This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the billing of MaxCompute.
Category | FAQ |
Billing methods | |
Storage fees | |
Computing fees | |
Download fees | |
Viewing bills | |
Switching between billing methods | |
Renewal | How do I disable the auto-renewal feature if I activate a pay-as-you-go MaxCompute service? |
Resource release | |
Service deactivation |
How is MaxCompute billed?
MaxCompute provides the following billing methods:
Pay-as-you-go: You pay for the resources after you use them. Resources are shared.
Subscription: You pay for resources before you use them. Resources are exclusive.
MaxCompute uses projects as billing units. Billable items include storage, computing, and data download. The fees incurred include storage fees (billed based on the volume of stored data), computing fees (billed based on billing methods), and Internet download fees (billed based on downloaded bytes).
For more information about the billing methods of MaxCompute, see Billable items and billing methods.
Are additional fees incurred if I purchase subscription MaxCompute resources?
After you purchase subscription MaxCompute resources, you are not charged additional computing fees within the subscription duration that you select. However, if you store data or download data over the Internet during the use of MaxCompute, the system charges you based on the amount of downloaded data and the volume of stored data.
Are fees incurred if I do not perform operations in MaxCompute after I purchase MaxCompute resources?
After you purchase the MaxCompute resources, no fees are incurred if you do not download data over the Internet, store data in your MaxCompute project, or perform computing operations. If your MaxCompute project has data but data downloads over the Internet or computing operations are not performed, only storage fees are incurred.
Why am I charged for MaxCompute even though the service is not activated?
Problem description
You receive a notification that the MaxCompute service is not activated, but you are still being charged for it.
Cause
The root cause is that you may have created and used a MaxCompute project before the product was officially commercialized.
Note the difference between the following two concepts:
MaxCompute service: This refers to the overall activation status of the MaxCompute product under your Alibaba Cloud account. After the product was commercialized, all users must activate the service in the console to use features such as computing. If you have not done this, the console displays a message indicating that the service is not activated.
MaxCompute project: This is the specific resource entity where you store data and run jobs. A project created before commercialization remains as an existing resource entity under your account unless it is manually deleted.
Therefore, the legacy project resources under your account still exist, and the data stored in them continues to incur storage fees. These fees are charged for existing resources (the project and its data), regardless of whether you have reactivated the service after commercialization.
Solution
To resolve this issue and stop the billing, you must find and delete the legacy project. Because the current MaxCompute console cannot display legacy projects when the service is not activated, you must use DataWorks to re-establish the connection and manage the project.
Step 1: Log on to the DataWorks console and activate DataWorks
DataWorks is deeply integrated with MaxCompute. By activating DataWorks, you can re-associate and manage the MaxCompute projects under your account.
Go to the DataWorks console.
If prompted, follow the instructions to complete the activation process. Select the free Basic Plan. This action does not incur any fees.
Step 2: Find and confirm the MaxCompute project in DataWorks
After you activate DataWorks, the system automatically detects the compute engine resources associated with your account.
In the navigation pane on the left of the DataWorks console, click Workspaces.
You should see a workspace with the same name as the legacy MaxCompute project.
Step 3: Delete the legacy MaxCompute project
After you confirm the project name, return to the MaxCompute console to delete it.
Go to the MaxCompute console again. You can now see and manage your legacy project because it is associated with DataWorks.
Find the legacy project that you want to delete and go to its project management page.
You can execute the delete operation.
ImportantDeleting a project is an irreversible operation. All data and metadata in the project will be permanently destroyed. Before you delete the project, make sure that the data is no longer needed.
Step 4: Confirm that billing has stopped
After the project is deleted, the related storage fees will stop in the next billing cycle. You can go to the Alibaba Cloud User Center to confirm that storage billing for the MaxCompute project has stopped.
How is data storage billed if three replicas are stored in MaxCompute?
You are billed for a single replica.
Why are fees incurred for my pay-as-you-go MaxCompute project after I delete the project?
The data storage billing rules state that if a project's data storage is greater than 1 GB, MaxCompute charges the project 0.0006 USD per GB per day. For example, if you delete project data at 9:00, a bill for the storage used from 00:00 to 9:00 on that day is generated on the following day.
Are fees incurred for resources that are uploaded to MaxCompute?
Yes, fees are incurred. Data stored in MaxCompute, such as tables and resources, occupies storage space. Therefore, storage fees are incurred. MaxCompute charges you based on the volume of stored data. The billing cycle is 1 day.
For more information about storage pricing, see Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go).
After I delete several large tables in a MaxCompute project, the storage volume displayed remains unchanged. Do the incurred fees increase?
Check whether fees in your bill are normal on the next day after you delete the large tables. Bills are not synchronized in real time. In most cases, bills can be correctly displayed on the next day.
SQL statements that query different partitions incur significantly different fees. Why?
