Use and manage coupons
What are coupons
Coupons fall into three types: Cash Coupon, Spend and Save Coupon, and Discount Coupon.
Cash Coupon: A coupon with a fixed face value that can be used multiple times to deduct from bills or orders until the balance is used up.
Spend and Save Coupon: This coupon has a spending threshold (for example, "get 10 CNY off for orders over 100 CNY"), and the discount can be applied once to a qualifying order.
Discount Coupon: A coupon with no minimum spending requirement that provides a one-time discount on an order amount, up to the maximum discount value.
Coupons are also categorized by scope as general-purpose coupons or product-specific coupons.
General-purpose coupon: Applies to most Alibaba Cloud products, such as ECS, OSS, and ApsaraDB RDS. General-purpose coupons cannot be used for cloud communication products, domain names, physical goods, or any third-party products from the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace. For a detailed list of exclusions, see Products ineligible for general-purpose coupons.
Product-specific coupon: Applies only to specific products designated in a promotional event. The redemption conditions are subject to the rules of the event.
Coupons issued for products on the official Alibaba Cloud website cannot be applied to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products.
Coupons issued for Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products cannot be applied to products on the official Alibaba Cloud website.
Effective June 8, 2023, coupons marked "Applicable to all products" can no longer be used for Voice Service (VS), Short Message Service (SMS), or Message Service (MNS).
For more information about coupons, see the Announcement on the merge and migration of cash coupons and coupons.
You can typically obtain coupons from promotional campaigns on the Alibaba Cloud official website. Before you claim a coupon, review its rules and conditions.
To view your coupons, log in to the Expenses and Costs console and go to the Coupons page.
You can find a specific coupon by using filters such as Effective Time, coupon status (Valid, Exhausted, Expired, or Void), or Coupon No..
In the coupon list, you can view details such as Nominal Value, Balance, Coupon Type, Applicable Commodity, Applicable Scope, CouponStatus, Validity Period, and Voucher Issue Time. The Order Type field lists the transaction scenarios where the coupon applies, such as "New Purchase, Renewal, Trial, Conversion, Scale-out, Upgrade, or Pay-as-you-go Bill".
Each account can hold a maximum of 50 valid coupons at one time. This limit includes coupons that are in a "Frozen" state because they are allocated to unpaid orders. To claim new coupons, you must use your existing ones, cancel the unpaid orders that use them, or wait for them to expire.
How to use coupons
Each coupon has specific applicable products, billing methods (subscription or pay-as-you-go), and usage conditions. Some coupons cannot be combined with other promotions. Before you use a coupon, you can view its details on the Coupons page.
Apply a coupon during order payment
When you purchase a subscription resource, such as a subscription ECS instance, the system automatically matches available coupons to your order based on the product, payment type, and order amount. On the Payment Page, you can manually select an eligible coupon.
Usage limit: You can use only one coupon per order. A single Cash Coupon can be applied to multiple orders within its validity period until its balance is used up.
Frozen coupons: A coupon applied to an unpaid order is frozen. To use the coupon again, you must first cancel the unpaid order. Go to the My Order page, find the associated unpaid order, and then void it. The coupon's status then reverts to "Valid".
Troubleshooting frozen or missing coupons:
Abnormal freeze: If a coupon is unexpectedly frozen by an unpaid order, go to My Orders, void the unpaid order, and the coupon will be released.
Multiple account verification: If a coupon visible on your mobile device does not appear in a browser, confirm that both devices are logged into the same Alibaba Cloud account. You can locate the correct account using your registered phone number or real-name verification details.
Mobile entry point: On mobile, navigate to Mine > Expenses and Costs > Cards & Coupons to view your coupons.
Promotion exclusivity: Some coupons cannot be used together with specific promotions (such as renewal campaigns or new user first-purchase offers). If no coupon appears on the payment page, check whether another discount is already applied, or whether the coupon has special requirements (such as requiring an order through the Student Zone).
Renewals: When you manually renew a resource, the renewal payment page displays applicable coupons. If you enable auto-renewal, the system automatically applies an eligible coupon based on its usage rules.
