Resource Plan FAQ

What is a resource plan, and when should I buy one?

A resource plan commits you to a fixed usage amount at discounted pay-as-you-go rates. It suits storage and traffic-based services with predictable budgets.

When does a purchased resource plan take effect?

Most resource plans take effect immediately after purchase. A few products let you set a custom start time—for example, Storage Capacity Unit (SCU), GA resource plan, and ALB resource plan.

Can resource plans be used across accounts?

Two cross-account deduction methods are available:

• Automatic sharing under finance trusteeship: In enterprise financial management mode, only reserved instances and SCUs support cross-account sharing.

• One-click cross-account sharing (invitational preview): Starting March 26, 2026, enterprise accounts can share resource plans with member accounts. Allocate quotas as needed or share the full amount. Available by whitelist invitation—submit a ticket to request access. How do I share a resource plan with member accounts?.

How do I avoid pay-as-you-go charges after buying a resource plan?

When a resource plan expires or its quota is exceeded, billing reverts to pay-as-you-go.

• Avoid exceeding quota for volume-based resource plans: Set a low-quota alert to prevent overuse. When you receive an alert, buy a new resource plan promptly to avoid pay-as-you-go charges.

• Renew before expiration: To keep using discounted rates after expiration, renew your resource plan. For non-renewable plans, buy a new one before the current one expires.

• Stack resource plans with configurable start times: If you stack a resource plan that supports custom start times (such as SCU), ensure its start time is no later than the expiration time of your active plan. This prevents gaps that trigger pay-as-you-go billing.

  Example

  Suppose you have a 1-year resource plan A expiring on January 1, 2024. You buy a new 1-year resource plan B. To ensure seamless coverage, set plan B’s start time to January 1, 2024. This avoids pay-as-you-go charges between plan A’s expiration and plan B’s activation.

Can I tag resource plans? What are the benefits?

Starting March 26, 2026, you can attach custom tags to resource plans for bill allocation by department, project, or cost center. This feature is generally available to all users.

Typical use cases:

• Assign resource plans by line-of-business or department: Tag plans with values like dept:finance or project:crm to aggregate bills by dimension.

• Integrate with cost allocation systems: Tag-based bill summaries feed directly into financial systems without manual splitting.

• Advanced scenario: Combine with tag-based resource deduction to restrict a resource plan to specific tagged resources—ensuring dedicated use.

In the Expenses and Costs console, go to Account > Resource Plan to attach, modify, or delete tags for existing or new resource plans.

What is tag-based resource deduction, and how do I enable it?

Tag-based resource deduction restricts a resource plan to offset only resources with matching tags. Resources from other departments, projects, or business units cannot consume this plan’s quota—ensuring dedicated use.

Example: A resource plan tagged dept:finance offsets only ECS instances with that same tag. Instances from other departments in the same account won’t trigger deduction.

Prerequisites:

• The target resource instance must have a tag matching the key and value specified in the resource plan exactly.

• The resource plan’s product must support tag-based deduction (check the console for coverage).

How do I check if my purchased resource plan is being applied?

1. Navigate to the Resource Plans page.

2. In the Resource section, select Resource Plan, then click the Details tab. Enter the Resource Plan ID, Pay-As-You-Go Instance, and other details. Click Search to view deduction status.

Why am I still billed on a pay-as-you-go basis after purchasing a resource plan?

If your resource plan isn’t offsetting pay-as-you-go charges, check the following causes:

1. Mismatch between resource plan and usage scenario

   • Region or service mismatch: Resource plans must match the product’s region and service type. An OSS storage plan for China (Hangzhou) cannot offset fees in other regions.

   • Billing item mismatch: Plans cover only specific items (storage, traffic, or requests). An OSS plan offsets storage only—traffic and API requests remain pay-as-you-go.

2. Resource plan not active or expired

   • Activation delay: Check whether the plan’s start time is later than the resource consumption time (view consumption time on the Bill Details page).

   • Expired validity: Check if the resource plan has expired. After expiration, the system automatically reverts to pay-as-you-go billing.

3. Insufficient resource plan quota

   • Quota exceeded: Once exhausted (e.g., a 50 GB traffic plan fully consumed), excess usage is billed pay-as-you-go.

   • Multiple plan priority: When multiple plans can offset the same service, the system applies them in this order:

     • Specificity priority: Plans with narrower applicability or stricter conditions are used first.

     • Expiry priority: Among similar plans, those closer to expiration are used first.

   To avoid fragmented quota issues, consolidate plans or align expiration dates. You can also set a low-quota alert to act on notifications.

4. Configuration doesn’t meet resource plan requirements

   • Mandatory association: Some plans require specific configurations. For example, an ApsaraVideo VOD data transfer plan requires an accelerated domain name with pay-by-data-transfer billing.

