You can view the usage of savings plans to check whether you make full use of the savings plans. You can also view the coverage of savings plans to check whether the savings plans effectively reduce resource costs. This topic describes how to view the usage and coverage of savings plans.
View the usage of savings plans
Usage definition
The usage of a savings plan refers to the percentage of the amount that is offset by the savings plan to the total amount of the savings plan. The higher the usage, the more fully the savings plan is used.
Usage of a savings plan = Amount offset by the savings plan/Total amount of the savings plan
Amount offset by the savings plan: the amount that is offset by the savings plan for pay-as-you-go bills.
Total amount of the savings plan: the total amount spent on the savings plan within the specified time range. Formula: Total amount of a savings plan = Hourly committed consumption amount of the savings plan × Purchase duration of the savings plan.
Procedure
Log on to the User Center console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Savings Plan > Overview.
On the Savings Plan page, click the Usage tab.
On the Usage tab, click Add Search Condition. In the Search Condition dialog box, specify one or more search conditions, and click Apply.
Specify the Time Unit and Time Range parameters, and click Search.
Case study
Tom purchased a pay-as-you-go Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance of the ecs.g6.large type in a region, and purchased a three-year general-purpose savings plan of the all upfront type based on the recommendation provided by the User Center console. From 00:00:00 on December 1, 2022 to 00:00:00 on February 6, 2023, Tom totally spent USD 160.80 on the savings plan and the amount offset by the savings plan was USD 127.41.
The usage of Tom's savings plan during this period is calculated based on the following formula: Usage of a savings plan = Amount offset by the savings plan/Total amount of the savings plan = 127.41/160.80 = 79.24%. This means that Tom used the savings plan to offset costs, but needs to optimize the usage to 100% in the subsequent use of the savings plan to minimize costs.
View the coverage of savings plans
Coverage definition
The coverage of a savings plan indicates the resources to which the savings plan is applied. A greater coverage of a savings plan indicates that the savings plan helps you reduce more costs.
Coverage of a savings plan = Amount offset by the savings plan/Total amount spent on the resources to which the savings plan is applied
Amount offset by the savings plan: the amount that is offset by the savings plan for pay-as-you-go bills.
Total amount spent on the resources to which the savings plan is applied: the sum of the total amount of the savings plan and the amount that is charged based on the regular pay-as-you-go unit price for the resource consumption beyond the commitment of the savings plan.
The coverage of a savings plan that you view in the User Center console includes all Alibaba Cloud services to which the savings plan is applied. To view the coverage of a savings plan that is applied to a specific Alibaba Cloud service, search for the Alibaba Cloud service and view the discount details.
Procedure
Log on to the User Center console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
On the Savings Plan page, click the Coverage tab.
On the Coverage tab, click Add Search Condition. In the Search Condition dialog box, specify one or more search conditions, and click Apply.
Specify the Time Unit and Time Range parameters, and click Search.
Case study
Jack purchased a pay-as-you-go ECS instance in a region, and purchased a three-year general-purpose savings plan of the all upfront type based on the recommendation provided by the User Center console. From 00:00:00 on January 5, 2022 to 00:00:00 on January 12, 2023, the amount offset by the savings plan is USD 1.23 and the total amount spent on the resources to which the savings plan is applied is USD 1.23. The coverage of the savings plan during this period is calculated based on the following formula: Coverage of the savings plan = Amount offset by the savings plan/Total amount spent on the resources to which the savings plan is applied = 1.23/1.23 = 100%.
If your pay-as-you-go resources support auto scaling, the coverage of your savings plan may be optimal without reaching 100%. You can refer to the recommendation for savings plan purchase to calculate the optimal coverage of a savings plan.
Optimize savings plans based on the usage and coverage
High usage and high coverage: The savings plan that you purchase has an appropriate quota and no quota is wasted. The savings plan effectively reduces costs.
High usage and low coverage: You may consider using the savings plan to offset more costs. To achieve this, you can increase the committed consumption amount of the savings plan.
Low usage and low coverage: The savings plan can be used to offset a large consumption amount, but you do not make full use of the savings plan. To prevent the savings plan from being wasted, we recommend that you use the savings plan where possible to offset pay-as-you-go bills.
Low usage and high coverage: Only a small consumption amount needs to be offset by the savings plan. You can reduce the committed consumption amount of the savings plan or purchase savings plans of other types based on your business requirements.