If no eligible coupons are displayed on the payment page, you can return to the purchase page, select Add to Cart, and then apply a coupon on the Confirm Order page at checkout.
Automatic deduction for pay-as-you-go bills
For pay-as-you-go resources, the system automatically applies eligible coupons at billing time.
Automatic matching: The system prioritizes using coupons that are closest to their expiration date. If multiple coupons have the same expiration date, the one with the highest remaining balance is applied first.
Multi-coupon deduction: If a coupon's balance is insufficient to cover an entire bill, the system automatically applies the next available Cash Coupon to pay the remaining amount. This process continues until the bill is fully paid or all available coupons are used.
Remaining balance: If a balance remains on the bill after all eligible coupons are applied, you must pay the remaining amount separately.
Coupons cannot be used to cover an overdue payment. You must top up your account to clear any overdue balance. After you clear the overdue balance, you can use coupons for subsequent pay-as-you-go charges.
Billing delay and deduction priority notes (pay-as-you-go / on-demand / API calls / token consumption / AI model bills):
Billing delay: Pay-as-you-go bills are generated in hourly intervals and may have a delay. If you do not see a deduction record immediately after incurring charges, wait and check again later.
Non-adjustable deduction order: The system automatically prioritizes coupons expiring soonest. You cannot manually configure the deduction priority or set account balance to be deducted first.
Real-time deduction: There is no fixed billing date for pay-as-you-go resources. As long as the coupon is within its validity period and applicable to the product, the system deducts in real time as usage is incurred.
Go to the Coupons page and click View Details in the Actions column to view the usage history of a specific coupon.
You can view the coupon deduction for an order or bill in the Coupon Deduction Amount field on the Billing Details page.
How to check coupon balance consumption and spending details:
If your coupon balance decreases and you want to understand the reason, use the following methods:
View transaction history: Log on to the Coupons management page and click View Details in the Actions column to see deduction records for an individual coupon.
Cross-reference bills: In Bill Details, use the Coupon Deduction Amount field to track coupon usage by day or hourly billing cycle for specific products.
Investigating high consumption: If your balance is decreasing rapidly, focus on checking pay-as-you-go resources such as Container Compute Service (ACS), Elastic IP Address, and savings plans overage, especially during unexpected high-load scenarios.
Share coupons across multiple accounts
If your enterprise has multiple Alibaba Cloud accounts, you can enable the Enterprise Account Center and use equity asset sharing to share coupons within your organization and optimize costs.
Prerequisites: The Enterprise Account Center feature is enabled.
Procedure:
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Account Sharing. On the Equity Asset Sharing page, view your coupons. Select the coupon that you want to share, click Edit in the Actions column, and then configure the sharing settings in the dialog box that appears.
You can share coupons with an Organization or specific Account. If you share with an Organization, the coupon is shared with all Accounts under that Organization. The scope automatically updates as you add or remove Accounts from the Organization. If you share with specific Accounts, the scope is fixed and does not change automatically.
Cancel sharing: In the Actions column, you can cancel sharing for any shared coupon.
When an order is canceled, you unsubscribe from a resource, or provisioning fails, a used coupon may be refunded. Eligibility for a refund depends on the product, payment status, and order type:
If you cancel an order before payment, the coupon is refunded.
If resource provisioning fails after you place an order or a bill is rolled back, Cash Coupons and Spend and Save Coupons are refunded. Discount Coupons are not refunded.
If you unsubscribe from a resource or a bill is adjusted, the system evaluates whether to refund the used coupon based on a set of rules.
Special products: For domain names and cloud virtual machine hosts, coupons are not refunded if the order or resource creation fails.
FAQ
Why can't I use my coupon?
Coupons have specific usage rules and restrictions. To view these details, log on to the Coupons management page or check the relevant campaign page.
Product restrictions: The coupon is not applicable to the product you are purchasing.
Expiration: The coupon has expired.
Transaction type: The coupon does not apply to this order type.
Duration restrictions: The order duration does not meet the coupon requirements.
Order amount: The order amount does not meet the minimum spending requirement for a Spend and Save Coupon.
Promotional exclusivity: Another discount or promotional offer is already applied to the order.
Device issues: If you cannot use a coupon on a mobile device, try using a computer or a different web browser.
