My Trials FAQ

What is a free trial?

The Alibaba Cloud Free Trial is a benefit for new users, including individuals and enterprises, to try cloud products for free for a limited time or up to a specific resource quota. The Free Trial helps you understand and become familiar with cloud products through hands-on experience before you make a purchase. This lowers the barrier to entry.

Free Trial is available for over 150 Alibaba Cloud products. Note that the specific rules, trial duration, available products, and resource specifications may change over time. Therefore, visit the Free Trial page and check the product card for the latest trial rules and information. Each product card provides a tutorial. Follow the tutorial to make the most of your free trial. After the trial ends, be sure to release the resources as described in the tutorial to avoid incurring extra charges.

How do I join the free trial?

You can go to the Alibaba Cloud official website or directly to the Free Trial page. You can then filter and select the products that you want to try, and start the trial.

How do I know which products have a free trial?

You can go to the Free Trial page to view all products that offer a free trial. If the product that you want is not on the list, you can search for it on the Alibaba Cloud official website and check its product page for trial offers.

How do I qualify for a free trial?

To claim a trial product, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must be a new user of the product. A new user is an account that has never purchased or tried the product. This means that you have no purchase orders, pay-as-you-go bills, or previous trial orders for that specific product.

• Your Alibaba Cloud account must complete identity verification. Individual developers must complete individual identity verification, and enterprise users must complete enterprise identity verification.

• Your Alibaba Cloud account must not have any overdue payments.

Why can't I start a free trial?

If a free trial product displays the message "You do not meet the trial rules", you can hover over the grayed-out button. The system displays the reason why you do not qualify, as shown in the following figure:

You can also check the trial rules for each product and verify the following conditions:

• Ensure that you have completed identity verification for an individual or enterprise account.

• A user can apply for a free trial of the same product only once. Check whether another account that belongs to you has already participated in the trial.

• Ensure that you have not previously purchased the trial product.

Are free trials limited to one per person?

Alibaba Cloud considers multiple Alibaba Cloud accounts to belong to the same user if they are associated with the same information, such as an identity document, phone number, or email address, during registration, logon, or use. Only one of these accounts can be used for a free trial of cloud products.

Are trial qualifications for individual and enterprise accounts separate?

The trial products available to individual users and enterprise users differ, and the trial rules also vary by product. For specific rules, see the description of eligible users and product features on each product card on the Free Trial page.

How can I make the most of my trial product?

After you claim a trial product, you can follow these steps to make the most of your experience.

• Go to the Free Trial page, find the cloud product that you want to try, and follow the tutorial on the product card for a quick start.

• Go to the Trial Guide and refer to popular trial scenario tutorials, experience sharing, and discussions to quickly get started with the cloud product.

• Go to My Trials to view information about all your trial cloud products, such as expiration dates, trial status, and trial progress. This helps you avoid extra charges that may be incurred after your trial quota is used up.

What is "My Trials"?

The My Trials page displays all information about your trial instances, including the trial instance ID, trial end time, rules for charges on excess usage, trial status, trial quota, and usage progress. It also provides quick access to the console, tutorials, trial activities, associated instance management, and purchase or release options. This lets you manage your trial resources more easily and conveniently.

How do I check the status and usage of my trial product?

You can log on to the My Trials page with the account that you used for the free trial. On this page, you can view information about your trial products, such as the Trial status and Trial progress.

If I don't use my full monthly trial quota, can it be carried over to the next month?

No, it cannot. The trial quota is valid only for the current month.

Can I change the region of a trial machine?

No, you cannot. You cannot change the region and zone of an activated cloud product. Choose the region and zone carefully when you activate the product.

Can I upgrade or downgrade a trial product, such as changing the instance type?

To upgrade or downgrade a trial product:

1. Go to Alibaba Cloud Documentation, find the document for the trial product, and confirm whether the product supports upgrades or downgrades.

2. If it is supported, follow the instructions in the document to change the specifications in the product console.

Note that changing product specifications may incur extra charges. Choose specifications based on your needs.

My resource plan is insufficient during the trial. Can I buy more?

Yes, you can. You can purchase additional resource plans. However, after you purchase an additional resource plan, the system uses the quota from your purchased plan before it uses your free trial quota.

For example, Object Storage Service (OSS) offers a free trial of a 20 GB standard resource plan for three months. If you find the free resource plan insufficient and purchase an additional 40 GB standard resource plan, the system first deducts usage from your purchased 40 GB plan. After the 40 GB plan is used up, the system starts to deduct usage from the free 20 GB plan.

Why do some trial resources have multiple epochs during the trial period?

The free trial is a benefit for new users to try Alibaba Cloud products. Some free trial products are specific instance types selected from products sold on the Alibaba Cloud website. Some of these products are sold on a periodic basis, such as monthly resource plans or savings plans with a monthly spending commitment. These product instances are billed monthly. Therefore, free trial instances of these products also have monthly epochs.

What is a billing method?

The billing method field specifies how a product is charged. The billing methods for free trials are as follows:

• Subscription: You pay upfront for a specific period of use when you order the product.