Partitions contain different amounts of data, so the fees for SQL queries on them also differ. You can run the desc <table_name> partition(<pt_spec>); command to view the size of a specific partition. To control the computing costs of SQL jobs, see Control computing costs.
Why do the fees fluctuate significantly after I use DataWorks to backfill data?
DataWorks performs the data backfilling operation once in each scheduling cycle within the data backfilling period that you define. For example, if you want to backfill data for 30 days and the scheduling cycle is 1 day, backfilling operations are performed 30 times. As a result, the fees incurred significantly fluctuate.
Why do the fees increase after I change the scheduling cycle of a scheduling task from days to hours using DataWorks?
After the scheduling cycle of the scheduling task is changed from days to hours, the scheduling task runs once an hour instead of once a day. The scheduling task runs more frequently than before, and the amount of data that is read increases. As a result, the fees incurred increase.
Why do the fees increase after a full table scan is run?
When a full table scan runs, the input data volume is the size of the entire table. If only specific partitions are scanned, the input data volume is the size of only those partitions. The cost of an SQL job is calculated using the formula: Input data volume × Complexity × Unit price. If the complexity and unit price are constant, the cost increases as the input data volume increases.
Are fees incurred if my MaxCompute job fails to run?
MaxCompute provides the following billing methods:
Pay-as-you-go: If the job is run on a pay-as-you-go basis, you are not charged for the failed job.
Subscription: If the job is run based on subscription resources, no additional fees are incurred for the failed job.
Am I charged for data downloads when I use an ECS instance to download data from MaxCompute over an internal network?
You are not charged for downloading data from MaxCompute over the Alibaba Cloud internal network or VPC networks. You are charged only for downloading data over the Internet. For more information, see or Download Fees (Pay-as-you-go).
What are the prepaid and postpaid fees included in a MaxCompute service bill?
A MaxCompute service bill includes two types of fees.
Prepaid fees: the computing fees that are generated when the subscription billing method is used.
Postpaid fees: If the pay-as-you-go billing method is used, the postpaid fees include computing fees, storage fees, and Internet-based data download fees. If the subscription billing method is used, the postpaid fees include storage fees and Internet-based data download fees.
The fees incurred unexpectedly increase when the configurations of my jobs remain unchanged. Why?
Find the SQL jobs that consume large amounts of resources and the running time of the SQL jobs. Then, analyze the costs and optimize the jobs by following the instructions in View billing details or Analyze the usage records of MaxCompute bills.
I have not used the pay-as-you-go feature of MaxCompute for a long period of time. Why are fees still incurred every day?
If you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, you are charged for computing, storage, and Internet-based data downloads. If no computing jobs are run or no Internet-based data downloads are performed in your MaxCompute project, check whether the project has residual data. If the residual data exists, fees are incurred for the storage of the residual data. You can view the storage usage on the Projects page.
Does the data change or service restart occur when I switch the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription?
The data change or service restart does not occur in this case. MaxCompute lets you switch between the pay-as-you-go and subscription billing methods. However, you must activate pay-as-you-go and subscription MaxCompute resources in advance. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.
Can I switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go for my MaxCompute project? If the switching is allowed, how are fees calculated?
You can switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go. For more information, see Switch between billing methods. For more information about the pricing of pay-as-you-go resources, see Storage pricing (pay-as-you-go), Download pricing (pay-as-you-go), and Computing pricing (pay-as-you-go).
How do I disable the auto-renewal feature if I activate a pay-as-you-go MaxCompute service?
If you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, MaxCompute does not support auto-renewal. If you no longer require MaxCompute, you can delete the stored data and release storage space. This way, no fees are incurred. For more information about how to delete data, see Delete MaxCompute tables and projects.
How long is the grace period for stored data when the MaxCompute service expires or the payment of MaxCompute is overdue?
After the MaxCompute service expires or the payment is overdue, if you top up your account balance and settle the overdue payment within 15 days, the MaxCompute service is automatically activated, and you can continue to use the MaxCompute service. If your payment is overdue for more than 15 days, all MaxCompute projects are automatically deleted. The system notifies you by text message or email one day before the projects are deleted. After a project is deleted, all data in the project, such as tables, resources, functions, and instances, is lost and cannot be restored.
How do I deactivate the MaxCompute service?
To prevent MaxCompute from generating costs, you can perform relevant operations based on the billing method of your MaxCompute projects.
Pay-as-you-go: If no project exists, no fees are incurred. If projects exist, delete the projects in the MaxCompute console to release resources. For more information about how to delete a MaxCompute project, see the "Delete a MaxCompute project" section in Delete a table or a MaxCompute project.
Subscription: After you activate MaxCompute, you can request refunds online and unsubscribe from the MaxCompute service. For more information, see Rules for unsubscribing from resources. If projects exist, confirm that the projects are no longer required and then delete the projects. You can also switch the billing method to pay-as-you-go before you can request refunds online. For more information about how to switch between billing methods, see Switch between billing methods.