All Products
Search
Document Center

Elastic Desktop Service:Pay-as-you-go billing

Last Updated:Feb 27, 2026

Pay-as-you-go lets you purchase and release cloud computers on demand. You pay only for the resources you consume. This billing method suits short-term scenarios such as internship programs or training sessions.

Billing formulas

Computing resources and storage resources are billed separately.

Resource typeFormula
Computing resourcesFee = Hourly price x Number of hours
Storage resourcesFee = Hourly price per GiB x Capacity in GiB x Number of hours

Billing cycles

Resource typeBilling startsBilling endsBilling when stopped
Computing resourcesCloud computer starts runningCloud computer enters the Stopped or Hibernated statePaused
Storage resourcesCloud computer is createdCloud computer is releasedContinues without interruption

Settlement cycles

Bills are generated and settled hourly, on the hour (UTC+8).

The system generates a bill for each settlement cycle and deducts fees from your account balance, including applicable coupons.

Important

If your account balance, including coupons, is insufficient to cover the fees, you receive an email notification about the payment failure. Top up your account promptly to avoid cloud computers being stopped or released.

Example

A cloud computer is purchased and started at 08:45:30 and released at 10:20:30. It runs continuously without being shut down.

Settlement cycleTime range (UTC+8)Billed duration
First08:00:00 -- 09:00:00870 seconds (08:45:30 to 09:00:00)
Second09:00:00 -- 10:00:003,600 seconds (09:00:00 to 10:00:00)
Third10:00:00 -- 11:00:001,230 seconds (10:00:00 to 10:20:30)

Billing example

Purchase details

ParameterValue
Computing specification4 vCPUs, 8 GiB memory
System disk80 GiB
Data disk100 GiB

Usage

MetricValue
Running time10 hours
Retention time (created to released)12 hours

Fee calculation

Fee componentCalculationAmount
Computing resource fee0.148 x 10USD 1.48
Storage resource fee0.00007 x (80 + 100) x 12USD 0.1512
TotalUSD 1.6312

Overdue payments

When your total account balance, including coupons, falls below the amount due, the system marks your account as having an overdue payment. Check overdue payments in the User Center.

After a payment becomes overdue, the cloud computer enters the Expired state. Data is retained, but all operations are blocked -- you cannot start, stop, restart, or connect to the cloud computer.

Time after overdueWhat happens
Within 30 daysTop up your account to resume using the cloud computer.
From the 31st dayThe cloud computer is automatically released.
Warning

Once a cloud computer is released, its data and snapshots are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Switch from pay-as-you-go to monthly subscription

The billing method of a cloud computer can be switched from pay-as-you-go to monthly subscription without affecting its data or usage.

Cloud computer pools do not support billing method switching.

Prerequisites

  • Cloud computers are in the Running or Stopped state.

  • No unpaid orders exist for the cloud computers. Complete or cancel pending orders before proceeding.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the EDS Enterprise console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Resources > Cloud Computers.

  3. In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.

  4. On the Cloud Computers page, find the target cloud computer, click More in the Actions column, and then select Switch Billing Method. > Note: To batch switch billing methods, select up to 20 cloud computers and choose More > Switch Billing Method in the lower part of the page.

  5. In the Switch Billing Method panel, select Monthly Subscription for the New Billing Method parameter, select a computing plan if necessary, and then click Switch Billing Method. > Note: > - All cloud computers support the unlimited computing plan. Limited computing plans are only available for cloud computers with 4 vCPU/8 GiB or 8 vCPU/16 GiB specifications. > - If a cloud computer that uses a limited computing plan exhausts its resources before the subscription cycle ends, it continues running. To prevent this, select When the monthly running hours of a cloud computer are exhausted in advance, the system automatically stops or hibernates the cloud computer.

  6. Complete the payment as prompted.