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    Container Service for Kubernetes:Billing FAQs

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    Container Service for Kubernetes:Billing FAQs

    Last Updated:Dec 12, 2024

    This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about resource billing in Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) clusters.

    What are the billable items in ACK?

    The billable items in Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) include cluster management and cloud resources. The cloud resources include Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances and network resources provided by Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Billing rules.

    • Cluster management: A cluster management fee is charged only for ACK Pro clusters. No cluster management fee is charged for ACK Basic clusters or ACK dedicated clusters. For more information about the billing of ACK Pro, see Billing of ACK Pro clusters.

      Note

      If you use Container Registry to manage images, refer to the billing rules of Container Registry in Billing rules.

    • Cloud resources: The Alibaba Cloud resources that are used in ACK clusters. For more information, see Cloud service fee.

    Why do applications fail to restart after I change the billing method of a data disk mounted to an ECS instance to subscription?

    The subscription billing model is comparable to reserving a fixed amount of computing resources. In containerized environments, resources frequently undergo actions such as restarts and terminations, making it challenging to accommodate a fixed allocation of computing resources. If the cloud disks mounted to ECS instances in an ACK cluster are billed under a subscription model, container application restarts are not supported, thereby prohibiting application upgrades.

    Therefore, cloud disks used in an ACK cluster must be billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. To optimize costs, you can purchase storage capacity unit packages. For more information, see Overview of storage capacity units.

    Am I charged for an ACK cluster that is being deleted or fails to be deleted?

    If a cluster is in the Deleting state or fails to be deleted, you are not charged a cluster management fee for the cluster. However, you are charged for cloud resources in the cluster. For more information about the lifecycle of clusters, see Cluster lifecycle. For more information about the billing of ACK managed clusters and ACK dedicated clusters, see Billing.

    How is an ACK cluster in the Inactive or Unavailable state billed?

    • ACK Basic clusters and ACK dedicated clusters are only charged for cloud service fees. Even when the cluster is in an abnormal state, fees for cloud services still incur.

    • ACK Pro clusters include both cluster management fees and cloud services fees. When the cluster is in an abnormal state, the cluster control plane will scale in. After scaling in, cluster management fees will no longer be charged, but associated cloud service fees still incur.

    When am I not charged a cluster management fee for a cluster?

    Only ACK Pro clusters incur cluster management fees. ACK Basic clusters and ACK dedicated clusters do not charge cluster management fees.

    For ACK Pro clusters, cluster management fees are waived when the cluster is in any of the following lifecycle states:

    • initial

    • failed

    • inactive

    • unavailable

    • deleting

    • delete_failed

    • deleted

    The deleted state is not visible to users. For more information about the lifecycle of clusters, see Cluster lifecycle. For more information about the billing of ACK managed clusters and ACK dedicated clusters, see Billing rules.