With the subscription billing method, you pay for compute nodes upfront when you create a database cluster. This payment does not cover storage costs. Storage is billed hourly on a pay-as-you-go basis. Therefore, you will receive pay-as-you-go bills for storage even if you have a subscription plan.
Scenarios
The subscription billing method is ideal for large and stable workloads, such as those that do not require scaling for at least a year. Although this method requires an upfront payment for compute nodes, it is more cost-effective for long-term workloads than the pay-as-you-go billing method.
How to purchase
For information about how to purchase a subscription cluster, see Purchase a subscription cluster.
If you have a pay-as-you-go cluster and want to convert it to a subscription cluster, see Convert the billing method for compute resources: Pay-as-you-go to subscription.