Campaign restrictions: For example, the CNY 300 student coupon can only be used on its designated campaign page. To use it, go to the Student Coupon Center. Even within the Student Coupon Center, the coupon applies only to products explicitly marked as eligible. Check the coupon details to confirm the applicable product scope. For example, this coupon only supports deducting bills for Qwen models listed in the AI Model Services tab of the Student Coupon Center; it does not support all model services on the Model Studio platform.
Common cases where general coupons cannot be used:
Domain name restrictions: General coupons do not support domain name registration, renewal, or transfer.
Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and SaaS restrictions: General coupons do not support Qoder Credits and other third-party Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products or SaaS service renewals.
Bundled purchase restrictions: When purchasing multiple products at once (such as a cloud phone and bandwidth), if the coupon only applies to one item, you must place separate orders to use the coupon.
Prepaid/pay-as-you-go mismatch: Some general coupons are valid only for prepaid orders and cannot offset pay-as-you-go bills, and vice versa. Always check the Order Type indicator on the coupon.
Products ineligible for general-purpose coupons
Ineligible items fall into three categories: products identified by product code, commodities identified by commodity code, and physical goods together with third-party Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products.
By product: General-purpose coupons cannot be used for any commodities under the product codes listed in the following table.
Product name
Product code
New Retail Data Service
oplus
Domain Name
domain
Trademark Service
trademark
Company Registration Service
companyreg
CDN
cdn
Edge Node Service
ens
Edge Network Acceleration
snsu
Short Message Service (SMS)
dysms
Voice Service (VS)
dyvms
Intelligent Contact Center
aiccs
Phone Number Privacy Protection
dypls
Phone Number Authentication Service
dypns
Phone Number Encyclopedia
dytns
Data Voice
aliyundvs
ChatApp Messages
cams
5G Interconnection Platform
xgip
Traffic Service
dycdps
IoT Terminal Operating System
aliosthings
Cloud Casting
cd
IoT Edge Computing
iotedge
City IoT Platform
citylink
Agriculture IoT Platform
farmlink
Industrial IoT Platform
iiot
ApsaraDB for OceanBase
oceanbase
Intelligent User Growth
retailadvqa
MuleRun
mulerun
Qoder
qoder
Wukong
wukong
Full-domain Collection and Growth Analytics
man
Alibaba Cloud Coupons
coupon
QwenWork
qwenwork
By commodity: General-purpose coupons cannot be used for any commodities with the commodity codes listed in the following table.
Commodity name
Commodity code
DingTalk Smart Printing
hardware_mpdprint
DingTalk Smart Meeting
hardware_mpdmeeting
DingTalk Smart Attendance
hardware_mpdattendance
DingTalk Smart Communication
hardware_mpdcommunication
Alibaba Cloud Workspace Cloudbook - NS01
gws_hardwarens01_public_cn
Alibaba Cloud Workspace Terminal - AS05
gws_hardwareas05_public_cn
Alibaba Cloud Workspace Terminal
gws_hardware_public_cn
Youchuan AI Image Generation Model
cmgj00071203
Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) - Cross-border (Subscription)
cbn_bwp_pre_mkt
Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) - Cross-border (Pay-as-you-go)
cbn_bwp_mkt
China Unicom Cross-border Data Transmission
cdt_cucbdt_public_cn
Cross-region Acceleration Bandwidth Plan (Subscription)
ga_pluscbbwppre_public_cn
China Unicom Cross-border Express Connect (Subscription)
ri_pre_mkt
China Unicom Cross-border Express Connect (Pay-as-you-go)
ri_mkt
Intelligent Website Building System
domain_website_public_cn
Physical goods and third-party Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products: Physical goods (hardware devices or accessories related to cloud computing, such as server hardware and network devices) and all third-party products from the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace are ineligible for general-purpose coupons.
Coupon use for account top-up
Coupons cannot be used to top up your account balance. They can only be deducted from order payments or automatically applied to pay-as-you-go bills.
How to use student/university coupons (Cloud Craftsman/300 CNY coupon) and their scope
Student/university coupons (such as the Cloud Craftsman coupon or the 300 CNY university coupon) are designed for student users and have specific usage restrictions that differ from general coupons.
