Refund rules for downgrades
Downgrade refunds apply when you downgrade the specifications of a subscription instance. The system refunds a portion of the fee based on a defined calculation. If the calculated refund amount is less than 0, no refund is issued.
Downgrade refund rule update
Starting at 10:00 on February 9, 2026 (UTC+8), Alibaba Cloud is upgrading the downgrade refund rules for public cloud subscription products. The new rules use clearer fee calculation logic and support proportional voucher refunds. The new rules are rolled out in a phased canary release. For more information, see Upgrade of public cloud subscription upgrade and downgrade rules.
The key differences between the old and new rules are listed in the following table.
Comparison | Old rules | New rules |
Downgrade refund formula | Online refundable amount × Price difference ratio between new and original configurations | Remaining value of original configuration − Purchase fee for new configuration |
Calculation granularity | Calculated by the entire order | Calculated per billing item and then summed |
Voucher refund | Not refunded | Refunded proportionally based on payment composition |
Calculation details | Not displayed | Itemized breakdown and payment composition shown in order details |
New downgrade refund rules
Scope
This topic applies only to downgrade refunds for subscription instances. Refund and cancellation rules vary by product type. See the documentation of the specific product for details.
If you have questions about a specific order, use the refund amount shown on the refund order details page in the Expenses and Costs console My Order page, or submit a ticket for support.
Some multi-node products may not yet support the new upgrade and downgrade rules. The information displayed on the downgrade order confirmation page indicates whether vouchers can be refunded.
Refund calculation
Downgrade refund amount = Remaining value of original configuration − Purchase fee for new configuration. The refund amount is calculated in the following four steps (each billing item in the order is calculated separately and then summed):
Step 1: Calculate the remaining value of the original configuration
Remaining value of original configuration = Paid amount − Consumed amount
Paid amount: Cash paid + Voucher deductions (the sum of all payment components in the order).
Consumed amount = Daily unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration
Usage duration: Precise to the hour. Any partial hour is counted as a full hour, then converted to days for calculation. For example, 12 hours of usage is converted to 0.5 days.
The daily unit price is derived as "Monthly price × 12 ÷ 365" or "Monthly price ÷ Number of days in the current month". Because months such as January and March have 31 days while February has 28 days (29 in a leap year), the daily unit price varies slightly across months, which affects the consumed amount. The examples in this topic are intended to illustrate the calculation logic. The actual amounts are subject to the order details page.
Step 2: Calculate the purchase fee for the new configuration
Purchase fee for new configuration = Number of purchase months × Monthly price of new configuration
Where Number of purchase months = Remaining service duration after downgrade (in days) ÷ 30.
Step 3: Calculate the total downgrade refund
Downgrade refund amount = Remaining value of original configuration − Purchase fee for new configuration
If the calculated result for a billing item is ≤ 0, no refund is issued for that item. The refund amounts of all billing items in the order are calculated separately and then summed to produce the total downgrade refund.
Common reasons why the downgrade refund amount is 0:
A promotional discount results in a high consumed amount: You received a large discount at the time of purchase (such as a promotion or low-priced package), but the consumed amount uses the official list price (original price) to calculate the daily unit price. If the consumed amount at list price approaches or exceeds the paid amount of the order, then "Remaining value of original configuration − Purchase fee for new configuration ≤ 0", and no refund is issued for the billing item.
The calculation logic differs from that for canceling an entire instance: Downgrade refunds are recalculated based on the configuration price difference and remaining value (Remaining value of original configuration − Purchase fee for new configuration), not simply as a refund of the fee for the remaining duration. Before you initiate a downgrade, we recommend that you preview the refund breakdown on the order details page and confirm the refund amount.
Step 4: Issue a proportional refund based on payment composition
The total refund is split proportionally based on the payment composition of the original order and refunded to cash and vouchers:
Cash refund = Total refund × (Cash paid ÷ Total paid amount)
Voucher refund = Total refund × (Voucher deductions ÷ Total paid amount)
If no voucher was used in the original order, the full refund is issued in cash.
Use cases
The following figures are used only to illustrate the calculation logic. The actual refund is subject to the amount shown on the order details page.
