To continue using a trial or subscription Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, renew it before it expires. A renewal extends the instance's service period.
Different renewal methods are available at different stages of an instance's lifecycle, including creation, expiration, and release.
Expiration day (T): The last day you can use the instance. A successful renewal extends the expiration date.
Release day: After the expiration day, Alibaba Cloud provides additional days (maximum: 30) for you to renew the instance. For information about resource status after instance expiration, see Expiration and renewal.
Manual renewal
Console
Go to ECS console - Instances. Select the region in the top navigation bar.
On the Instance page, find the one to renew and click its ID to open the details page. In the Basic Information section, click Renew next to Expire At. Follow the prompts to select a renewal duration and complete the payment.
You can renew multiple instances in a single operation.
To renew multiple instances in the same region: On the Instance page, select the target instances. Then, at the bottom of the list, click More > Fees > Renew.
To renew multiple instances across different regions: Go to Expenses and Costs - Renewal. On the Manual tab, select the ECS instances and batch renew them. Note that you cannot renew ECS instances together with other cloud products in the same batch operation.
API
Call the RenewInstance operation to renew a single ECS instance. To do this, specify the instance ID and a renewal duration by using either the Period and PeriodUnit parameters or the ExpectedRenewDay parameter. To renew multiple instances, call this operation for each instance.
Other related API operations include:
Enable auto-renewal: To enable auto-renewal for an instance, call the ModifyInstanceAutoRenewAttribute operation and set the InstanceId, Duration, and AutoRenew parameters.
Query renewal prices: To query the renewal price for an instance, call the DescribeRenewalPrice operation and pass parameters such as the region, instance type, and renewal duration.
Query instances that expire within a specific time range: To query for instances that will expire within the specified time frame, call the DescribeInstances operation and set the ExpiredStartTime and ExpiredEndTime filter parameters.
Query the auto-renewal status of an ECS instance: To query the auto-renewal status of a specific instance or to list instances that have a particular auto-renewal status, call the DescribeInstanceAutoRenewAttribute operation and set the InstanceId and RenewalStatus parameters.
More renewal methods
Aside from manual renewal, Alibaba Cloud offers other flexible renewal methods to suit different needs during your instance's lifecycle.
Auto-renewal
When to use: Ensure uninterrupted service for critical workloads.
Timing: Enabled any time between instance creation and 14 days after expiration (T+14).
How it works:
Automatically renews before expiration.
Billing continues seamlessly from the original expiration date.
No configuration changes unless manually adjusted.
Reference: Auto-renewal.
Renew and downgrade
When to Use: Reduce costs by scaling down resources (such as lower CPU/memory, or public bandwidth).
Timing: Available 15 days before expiration until release day.
How it works:
Adjust instance configurations during renewal.
New configurations take effect immediately after the current cycle ends.
Renew and downgrade before expiration: applies the new configuration pricing from the original expiration date.
Renew and downgrade after expiration: starts billing with downgraded configurations from the renewal date.
Reference: Renew and downgrade.
Synchronize expiration date
When to Use: Simplify management and renewal by aligning your subscription instance expiration dates.
Timing: Before instances expire.
How it works:
Renew multiple subscription instances in a region to synchronize their expiration dates to the same day of each month.
The new billing cycle starts from the renewal date.
Reference: Synchronize the expiration dates of subscription instances.
Enable non-renewal
If you do not plan to use an instance after its subscription ends, set it to non-renewal to reduce the expiration reminders you receive.
Even after an instance is set to non-renewal, you can still renew it at any time before it expires.
Go to the Renewal page and specify search conditions.
Set the Instances parameter to ECS (Subscription) - International Site and click the Manual or Auto tab.
Select one or more ECS instances and click Set as Nonrenewal in the lower part of the page. In the dialog box that appears, confirm the information and click OK.
After you enable non-renewal for the instances, you can view the instances on the Nonrenewal tab.
You can still renew an instance for which non-renewal is enabled before the instance expires and is released. On the Nonrenewal tab of the page, find the ECS instance that you want to renew and select a renewal method in the Actions column.