   • Service not actively used: Plans offset charges only when the service is invoked. If you don’t call relevant APIs, no quota is consumed.

   • Resource tag mismatch (invitational preview): If you enable tag-based deduction, the plan offsets only resources with the specified tag. If the target resource lacks the tag or has a different value, the plan won’t apply. See What is tag-based resource deduction?

Review these causes against your situation. To check plan status, see Query resource plan usage.

Why do I still have overdue payments after buying a resource plan?

Common causes of overdue payments after purchasing a resource plan:

• Your pay-as-you-go cloud resources incur charges across multiple billing items, but you only bought a resource plan for some of them.

• You bought a resource plan for one region, but usage occurred in another region.

• Your resource plan quota is insufficient—the actual usage exceeds the plan’s limit.

• Billing system delay: Resource plans offset charges after activation, but billing may lag. If your plan activates at 9:00 AM and you receive an overdue notice at 10:00 AM, those charges likely stem from usage before 9:00 AM.

How am I charged after exceeding my resource plan quota?

Usage first consumes the resource plan quota. Excess usage is charged at pay-as-you-go rates. If you consistently exceed quota, upgrade your plan or stack multiple plans.

Can I use a resource plan to offset existing overdue payments?

No. Resource plans only offset charges incurred after purchase. To clear existing overdue payments, add funds to your account.

How is the "on-demand cost equivalent" of reserved instances calculated?

The "on-demand cost equivalent" estimates the original on-demand cost of resources offset by a reserved instance.

Why do my simultaneously purchased resource plan and subscription instance have different expiration times?

• Subscription instance: Like buying physical equipment. We include the purchase day free of charge to compensate for setup time.

• Resource plan: Like buying a voucher. Its validity period is calculated strictly from the purchase duration—no extra days are added.

Suppose you place an order at 15:30 on June 29 for a 1-month term.

Why do some of my resource plans start at the exact hour while others start at 00:00 on the same day?

This is normal. The start time aligns with the billing cycle of the cloud service being offset.

This ensures your resource plan covers the first charge immediately after purchase.

• For billing items with an hourly cycle:

  • The resource plan starts at the beginning of the current hour.

  • Example: If you buy at 15:30, the plan starts at 15:00 to offset charges from 15:00–16:00.

• For billing items with a daily cycle:

  • The resource plan starts at 00:00 on the purchase day.

  • For example, if you purchase at June 29 15:30, the resource plan takes effect from June 29 00:00 to offset the bill for June 29 the entire day.

What happens if my resource plan expires?

Other applicable resource plans continue offsetting charges. If none remain, billing switches to pay-as-you-go (actual usage).

What should I do before or after my resource plan expires?

Before expiration: To keep enjoying discounted rates, renew your resource plan. If you only want to use the remaining quota until expiration, no action is needed.

After expiration: Pay-as-you-go cloud resources continue running. To maintain discounts, buy a new resource plan. If you stop using the resources, release the instances to avoid accruing pay-as-you-go charges.

Can I renew a resource plan?

Resource plans with hourly or daily commitment periods support renewal. For non-renewable plans, buy a new one.

Can I opt out of a resource plan, and how is the refund calculated?

To check if your resource plan is eligible for opt-out, go to the Resource Opt-Out page and switch to the Resource Plan tab. Eligible instances will appear (if no instances are listed, your plan doesn’t qualify).

To opt out, follow the steps in Initiate opt-out.

Opt-outs are either full or partial, as follows:

• Full opt-out: Available if usage is zero during the validity period, or if the plan was set to start in the future and hasn’t activated yet.

• Partial opt-out: Applies when the plan is partially used. Refund amount = Order amount − Consumed amount. See Opt-out rules.

Does opting out of a resource plan affect product usage or data?

No. Opting out doesn’t affect product usage or data. The product automatically switches to pay-as-you-go billing. Ensure sufficient account balance—insufficient funds lead to overdue status, service suspension, and eventual data loss.

How do I share a resource plan with member accounts?

Starting March 26, 2026, enterprise accounts can share resource plans with member accounts. Allocate quotas as needed or share the full amount. Available by whitelist invitation.

Typical use cases:

• Centralized procurement: The root account buys plans centrally and allocates them to business units, reducing costs.

• Quota allocation: Assign different quotas to member accounts or configure full sharing (all accounts draw from one pool).

• Combined tag strategy: Pair with tag-based resource deduction to build a fine-grained model: "centralized procurement + department-specific control."

What should I do if my resource plan expires with unused quota?

Resource plans have a fixed validity period. After expiration, unused quota is void—no refunds or further use. Monitor your resource plan expiration time and set a low-quota alert.

What should I do if I bought the wrong resource plan?

To replace a resource plan, first review Resource plan overview and selection, then go to the cloud product’s resource plan purchase page to buy the correct plan.