Example 1: Standard downgrade
Background: A customer purchased Elastic Compute Service (ECS) as a subscription (list price CNY 5,000/month, with a 20% discount for a 1-year subscription). The customer purchased a 1-year subscription, used a voucher to deduct CNY 8,000 at payment, and paid CNY 40,000 in cash (that is, list price CNY 5,000/month × 12 × 0.8 − CNY 8,000 voucher). After 6 months of use, the customer downgraded to CNY 3,000/month (no discount).
Step 1: Calculate the remaining value of the original configuration.
Paid amount of the order = CNY 48,000 (CNY 40,000 cash + CNY 8,000 voucher)
Daily unit price = 5,000 × 12 ÷ 365 ≈ CNY 164.38/day
Usage duration = 183 days; Applicable discount for the usage duration = 0.9
Consumed amount = 164.38 × 183 × 0.9 ≈ CNY 27,073.39
Remaining value of original configuration = 48,000 − 27,073.39 = CNY 20,926.61
Step 2: Calculate the purchase fee for the new configuration.
Number of purchase months = (365 − 183) ÷ 30 ≈ 6.07 months
Purchase fee for new configuration = 6.07 × 3,000 = CNY 18,210
Step 3: Calculate the total downgrade refund.
Downgrade refund amount = 20,926.61 − 18,210 = CNY 2,716.61
Step 4: Issue a proportional refund based on payment composition.
Cash refund = 2,716.61 × (40,000 ÷ 48,000) ≈ CNY 2,263.84
Voucher refund = 2,716.61 × (8,000 ÷ 48,000) ≈ CNY 452.77
Example 2: Downgrade after an upgrade
Background: If you first upgrade and then initiate a downgrade, the downgrade refund is calculated based on the most recent order after the upgrade. No per-order processing of previous orders is required.
Before you begin: Upgrades and downgrades are independent actions that are settled under their own rules. The upgrade fee is already settled when the upgrade occurs under the upgrade fee rules. This section describes only the refund calculation when you initiate a downgrade after an upgrade.
Key calculation points:
Baseline for original configuration: The most recent order after your upgrade is used as the "original configuration" for this downgrade. The paid amount, payment composition (cash-to-voucher ratio), and service start and end times are all based on that order.
Calculation steps: Follow the four steps in the "Refund calculation" section to calculate the refund amount and payment composition split for this downgrade.
Usage duration: Counted from the time of the most recent upgrade to the time of this downgrade.
Refund split: Still issued to cash and vouchers in proportion to the payment composition of the order.
For multiple upgrades and downgrades, the actual refund is subject to the amount shown on the order details page.
Old rules reference
If your account has not yet been included in the new refund rules canary release, read this section to learn the old rules.
A downgrade cancels the original order and creates a new order (downgrade order). Subsequent refunds or downgrades are calculated based on this downgrade order to determine the usage duration and consumed amount.
For resources purchased with vouchers or through promotions, the remaining value may be insufficient when you downgrade, which can result in a refund of 0. Confirm this before you proceed. No refund is issued when the downgrade refund amount ≤ 0, or when the price difference ratio between the new and original configurations ≤ 0.
Common reasons why the refund amount is 0: For orders with promotional discounts (including promotional discounts or voucher deductions), the consumed amount uses the official list price (original price) instead of the actual discounted amount paid. If the consumed amount at list price exceeds or approaches the paid amount, then "Online refundable amount × Price difference ratio between new and original configurations ≤ 0", and no refund is issued. The calculation logic for a downgrade refund differs from that for canceling an entire instance. A downgrade refund is recalculated based on the price difference ratio between the new and original configurations.
Refund calculation
Refundable amount for downgrade = (Online refundable amount × Price difference ratio between new and original configurations) (If there are multiple orders, calculate separately and then sum). The detailed calculation steps are as follows:
Step 1: Calculate the online refundable amount
Online refundable amount = Paid amount − Consumed amount
Paid amount, also known as the "cash amount payable for the order", refers only to the amount the user paid in cash. It does not include amounts deducted by vouchers or discount coupons.
The consumed amount is calculated as follows:
Type
Calculation rule
Elastic Compute Service (ECS) (subscription)
Cloud Gaming Cluster
Cloud Firewall
Usage duration < 30 days
(Daily unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) × 1.5
Usage duration ≥ 30 days
Daily unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration
Other products
Daily unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration
Step 2: Calculate the price difference ratio between the new and original configurations
If no upgrade was performed before the downgrade: Price difference ratio between new and original configurations = (Daily unit price of the original order configuration − Daily unit price of the new configuration after downgrade) / Daily unit price of the original order configuration.