Usage entry point: These coupons can only be used to place orders through the Student Coupon Center. They cannot be displayed or applied on standard ECS purchase pages or regular product pages.
Applicable products and scenarios:
Supports purchasing designated subscription products listed on the Student Coupon Center page (such as specified ECS configurations and Simple Application Server).
Supports deducting pay-as-you-go bills for products activated through the Student Coupon Center (such as AI model API calls).
Does not support domain names, virtual hosting, Alibaba Cloud Marketplace products, or models not listed in the center (such as Happy Horse, video generation models, etc.).
AI model and API deduction: AI model API calls (such as those on the Model Studio platform) are billed as pay-as-you-go. You do not need to manually purchase tokens. When bills are generated, the system automatically deducts eligible student coupons. If the interface shows "Cannot Use," this may indicate the product is in pay-as-you-go mode — actual deduction may still occur normally at billing time.
Common misconceptions:
Student coupons are not dedicated computing resource credits and cannot be deposited into your account balance or token pool.
After unsubscribing from a resource, you generally cannot enjoy the same discounted configuration again.
Simply holding a coupon without making any purchase does not incur any charges.
Appeals channel: If you are eligible but unable to claim or use the coupon, submit an appeal through the Self-Service Tool.
Why can't my coupon offset AI model (Model Studio / Qwen / text-to-image) or token fees?
Whether a coupon can offset AI model charges depends on the coupon type.
General coupons:
Support deducting pay-as-you-go bills from Model Studio, TINGWU, OSS, and other AI and cloud products (only for bills incurred after the coupon was issued).
Do not support products outside the applicable scope, such as AI image generation (for example, Wan).
Student/university coupons:
Only support deducting bills for models listed in the Student Coupon Center (such as the Qwen series and DeepSeek).
Do not support Happy Horse, video generation models, or other models not explicitly listed.
Fixed-amount coupons: Some coupons (such as a CNY 20 all-model deduction coupon) provide a monetary credit rather than a fixed number of tokens. The actual deductible usage depends on the unit price of the model you call.
Troubleshooting checklist:
Check the Applicable Products scope shown on the coupon.
Verify the coupon has not expired.
Confirm the resource is billed as pay-as-you-go (post-paid).
Confirm that you placed the order through the required campaign page (if applicable).
Can coupons be cashed out, converted to balance, extended, or reissued?
Cannot be converted to balance or cashed out: Coupons are not account balance and cannot be converted to cash, deposited into your account balance, or added to your credit. Coupons can only be used for order payment deductions or automatic pay-as-you-go bill offsets.
Cannot be extended or reissued: Once a coupon expires, it cannot be recovered, reissued, or extended. It also cannot be manually voided and re-claimed. Use coupons before they expire.
Outstanding debt restriction: Coupons cannot be used to offset historical outstanding debts. You must top up your account and clear the outstanding balance first. After the debt is cleared, new pay-as-you-go charges can be offset using coupons.
No charge for unclaimed/unused coupons: Claiming a coupon does not incur any charges. Deductions are only triggered when you purchase cloud resources or products.
Coupon refund, unsubscription, or exchange rules
Refund rules when cancelling or unsubscribing:
If you cancel an order before payment, the coupon is automatically returned.
If a resource fails to provision after ordering, or if a bill is rolled back for correction, Cash Coupons and Spend and Save Coupons are eligible for return, but Discount Coupons cannot be returned.
Domain names and cloud virtual hosting products do not return coupons if ordering or resource creation fails.
New user and campaign coupon invalidation: After unsubscribing from resources such as ECS, the original new user coupon may become invalid or restrict you from purchasing the same type of product again. Evaluate carefully before unsubscribing.
Coupon exchange application: If you need to exchange a coupon for business purposes (for example, exchanging a general coupon for a domain-specific coupon), submit a request through a work order or customer service. Processing takes approximately 1–3 business days. Self-service exchange is not supported.
Price difference compensation: If order cancellation results in a price increase when repurchasing, you can apply for a price-difference coupon as compensation. Check the Coupons page in the console to view the issued coupon.