Subscription billing reserves resources in advance and offers lower pricing compared to pay-as-you-go. After you create a pay-as-you-go Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, convert its billing method to subscription. The conversion does not affect the running state of the instance.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure that:
The instance is in the Running or Stopped state
The instance is not in economical mode. If it is, start the instance first.
The instance is not a retired instance type
The instance is not a spot instance
No unpaid orders exist for the instance. Pay for or cancel any unpaid orders.
No automatic release time is set. If one is set, disable the automatic release setting first.
Billing changes after conversion
When you convert an instance from pay-as-you-go to subscription, only certain associated resources change billing method.
| Resource | After conversion | Action required |
|---|---|---|
| ECS instance type | Subscription | None. Converted automatically. |
| System disk | Subscription | None. Converted automatically. |
| Image licenses | Subscription | None. Converted automatically. |
| Data disks | Subscription or pay-as-you-go | During conversion, select whether to include attached pay-as-you-go data disks. If not included, data disks remain pay-as-you-go. Convert them individually later. See Change the billing method of disks. |
| Public bandwidth | Stays pay-as-you-go | Not included in this conversion. See Change the billing method for the bandwidth of a static public IP address. |
| Elastic IP Address (EIP) | Stays pay-as-you-go | Not included in this conversion. See Change the billing method of the EIP. |
If public bandwidth or an EIP remains pay-as-you-go after conversion, monitor your account balance to prevent service suspension due to overdue payments.
Convert a single instance in the console
Log on to ECS console - Instances. In the upper-left corner, select the target resource group and region.
Find the target instance and click the instance ID. On the instance details page, choose All Actions > Switch to Subscription.
On the conversion page, configure the following settings:
Setting Description Duration Select the subscription duration for the instance. Data Disk Select whether to change the billing method of attached pay-as-you-go data disks to subscription. Auto-renewal Select whether to enable auto-renewal for the subscription. ECS Terms of Service Read and select the checkbox to agree. Click Confirm Order and complete the payment.
If the instance status changes after you place the order but before you complete the payment, the conversion fails. Restore the instance to its status at the time of ordering, then go to the Order Hub to retry the payment.
Convert multiple instances at once
Convert up to 20 instances at once through batch operations on the Instance page. In a batch conversion, all selected instances share the same subscription duration.
Convert an instance by using the API
Call the ModifyInstanceChargeType operation to change the billing method of a pay-as-you-go ECS instance to subscription.