If an upgrade was performed before the downgrade: Price difference ratio between new and original configurations = (Daily unit price of the upgrade order configuration − Daily unit price of the new configuration after downgrade) / Price difference between daily unit prices of upgrade orders = (Daily unit price of the upgrade order configuration − Daily unit price of the new configuration after downgrade) / (Daily unit price of the upgrade order configuration − Daily unit price of the pre-upgrade original order configuration).
Daily unit price = List price of the order / Actual purchase duration of the order
Actual purchase duration of the order = Service end time − Service start time. The unit of actual purchase duration is days, rounded down.
The daily unit price of the upgraded configuration, daily unit price of the new configuration after downgrade, and daily unit price of the pre-upgrade original order configuration are all non-discounted prices. If the calculated price difference ratio between new and original configurations is greater than 1, it is automatically set to 1.
The price difference ratio between new and original configurations (that is, the refund ratio) is calculated based on the daily unit prices of the new configuration after downgrade, the new configuration after upgrade, and the pre-upgrade configuration. The daily unit price is calculated from "List price of the order / Actual purchase duration of the order". Even for the same configuration, the daily unit price can vary across scenarios. Therefore, the price difference ratio between new and original configurations is not equal to the configuration difference ratio, and the refund amount calculated from the price difference ratio is not equal to the refund amount calculated based on the configuration difference ratio.
Step 3: Calculate the downgrade refund
Downgrade refund amount = (Online refundable amount × Price difference ratio between new and original configurations) (If there are multiple orders, calculate separately and then sum.)
Use cases
Example 1: Simple downgrade
A customer newly purchases a configuration with 4 vCPUs and 8 GiB of memory for 1 year (365 days) at a list price of CNY 100/month, or CNY 1,200/year. The customer receives a 15% discount for a 1-year subscription (no discount for less than 1 year) and pays CNY 1,020 for 1 year. This is Order A.
After 6 months of use, the customer downgrades to a configuration with 2 vCPUs and 4 GiB of memory at a list price of CNY 50/month. This is Order B.
The following figure illustrates this scenario (assuming all months have the same number of days):
Refund calculation
To simplify the calculation, this example uses months (30 days) as the unit of time to calculate the refund. In practice, refunds can be calculated per day.
Online refundable amount for Order A = Paid amount − Consumed amount (Monthly unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) = 1,020 − (CNY 100/month × 6 months × 1) = CNY 420.
Price difference ratio between new and original configurations for Order A = (Monthly unit price of Order A configuration − Monthly unit price of Order B configuration) / Monthly unit price of Order A configuration = [(CNY 100/month) − (CNY 50/month)] / (CNY 100/month) = 0.5.
Final refund for Order A = Online refundable amount (CNY 420) × Price difference ratio (0.5) = CNY 210.
Example 2: Downgrade after an upgrade
If you first upgrade and then downgrade, the refund typically involves the calculation of two orders:
New purchase order (pre-upgrade order): After you upgrade, a portion of the new purchase order has already been used. The used duration and fee are counted as the consumed amount. When you downgrade, the system calculates the refund based on the remaining value of the new purchase order and the price difference of the new configuration.
Upgrade order: An upgrade creates a new order that records the upgraded configuration and the additional fee paid. When you downgrade, the remaining value of the upgrade order is also used, and the refund is calculated based on the price difference of the new configuration.
A customer newly purchases a configuration with 4 vCPUs and 8 GiB of memory for 1 year (365 days) at a list price of CNY 100/month, or CNY 1,200/year. The customer receives a 15% discount for a 1-year subscription (no discount for less than 1 year) and pays CNY 1,020 for 1 year. This is Order A.
After 3 months of use, the customer upgrades to a configuration with 8 vCPUs and 16 GiB of memory at a list price of CNY 200/month and pays an additional CNY 900. This is Order B.
After an additional 3 months of use, the customer upgrades to a configuration with 16 vCPUs and 32 GiB of memory at a list price of CNY 400/month and pays an additional CNY 1,200. This is Order C.
After an additional 3 months of use, the customer downgrades to a configuration with 6 vCPUs and 12 GiB of memory at a list price of CNY 150/month. This is Order D.
