FAQs about billing methods-ApsaraDB RDS(RDS)-阿里云帮助中心

Answers to common questions about ApsaraDB RDS billing, cost control, instance expiration, and overdue payments.

Cost saving

Why am I charged extra fees on a subscription instance?

A subscription fee covers only the instance type and storage capacity you select at purchase. Additional charges are generated by:

Backup storage — storage that exceeds the free quota
Database proxy — the feature that enables automatic read/write splitting
Read-only instances and cloned instances — when billed on pay-as-you-go instead of subscription
SQL Audit — when the feature is enabled
Performance monitoring — when using frequencies shorter than 60 seconds

For the full list of billable items and pricing, see Billable items.

To reduce these costs:

Backup storage: Reduce backup frequency and keep backup size within the free quota.
Database proxy: Disable the feature if read/write splitting is not required. See What are database proxies?
Read-only and cloned instances: Switch these instances to subscription billing.
Performance monitoring: Use the 60-second or 300-second monitoring frequency, both of which are free.

Am I charged for a pay-as-you-go instance I'm not using?

Yes. A pay-as-you-go instance is billed hourly for its reserved compute and storage resources, regardless of whether the instance is actively used. If you no longer need an instance, save your data and release it to stop the charges.

How much does changing the specifications of a subscription instance cost?

See Specification changes.

Is there a charge for enabling a public endpoint?

No. Inbound and outbound Internet traffic is free for both subscription and pay-as-you-go RDS instances. Alibaba Cloud does not impose bandwidth limits on RDS instances.

How do I check whether backup fees are being charged?

Two ways to check:

In the ApsaraDB RDS console: Go to the Basic Information page of your instance and check the Backup Size value under Usage Statistics. If the value exceeds the free quota, backup fees apply.
In Billing Management: Go to the Details tab and check whether any bill has Billing Item set to BackupCharged.

How do I reduce backup storage costs?

The steps vary by database engine:

MySQL: See Billable items and pricing for the backup storage of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
PostgreSQL: See Billable items and pricing for the backup storage of an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance.
SQL Server: See Billable items and pricing for the backup storage of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

How do I release an instance I no longer need?

See Release or unsubscribe from an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

Does releasing a read-only instance affect my workloads?

Yes. Before releasing a read-only instance, set its read weight to 0 to prevent traffic from being routed to it. See Modify the latency threshold and read weights of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances.

Cached connections to the read-only instance remain valid after release. To forward read requests to other read-only instances, establish new connections.

How do I find when a feature was enabled?

Two options:

Orders page: Go to the Orders page in Billing Management and check the Paid/Activated At (UTC+8) column.
ActionTrail: Use ActionTrail to review the management history of your instance.

Instance purchase and billing methods

I submitted a purchase order but the instance is not appearing in the Creating state. Why?

Two common causes:

Wrong region selected: The console may be showing a different region than where you placed the order. Select the correct region in the top navigation bar.
Insufficient resources in the zone: Resources are dynamically allocated. If the selected zone cannot fulfill the order, the instance fails to create. Select a different zone and try again. If the instance is not created, you receive a full refund. View the refund status on the Order page.

Why does an entry-level instance support more connections and higher IOPS than an enterprise-level instance with the same CPU and memory?

Entry-level instances belong to the shared or general-purpose instance family, which does not have exclusive access to CPU resources. This allows them to support more concurrent connections and higher IOPS at the same nominal CPU and memory level.

Enterprise-level instances belong to the dedicated instance family, which has exclusive access to both CPU and memory. This provides higher and more predictable performance reliability.

For a detailed comparison, see Instance families.

Can I switch between subscription and pay-as-you-go billing?

Yes. See:

Instance expiration and overdue payments

What are the causes and impacts of instance expiration or overdue payments?

See Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

What happens to a subscription instance after it expires?

No action is needed and no additional fees are charged after expiration. The instance goes through the following states:

Timeline	State
Day 1–7	Instance is locked and inaccessible
Day 8–15	Computing resources are released; data backups are retained
Day 16	Data backups are permanently deleted

What are the billing rules for serverless ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances? Do they expire?

Serverless RDS instances use pay-as-you-go billing and do not expire. For pricing details, see Pricing of serverless RDS instances.

Are fees charged when an instance is locked due to overdue payments?

No. No fees are generated while an instance is in the locked state. For more on the impacts of overdue payments, see Overdue payments.

Can I restore data after it is deleted on day 16?

No. Data is permanently deleted on day 16 after expiration and cannot be recovered. To continue using the database, purchase a new instance and redeploy your data.

Which instances are affected by overdue payments?

Pay-as-you-go instances are affected by overdue payments. See Overdue payments.

I'm seeing the error "The MySQL server is running with the LOCK_WRITE option so it cannot execute this statement." What do I do?

This error means your instance is locked. See What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state? for instructions on how to unlock it.

Can I change the configuration of a locked instance?

No. Unlock the instance first, then make configuration changes. See Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

My instance is still locked after renewal. What should I do?

Wait approximately 5 minutes. Unlocking takes effect shortly after renewal completes.

Can I apply the purchase discount to renewals?

The price displayed in the ApsaraDB RDS console is the applicable price.

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 backup files.

After renewing an expired instance, do I need to do anything else?

No. If you renew within the first 7 days after expiration (while the instance is locked), the instance resumes normal operation immediately after renewal.

I rebuilt an instance from the recycle bin. Is the data the same as before expiration?

Yes, the data is the same as when the instance was released. The endpoint and instance ID, however, are changed.

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 Data Transmission Service (DTS) to migrate data from a locked instance?

No. Unlock the instance before migrating data. See What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state?

How do I restore a subscription instance after it expires?

The available options depend on how long ago the instance expired:

Timeline	Available action
Day 1–7	Renew the instance to unlock it. See Renewal policy.
Day 8–15	Use retained data backups to restore the instance. See Manage ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances in the recycle bin.
Day 16 and beyond	Data is deleted and cannot be restored. Purchase a new instance and redeploy your data.

Can I downgrade the configuration when renewing a subscription instance?

No. Downgrade the configuration first, then renew the instance.

My instance is locked and I cannot write data to it. What do I do?

Unlock the instance before writing data. See What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state?

After renewing a locked subscription instance, how do I switch its billing to pay-as-you-go?

Wait for the instance to return to the Running state, then switch the billing method. See Change from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

Where can I see instances that are about to expire?

In the ApsaraDB RDS console, choose Expenses > Renewal Management from the top navigation bar.