Initiate unsubscription
If you no longer use a prepaid (subscription or resource plan) product that you purchased, you can unsubscribe from it by using the methods described in this topic. For pay-as-you-go (postpaid) products that you no longer use, you don't need to request unsubscription. Back up your data and release the resources to stop billing.
Learn about unsubscription rules
Before you unsubscribe, review Unsubscription rules to understand the detailed rules and the products that commonly support unsubscription.
After unsubscription, resources are released. Back up your data in advance. Unsubscription can't be undone. Carefully verify the order information to avoid mistakes.
To unsubscribe from prepaid resources, log on to the Expenses and Costs console. On the Resource Unsubscription page, filter for the target resources one by one and initiate unsubscription.
Pay-as-you-go (postpaid) resources don't support stopping billing through the unsubscription process. Go to the console of the corresponding product and release or delete the resources.
Initiate unsubscription
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Expenses - Subscription Orders to go to the Resource Unsubscription page and initiate unsubscription.
An Alibaba Cloud account has unsubscription permissions by default. Before a RAM user can unsubscribe, the Alibaba Cloud account must grant the RAM user permissions such as
AliyunBSSFullAccess.Perform unsubscription on a PC. Mobile devices (including the Alibaba Cloud app and mobile browsers) don't support unsubscription.
Log on to the Expenses and Costs-Resource Unsubscription page. The system displays the resources that can be unsubscribed under the current account, categorized by resource type, refund type, and effective status.
Active instance orders appear on the Unsubscribe Resource tab. If you unsubscribe, not only the current order (the active one) but also the pending renewal orders of the resource are unsubscribed.
Pending renewal orders appear on the Unsubscribe Renewal That Does Not Take Effect tab. If you unsubscribe, the pending orders are unsubscribed, while the service currently in use (the active part) isn't affected.
Unsubscribe from active orders
Unsubscribe from active orders
When an order has taken effect and the instance is running, the system displays resources by category: Regular Cloud Resource, Resource Plans, Marketplace Product, and Web Host. If a resource has pending renewal orders, they're unsubscribed together.
Regular cloud resources
Regular cloud resources have three unsubscription types: 5-day Money-back Guarantee, Partial Refund, and Nonrefundable. For resources of specific types marked as Nonrefundable, you can't initiate unsubscription directly from the console. You must submit a ticket to request unsubscription.
The following steps use a partial refund unsubscription as an example:
On the Regular Cloud Resource tab, filter by product name, instance ID, or order time to find the resource that you want to unsubscribe from, and then click Unsubscribe Resource or Batch Unsubscribe Resources.
On the Unsubscribe Resource page, carefully verify the information of the resource to unsubscribe from, and confirm the unsubscription terms and refund amount. The two check boxes in the lower-left corner (confirm the refund amount, and confirm that data has been backed up and migrated) must both be selected before the Unsubscribe Now button becomes clickable. Click the button to complete the unsubscription.
If the ECS instance that you unsubscribe from has attached disks, go to the ECS console and check whether the disks should be released together with the instance to avoid continued billing for the disks.
Resource plans
Resource plans have three unsubscription types: Unsubscription of Pending Subscriptions, Full Refund for Unused Resources, and Partial Refund.
On the Resource Plans tab, filter by product name, instance ID, or order time to find the instance ID of the resource plan that you want to unsubscribe from, and then click Unsubscribe Resource or Batch Unsubscribe Resources.
NoteOnly resources of the Partial Refund type support batch unsubscription, with up to 50 instances per operation. The actual refund amount follows the rules on the official website.
In the Type filter, select Unsubscription of Pending Subscriptions, Full Refund for Unused Resource Plans, or Partial Refund as needed.
On the Unsubscribe Resource page, carefully verify the information of the resource to unsubscribe from, confirm the unsubscription terms and refund amount, and then complete the unsubscription as prompted by the console.
Marketplace products
On the Marketplace Product tab, find the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace product that you want to unsubscribe from and click Unsubscribe Resource.
On the Unsubscribe Resource page, carefully verify the information of the resource to unsubscribe from, confirm the unsubscription terms and refund amount, and then complete the unsubscription as prompted by the console.