The following figure illustrates this scenario (assuming all months have the same number of days):
Refund calculation
To simplify the calculation, this example uses months (30 days) as the unit of time to calculate the refund. In practice, refunds can be calculated per day.
Refund calculation for Order A:
Online refundable amount for Order A = Paid amount − Consumed amount (Monthly unit price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) = 1,020 − (CNY 100/month × 9 months × 1) = CNY 120.
After an upgrade creates a new order, the subsequent service duration is calculated based on the latest order. In this example, the cumulative usage duration of Order A is 9 months (Order A: 3 months + Order B: 3 months + Order C: 3 months).
Price difference ratio between new and original configurations for Order A = (Monthly unit price of Order A configuration − Monthly unit price of Order D configuration) / Monthly unit price of Order A configuration = [(CNY 100/month) − (CNY 150/month)] / (CNY 100/month) = −0.5 (No refund is issued when the ratio ≤ 0. Therefore, no refund is issued for Order A).
No final refund for Order A = Online refundable amount (CNY 120) × Price difference ratio (−0.5) < 0. No refund is issued.
Refund calculation for Order B:
Online refundable amount for Order B = Paid amount − Consumed amount (Monthly unit price difference × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) = 900 − (CNY 100/month × 6 months × 1) = CNY 300.
Because the original order of the downgrade is an upgrade order, the monthly unit price difference = Monthly unit price of the configuration difference before and after the upgrade = (List price of Order B / Actual purchase duration of Order B) × [(Monthly unit price of Order B configuration − Monthly unit price of Order A configuration) / Monthly unit price of Order B configuration] = (CNY 200/month) × [(CNY 200/month − CNY 100/month) / (CNY 200/month)] = CNY 100/month.
Price difference ratio between new and original configurations for Order B = (Monthly unit price of B configuration − Monthly unit price of Order D configuration) / (Monthly unit price of Order B configuration − Monthly unit price of Order A configuration) = [(CNY 200/month) − (CNY 150/month)] / [(CNY 200/month) − (CNY 100/month)] = 0.5.
Final refund for Order B = Online refundable amount (CNY 300) × Price difference ratio (0.5) = CNY 150.
Refund calculation for Order C:
Online refundable amount for Order C = Paid amount − Consumed amount (Monthly unit price difference × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration) = 1,200 − (CNY 200/month × 3 months × 1) = CNY 600.
Because the original order of the downgrade is an upgrade order, the monthly unit price difference = Monthly unit price of the configuration difference before and after the upgrade = (List price of Order C / Actual purchase duration of Order C) × [(Monthly unit price of Order C configuration − Monthly unit price of Order B configuration) / Monthly unit price of Order C configuration] = (CNY 400/month) × [(CNY 400/month − CNY 200/month) / (CNY 400/month)] = CNY 200/month.
Price difference ratio between new and original configurations for Order C = (Monthly unit price of C configuration − Monthly unit price of Order D configuration) / (Monthly unit price of Order C configuration − Monthly unit price of Order B configuration) = [(CNY 400/month) − (CNY 150/month)] / [(CNY 400/month) − (CNY 200/month)] = 1.25 (The ratio is greater than 1 and is automatically set to 1).
Final refund for Order C = Online refundable amount (CNY 600) × Price difference ratio (1) = CNY 600.
Total downgrade refund = Refund for Order A (CNY 0) + Refund for Order B (CNY 150) + Refund for Order C (CNY 600) = CNY 750.
FAQ
Why is the refund amount low or 0 when I downgrade or cancel an instance purchased during a promotion or by using a voucher?
When the system calculates the "consumed amount", it uses the official list price as the basis for the daily unit price, instead of the discounted amount actually paid. If the calculated consumed amount exceeds the paid amount, the refund amount is 0.
Why is a refund for a cancellation or downgrade credited to my account balance instead of the original payment method?
Normally, a refund is returned to the original payment method: cash is returned to the original bank card or Alipay account, and the voucher-deducted portion is returned to the voucher balance. In the following scenario, however, the refund is credited to the Alibaba Cloud account balance:
The refund amount exceeds the invoiceable amount: If the refund amount is greater than the current invoiceable amount of the account, the system automatically credits the refund to the Alibaba Cloud account balance to avoid an invoice deficit.
We recommend that you view the refund order details in the Expenses and Costs console to confirm the refund amount and payment composition.