• Pay-as-you-go: After you order the product, you are charged for your actual usage on a periodic basis. This method is more flexible.

• Resource plan: You purchase a fixed amount of resources in advance to offset the usage of pay-as-you-go instances.

• Savings plan: You commit to a certain amount of spending over a period to receive a discount. This is used to offset the bills of pay-as-you-go instances.

What is an associated instance?

In the Free Trial, you can choose between individual products and product packages. Product packages are used mainly for free trials of pay-as-you-go products. These packages usually include a pay-as-you-go product and a savings plan (or resource plan) that can offset the usage.

After you submit your trial request, the savings plan (or resource plan) in the package is purchased for free. The trial instance is displayed on the My Trials page. The corresponding pay-as-you-go product instance is the associated instance.

How do I cancel a free trial while it is active, and what happens with billing?

For subscription products, resource plans, and savings plans, no special action is needed. They are automatically released upon expiration and do not incur charges.

For pay-as-you-go products, you can release them using one of the following methods:

• Method 1: On the My Trials page, click Release Resource in the Operation column for the target resource. If the Release Resource option is not available, use Method 2.

  

• Method 2: On the My Trials page, click Tutorial in the Related Entry column for the target resource. You are redirected to the specific tutorial document to learn how to release the resource.

How do I shut down or release a trial instance?

You can go to the My Trials page, find the relevant product, and then shut it down or release it.

I accidentally released my trial instance. How can I get it back?

You cannot recover released instances. Proceed with caution and make sure that you back up your data in advance.

After releasing a trial instance, can I start a new trial?

No, you cannot. If you release a trial product instance, you cannot participate in a free trial for the same product again.

When does my trial product expire?

The Free Trial offers different trial durations that depend on the selected cloud product. You can use the product for free for a specific period or within a specific quota. You can check your trial expiration date and progress at any time on the My Trials page.

Can I extend the trial period?

Each account is eligible for one non-extendable trial per product. If you want to continue using the product, you can purchase it. If you decide not to continue, release the resources promptly to avoid charges.

How do I renew a trial product after it expires?

• If you activated a subscription product, you can go to the My Trials page to purchase it. For more information about pricing, see the renewal page.

• If you activated a pay-as-you-go product, charges are deducted directly from your account after the trial ends. No manual renewal is required. If you do not need to continue to use the instance, manually release it in a timely manner to avoid extra charges. Back up your data before you release the instance.

Can I only renew after the trial expires?

No, this is not entirely accurate. The renewal process varies depending on the situation:

• Subscription products: You can renew a subscription trial instance at any time. After you renew the instance, its validity period is automatically extended.

• Pay-as-you-go products: Pay-as-you-go trial instances do not need to be renewed. After the trial ends, the system automatically deducts charges from your account balance based on usage. If your balance is insufficient, an overdue payment is generated for your account. Make sure that your account has a sufficient balance to avoid service interruptions. If you do not need to continue to use the instance, manually release it in a timely manner to avoid extra charges. Back up your data before you release the instance.

After a free trial product expires, is it shut down automatically or do I need to do it manually?

• The free trial product is offered on a subscription basis.

  The instance is automatically shut down and released after the trial expires. Released instances cannot be recovered. Back up your data in advance.

• Free trial products are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

  You must manually release the instance after the trial expires to avoid extra charges. You can go to the My Trials page to view trial information, such as expiration dates and progress, for all your trial products. You can also find the relevant product on this page and shut it down or release it.

  For more information about manual release operations, you can also go to Alibaba Cloud Documentation to view other manual release methods and release the instance in the corresponding console.

How do I cancel auto-renewal for a pay-as-you-go trial instance?

If you no longer need a pay-as-you-go instance after the trial expires, you can log on to the corresponding product console or the My Trials page to manually release it.

Why was I charged after starting a free trial?

• Go to My Trials and check whether the trial period has expired. After the trial period ends, the system starts billing at the standard product rate.

• Confirm whether you have activated or used features that are not free of charge. These features are billed at the standard rate.

• Confirm whether you have upgraded the fixed bandwidth, exceeded the system disk capacity, or converted a pay-as-you-go instance to a subscription instance. If you exceed the free quota, the excess usage is billed at the standard rate.

What happens if I exceed the free quota in a month?

If your usage exceeds the free quota, you are charged for the excess usage at the standard product rate. To avoid extra charges, if you do not need to continue to use the instance, manually release it in a timely manner. Back up your data before you release the instance.

Will I be charged after exceeding the trial quota?

The trial quota applies to each epoch. Whether you are charged for excess usage depends on the product's billing method. The specific rules are as follows:

• Subscription: The trial instance is automatically released.

• Pay-as-you-go: The trial instance continues to run and is charged based on usage.

• Resource plan: The pay-as-you-go instance associated with the resource plan continues to run and is charged based on usage.

• Savings plan: The pay-as-you-go instance associated with the savings plan continues to run and is charged based on usage.

Therefore, pay close attention to your trial progress and the rules for excess usage charges within each epoch to avoid unexpected charges.