Web hosts
On the Web Host tab, filter by host name to find the host that you want to unsubscribe from, and then click Unsubscribe Resource. If the web host was purchased within the last five days, you can click Five-Day No-Reason Refund.
On the Unsubscribe Resource page, carefully verify the information of the resource to unsubscribe from, confirm the unsubscription terms and refund amount, and then complete the unsubscription as prompted by the console.
Unsubscribe from pending renewals
Unsubscribe Renewal That Does Not Take Effect
Click Unsubscribe Renewal That Does Not Take Effect. Filter by product name or instance ID to find one or more instances that you want to unsubscribe from, click Unsubscribe from Renewal or Batch Refund/Renew, and then complete the unsubscription as prompted.
If an instance has been renewed multiple times, you can select Updated Expiration Time to unsubscribe the target orders. You can unsubscribe one or more orders at a time.
For example, an instance has completed two annual renewals, with service start times of 2025-05-31 11:00:00 and 2026-05-31 11:00:00:
If you select Updated Expiration Time 2025-05-31 11:00:00, both annual orders are unsubscribed.
If you select Updated Expiration Time 2026-05-31 11:00:00, only one annual order of the instance is unsubscribed.
An active renewal order (the service currently in use) can't be unsubscribed or canceled separately. To request a refund for an active order, you must unsubscribe the entire instance. This operation also terminates the current service, so back up your data in advance.
To adjust the renewal strategy without a refund, go to the Renewal Management page and turn off auto-renewal or change the renewal cycle to avoid the next automatic renewal.
Refund status
After a successful unsubscription, the refund usually arrives within two business days. Refunds generally follow the original payment source rule. If a refund via the original payment source fails, it's usually transferred automatically to your Alibaba Cloud account balance.
Payment method | Original-route refund time limit | Description |
Alipay | Within 18 months (548 days) after payment | If the time limit is exceeded or the refund via the original payment source fails, the amount is refunded to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. |
Online banking | Within 90 days after payment | Affected by bank processing speed, the actual arrival time may be slightly delayed. |
Alibaba Cloud account balance | - | - |
Other payment methods | The time limit is subject to the rules of each payment channel. | If the refund via the original payment source fails, the amount is refunded to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. |
For orders with issued invoices, the refund path is related to the invoiceable amount. The invoiceable amount refers to the consumed amount for which no invoice has been issued yet.
If the refund amount ≤ the invoiceable amount, the refund is returned via the original payment source first. If that fails, it's refunded to your account balance.
If the refund amount > the invoiceable amount, to comply with tax regulations, the refund is returned directly to your Alibaba Cloud account balance.
You can request a withdrawal for the funds returned to your account balance. For more information, see Balance withdrawal.
If a refund in your Alibaba Cloud account can't be withdrawn, an outstanding invoice issue may have occurred. Handle the outstanding invoice issue first before attempting to withdraw funds. An outstanding invoice means that a refund for an invoiced order caused the actual consumption amount to be less than the original invoiced amount. For more information, see Manage invoice deficits.
If a refund hasn't arrived for a long time, perform the following checks:
Confirm that the unsubscription was submitted successfully: Check the history in "Query unsubscription records" below this section. If no unsubscription record exists, the unsubscription wasn't submitted successfully. Submit it again.
Check the refund timeline: Refunds usually arrive within 2 business days. Channels such as Alipay and online banking are affected by bank processing speed, so the actual arrival time may be slightly delayed. For specific time limits, see the payment method table above.
Confirm the refund path: If the refund via the original payment source failed, or the refund amount is greater than the invoiceable amount, the funds are automatically refunded to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. Check the arrival status on the Income and Expenses page.
Check for outstanding invoices: If your account has an outstanding invoice (a refund for an invoiced order caused the consumption amount to fall below the invoiced amount), the refund may be frozen for offsetting. Handle the outstanding invoice issue before withdrawing funds.
You can query unsubscription records in the following ways:
After you initiate unsubscription, go to My Order, filter Order Type by Unsubscribe, and then click Details in the Actions column to view the detailed records.
You can also log on to the Unsubscribe page and click Unsubscribe Order Details.
In the unsubscription list, find the unsubscribed order. In the Actions column, click View Details. On the Order Details page, view information such as Unsubscribe To, Refund Amount, and Refund Time.