directly.
What permissions does a RAM user need to renew an RDS instance?
Attach the following policies to the RAM user: AliyunBSSFullAccess, AliyunBSSReadOnlyAccess, AliyunBSSOrderAccess, AliyunBSSRenewFullAccess, AliyunBSSRenewReadOnlyAccess, and AliyunRDSFullAccess.
Can I use the purchase discount when renewing?
The price that is displayed in the ApsaraDB RDS console takes precedence.
How do I apply for a contract before renewing?
Contact your account manager.