When you store objects in an Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket, you are charged storage fees based on the storage class, size, and storage duration of the objects. The storage fees are independent of whether the objects are accessed or the operations that are performed on the objects.
Unit price
This topic describes the billable items and billing methods of OSS storage usage. For more information about the unit price of the billable items, see Object Storage Service pricing.
Storage fees are calculated in USD per GB-month
, as indicated on the OSS pricing page. When you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, storage fees are calculated based on the following formula: Storage fees = Actual storage usage (GB) × Unit price per hour
. Therefore, when you calculate storage fees charged based on the actual storage usage, you must convert GB-month to GB-hour to calculate the storage fees based on the following formula: Unit price in USD per GB-hour
= Unit price in USD per GB-month/30/24. For example, the unit price for the storage usage of Standard locally redundant storage (LRS) objects is USD 0.0173
per GB-month, and the unit price in GB-hour is USD 0.000024 per GB-hour (0.0173/30/24)
.
Billable items
You are billed on an hourly basis for the following billable items. Bills are generally generated after a billing cycle ends. The time when bills are generated is determined by the system.
Storage fees of an object that is stored for a specific period of time
You are charged storage fees for an object stored in a bucket based on the storage class, redundancy type, size, and storage duration of the object.
Storage fees of an object that is stored for less than the minimum storage duration
Objects of specific storage classes have a minimum storage duration. The minimum storage duration is 30 days for Infrequent Access (IA) objects, 60 days for Archive objects, and 180 days for Cold Archive and Deep Cold Archive objects. If an IA, Archive, Cold Archive, or Deep Cold Archive object stored in a bucket is converted to an object of another storage class or deleted before it is stored for the minimum storage duration, you are charged for the storage usage of the object that is stored for less than the minimum storage duration.
Example: If an IA LRS object is overwritten or deleted after it is stored for less than 30 days (720 hours), you are charged for the remainder (720 hours - Actual storage duration) of the minimum storage duration. Archive, Cold Archive, and Deep Cold Archive objects share the computing rules with IA objects and you just need to change the minimum storage duration.
Storage usage of LRS objects that are stored for a specific period of time)
Billable item | Code | Minimum billable size |
Storage usage of Standard LRS objects | Storage | N/A (actual size of objects) |
Storage usage of IA LRS objects | ChargedDatasize | 64 KB (Objects that are smaller than 64 KB in size are charged as 64 KB. Objects that are larger than or equal to 64 KB in size are charged based on their actual sizes.) |
Storage usage of Archive LRS objects | ChargedDatasize | |
Storage usage of Cold Archive LRS objects | ChargedDatasizeCA | |
Storage usage of Deep Cold Archive LRS objects | ChargedDatasizeDeepCA |
The billed storage usage of IA, Archive, Cold Archive, or Deep Cold Archive objects is larger than the metered storage usage of these objects because each object has a minimum billable size of 64 KB. For more information about the metered storage usage and billed storage usage of these objects, see Query the storage usage of a bucket.
Storage usage of ZRS objects that are stored for a specific period of time)
Billable item | Code | Minimum billable size |
Storage usage of Standard zone-redundant storage (ZRS) objects | StorageZRS | N/A (actual size of objects) |
Storage usage of IA ZRS objects | ChargedDatasizeZRS | 64 KB (Objects that are smaller than 64 KB in size are charged as 64 KB. Objects that are larger than or equal to 64 KB in size are charged based on their actual sizes.) |
Storage usage of Archive ZRS objects | ChargedDataSizeArcZRS |
Storage usage of LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration
Billable item | Code | Calculation method of the minimum storage duration |
Storage usage of IA LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | LessthanMonthDatasize | The minimum storage duration is calculated based on the last modified time of the objects. |
Storage usage of Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | LessthanMonthDatasize | |
Storage usage of Cold Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | EarlyDeletionCA | The minimum storage duration is calculated based on the time when the storage class of the object is converted to Cold Archive or Deep Cold Archive. |
Storage usage of Deep Cold Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | EarlyDeletionDeepCA |
To prevent unnecessary fees, you must be familiar with how to determine whether the objects of different storage classes meet the minimum storage duration requirements and make sure that the minimum storage duration requirement is met before you convert the storage class of an object or delete an object. For information, see How can I avoid being charged for the storage usage of objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration?
