This topic introduces resource plans, including their types and applicable scenarios. It also explains how to select and manage resource plans by purchasing, renewing, setting alerts, viewing validity periods, and unsubscribing.
What is a resource plan
A resource plan is a prepaid package for a fixed amount of a cloud resource. During its validity period, such as a day or a month, the plan automatically covers your pay-as-you-go resource usage, such as storage capacity or network traffic. Resource plans are generally more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method.
When the quota of a resource plan is depleted or the plan expires, the corresponding cloud product or billable item automatically switches to the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Resource plan types and deduction mechanism
Resource plans are categorized into the following types based on how their quotas are consumed:
Consumption model | Description | Usage period | Typical products |
Recurring plan | A fixed quota is provided for each period. Unused quota expires at the end of the period and is refreshed in the next period. | Hourly/Daily/Monthly | Reserved instance, Storage Capacity Unit (SCU), OSS outbound data transfer plan |
Aggregate type | You receive a total quota upon purchase. This quota is consumed over the validity period until it is depleted or expires. | Validity period | PolarDB compute plan |
When to use a resource plan
If you can forecast your resource usage with reasonable stability for a future period, purchasing a resource plan can significantly reduce your costs. This applies to resources such as storage capacity, network traffic, and computing usage, as long as they are covered by the plan.
To avoid purchasing a resource plan that cannot be used for deductions, first check your bills to identify the main sources of your costs and review your usage details. Then, you can decide on the type, specifications, quota, and validity period of the resource plan to purchase.
Pre-purchase considerations
Before you purchase a resource plan, review its applicable scope, validity period, and deduction rules to avoid buying the wrong plan and incurring extra costs:
Deduction matching: A resource plan must match the region, product or instance type, and billable item of the resource for the deduction to be successful. Otherwise, the deduction fails. Resource plans cannot be transferred across regions or products.
Validity period: Resource plans have a defined validity period. They expire after the validity period and cannot be refunded or used.
Post-activation deduction: A resource plan becomes effective after purchase. It can only be used to deduct fees generated after it becomes effective. It cannot be used to deduct fees generated before it becomes effective.
Stacking purchases: You can purchase multiple resource plans of the same type. They are managed in order of their expiration dates, with the one expiring soonest being used for deduction first.
Exceeding the quota: Usage that exceeds the resource plan's quota is automatically billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Evaluate your business requirements and set remaining quota alerts to avoid extra costs.
How to select a suitable resource plan
1. Analyze historical costs and usage
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. Go to the Bill Details page to view your consumption data for the past 3 to 6 months or longer. Identify which pay-as-you-go billable items are the main sources of your costs, and note key information such as the usage and region for those items.
2. Estimate future usage
Estimate your future usage based on historical data and business planning. You should leave a buffer for growth.
For businesses with fluctuating usage, select a capacity based on "average usage + a buffer for peak protection" to avoid frequent overages and unexpected costs.
3. Determine the resource plan type
Select the most suitable type based on resource attributes and billing methods:
If the quota refreshes periodically and you want stable deductions each period, choose a recurring plan (such as hourly, daily, or monthly).
If your quota is based on a total amount and you are more concerned with tracking cumulative usage over a validity period, select the Total Amount (non-periodic) type.
4. Select capacity and validity period (cost comparison)
The focus of the comparison differs for different types of resource plans:
For recurring plans, a common method is to compare the cost of a larger-spec plan with the combined cost of a smaller-spec plan plus the estimated pay-as-you-go costs for overages.
For capacity packs, a common comparison method is to compare the unit price of different capacity specifications (larger capacity usually means a lower unit price) and balance it against capital commitment and the risk of redundancy.
Purchase and manage resource plans
First-time purchase
Go to the management console or product purchase page for the relevant product. Select the appropriate specifications and validity period to complete your purchase. Some products allow you to set a specific effective time, such as when purchasing SCUs, purchasing GA resource plans, or purchasing ALB resource plans.
Set remaining quota alerts
After a resource plan's quota is depleted, billing automatically switches to the pay-as-you-go method, which may lead to unplanned expenses. Set remaining quota alerts to receive timely notifications when your prepaid resources are low. This gives you time to renew, repurchase, or adjust your service usage. For more information, see Set remaining quota alerts for resource plans.
Check the expiration time
You can query only resource plans that are currently active or that have expired within the last year.
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. Go to the Resource Plans page. On the Instances tab, click the
icon, and select the Expiration Time checkbox.In the last column of the instance list, you can see the Expiration Time for each resource plan.
To view detailed deduction records, go to the Details tab.
Renewal and repurchase
Renewal: Before a resource plan expires, go to the Resource Renewal page to initiate the renewal. After the renewal is successful, the new term automatically begins when the current one expires. For more information, see Renew an expiring resource.
Repurchase: If a resource plan expires and you still need to use it, go to the product console to purchase a new one.
Unsubscribe from a resource plan
Some resource plans support unsubscription. On the Resource Unsubscription page, switch to the Resource Plans tab to view eligible plans. If your plan is not in the list, it typically means it does not meet the conditions for unsubscription.
To unsubscribe, follow the instructions in Initiate an unsubscription.
For information about how the refund amount is calculated, see Unsubscription rules.
FAQ
Why do some of my resource plans activate on the hour while others activate at midnight?
Why am I still receiving pay-as-you-go bills after purchasing a resource plan?
Why is my account overdue even though I have an active resource plan?
How can I prevent pay-as-you-go charges after purchasing a resource plan?
How do I verify that my resource plan is correctly applying deductions?
Can I use a new resource plan to pay off an existing overdue balance?