Help Center/ Elastic Cloud Server/ Billing/ Billing FAQ/ Billing Modes/ What Are the Differences Between Yearly/Monthly and Pay-per-Use Billing Modes?
Updated on 2023-12-07 GMT+08:00
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What Are the Differences Between Yearly/Monthly and Pay-per-Use Billing Modes?

Yearly/Monthly

Yearly/Monthly is a prepaid billing mode and is cost-effective for long-term use.

Note the following when using a yearly/monthly ECS:
  1. A created yearly/monthly ECS cannot be deleted. If such an ECS is not required any more, unsubscribe it. To do so, switch to the Elastic Cloud Server page, locate the target ECS, and choose More > Unsubscribe in the Operation column.
  2. A detached system disk can be used as a data disk for any ECSs, but can only be used as a system disk for the ECS where it was attached before.
  3. A detached data disk that is purchased together with an ECS can only be used as a data disk for this ECS.

Pay-per-Use

Pay-per-use billing is a postpaid billing mode in which an ECS will be billed based on usage frequency and duration. ECSs are billed by second. The system generates a bill every hour based on the usage duration and deducts the billed amount from the account balance. A pay-per-use ECS can be provisioned and deleted at any time.

In the pay-per-use billing mode, ECSs are billed by the second. The price per second of each type of ECS can be obtained by dividing their hourly price by 3600. Obtain the hourly price on the Product Pricing Details page.

For example, if you purchase a pay-per-use ECS priced $0.68 USD/hour, the ECS will be billed based on the usage duration by the second.
  • If you use the ECS for 30 minutes, you need to pay for $0.34 USD (0.68/3600 x 30 x 60).
  • If you use the ECS for 1 hour and 30 minutes, you need to pay for $1.02 USD (0.68/3600 x 90 x 60).

If a pay-per-use ECS is stopped and then restarted, the startup may fail due to insufficient resources. In such a case, change the ECS flavor or wait several minutes before attempting another restart.

Which One Is More Cost-Effective?

The yearly/monthly payment is more cost-effective than the pay-per-use payment for a longer usage duration. Yearly/Monthly is ideal when the duration of ECS usage is predictable. Pay-per-use is recommended when you want more flexibility and control on ECS usage. Pay-per-use ECSs can be provisioned or deleted at any time.

Parent topic: Billing Modes