Storage usage of ZRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration
Billable item | Code | Calculation method of the minimum storage duration |
Storage usage of IA ZRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | LessthanMonthDatasizeZRS | The minimum storage duration is calculated based on the last modified time of the objects. |
Storage usage of Archive ZRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | LessthanMonthDatasizeArcZRS |
Billing methods
Objects of different storage classes support different billing methods for storage fees. The following three billing methods are supported: pay-as-you-go, resource plans, and storage capacity units (SCUs).
Instructions on selecting a billing method
We recommend that you refer to the following table to learn about the features and scenarios of different billing methods. This helps you select an appropriate billing method to reduce storage fees.
Billing method | Description | Feature | Scenario |
Pay-as-you-go | By default, you are charged for all billable items based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are charged for the actual storage usage of each billable item. Pay-as-you-go allows you to use resources first and pay for them afterwards. | The storage usage fluctuates and is difficult to predict. | In the initial stage of a startup or project, the storage usage is unstable. Pay-as-you-go can prevent the waste of resources and flexibly adjust resources based on the actual usage. |
Storage plans | You can purchase storage plans to offset the fees for specific billable items. To offset storage fees by using storage plans, you must purchase storage plans in advance. After you purchase a storage plan, the storage plan is a favorable billing method used to offset the storage fees. | The storage capacity of objects of each storage class is relatively stable and predictable. | For large enterprises or long-running projects, the storage capacity of objects of different storage classes is relatively stable. You can reduce storage costs by purchasing a corresponding storage plan. The minimum specification of a storage plan is 40 GB and the maximum specification is 20 PB. |
You can purchase storage capacity units (SCUs) to offset the storage fees of specific billable items. The SCUs are subscription resources. To offset storage fees by using SCUs, you must purchase SCUs in advance. | The SCUs can be used to offset the storage fees of multiple OSS billable items and other Alibaba Cloud storage services. |
|
Billing methods supported by different billable items
The following table lists the billing methods supported by each billable item in OSS.
Billable item | Pay-as-you-go | Storage plans | SCUs |
Storage usage of Standard LRS objects | ✓ | ✓ | |
Storage usage of IA LRS objects | ✓ | ✓ | |
Storage usage of Archive LRS objects | ✓ | × | ✓ |
Storage usage of Cold Archive LRS objects | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of Deep Cold Archive LRS objects | ✓ | × | × |
Anywhere Reserved Capacity | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of Standard ZRS objects | ✓ | × | ✓ |
Storage usage of IA ZRS objects | ✓ | × | ✓ |
Storage usage of Archive ZRS objects | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of IA LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | |
Storage usage of Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of Cold Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of Deep Cold Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of IA ZRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | × |
Storage usage of Archive ZRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration | ✓ | × | × |
FAQ
After I purchase an IA (LRS) storage plan, why do I receive a large bill for the storage usage of IA LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration in a specific billing cycle?
After I purchase an Archive (LRS) storage plan, why do I receive a large bill for the storage usage of Archive LRS objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration in a specific billing cycle?
Why am I continuously charged for the storage usage of objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration?
References
By default, the storage class of an uploaded object is Standard. If you want to convert the storage class of an object from Standard to IA, Archive, Cold Archive, or Deep Cold Archive which is more cost-effective based on your business requirements, see Convert the storage class of an object.
For more information about the billing examples of IA, Archive, and Cold Archive objects that are stored for less than the minimum storage duration, see How am I charged for objects whose storage duration is less than the minimum storage duration?
You are charged for the parts that are generated during multipart upload based on the storage class, actual size, and storage duration of the parts. For more information, see How am I charged for parts?
For more information about how to query OSS hourly billing data, see Query OSS billing data generated on an hourly basis.
For more information about the billing details of the billable items, see Query bills.