Help Center/ Elastic IP/ Drawer/ Buying an EIP/ Billed By
Updated on 2025-08-13 GMT+08:00
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Billed By

Description

Parameter Billed By is available only when Billing Mode is set to Pay-per-use.

  • Bandwidth

    You specify a maximum bandwidth and pay for the time you use the bandwidth. This is suitable for scenarios with heavy or stable traffic.

  • Traffic

    You specify a maximum bandwidth and pay for the outbound traffic you use. This is suitable for scenarios with light or sharply fluctuating traffic.

  • Shared Bandwidth

    The bandwidth can be allocated to multiple EIPs and can be shared among the EIPs. This is suitable for scenarios with staggered peak hours. For details, see Shared Bandwidth Overview.

Table 1 Pay-per-use EIP billing

Billed By

Billed Item

Billed Item Description

Impact of EIP Operations on Billed Items

Bandwidth
  • Bandwidth
  • EIP
If a pay-per-use EIP is billed by bandwidth, there are two billed items:
  • Bandwidth: You are billed based on your specified bandwidth size and usage duration. There is no limit on how much traffic you can use.

    After an EIP is purchased, you can change your specified bandwidth size. Although the total traffic is unlimited, your available bandwidth is limited to what was specified at the time of purchase.

  • EIP: If an EIP is not released, it will continue to be billed even if it is not bound to an instance.

After an EIP is purchased:

  • If the EIP is not bound to any instance, both the EIP and its bandwidth will be billed.
  • If the EIP is bound to an instance, only the bandwidth will be billed.

    The bandwidth will be billed regardless of if the instance bound to the EIP is running or not.

  • After the EIP is unbound from an instance, the bandwidth will continue to be billed. Unless it is released, the EIP will still be billed.
  • If the EIP is released, both the EIP and bandwidth will not be billed.

Traffic
  • Traffic
  • EIP
If a pay-per-use EIP is billed by traffic, there are two billed items:
  • Traffic: You are billed based on your EIP type and the total amount of traffic going out of the cloud.

    The bandwidth size you set is only used to limit the maximum data transfer rate. To prevent high fees caused by traffic bursts, specify a proper bandwidth size when you buy an EIP.

  • EIP reservation price: If an EIP is not released, it will continue to be billed even if it is not bound to an instance.

After an EIP is purchased:

  • If the EIP is not bound to an instance, you will be billed for the EIP itself, but not for traffic.
  • If the EIP is bound to an instance, only the used traffic will be billed.

    If the instance bound to the EIP stops running and there is no traffic generated, there will be no traffic price. Also, the EIP will not be billed.

  • After the EIP is unbound from an instance, the traffic will not be billed but the EIP will still be billed.
  • If the EIP is released, the EIP will not be billed.

Shared bandwidth
  • Shared bandwidth
  • EIP
If a pay-per-use EIP is added to a shared bandwidth:
  • Shared bandwidth: Only the shared bandwidth will be billed. There will be no additional bandwidth or traffic costs for EIPs added to the shared bandwidth. For details, see Table 2.
  • EIP reservation price: If an EIP is not released, it will continue to be billed even if it is not bound to an instance.
After an EIP is purchased, you will be billed for:
  • Shared bandwidth
    • No operations on the EIP will affect the billing of a shared bandwidth.

      For example, if you have released the EIP but have not deleted the shared bandwidth, the shared bandwidth will still be billed.

    • After a shared bandwidth is deleted, it will no longer be billed.
  • EIP
    • If the EIP is not bound to an instance, the EIP will still be billed.
    • If the EIP is unbound from an instance, the EIP will be billed to keep it allocated to your account until it is released.
    • If the EIP is released or bound to an instance, the EIP will not be billed.
Table 2 Shared bandwidth billing

Billing Mode

Billed By

Billed Item

Billed Item Description

Yearly/Monthly

Bandwidth

Bandwidth

If you buy a yearly/monthly shared bandwidth, you are billed based on your specified bandwidth size and usage duration. There is no limit on how much traffic you can use.

Pay-per-use

Bandwidth

Bandwidth

 You are billed based on your specified bandwidth size and usage duration. There is no limit on how much traffic you can use.

After a shared bandwidth is purchased, you can change your specified bandwidth size. Although the total traffic is unlimited, your available bandwidth is limited to what was specified at the time of purchase.

FAQ

How Many EIPs Can Share the Same Bandwidth?

A shared bandwidth can be used by a maximum of 20 EIPs. If you need more than 20 EIPs added to the same shared bandwidth, you can submit a service ticket to request a larger quota.

Can a Bandwidth Be Used by Multiple Accounts?

A bandwidth cannot be shared between different accounts. Each account can use and manage only its own EIP bandwidths.

What Bandwidth Types Are Available?

There are dedicated bandwidths and shared bandwidths. A dedicated bandwidth can only be used by one EIP, but a shared bandwidth can be used by multiple EIPs.

What Is the Relationship Between Bandwidth and the Upload/Download Rate?

The bandwidth is measured in bit/s, but the download rate is measured in byte/s.

1 byte = 8 bits, that is, download rate = bandwidth/8

Due to various issues such as computer performance, network device quality, resource usage, and network peak hours, if the bandwidth is 1 Mbit/s, the actual upload or download rate is generally lower than 125 kByte/s (1 Mbit/s = 1,000 Kbit/s, upload or download rate = 1,000/8 = 125 kByte/s).

Parent Topic: Buying an EIP