Overview

OCR provides two billing modes, package and pay-per-use, to meet the needs in different scenarios.

Package: a prepaid mode where payment is made in advance and billed according to the subscription term. The larger the package specifications, the greater the discount. This mode is generally suitable for mature businesses with long-term stable needs.
Pay-per-use: It is a postpaid mode where payment is made after usage, and billing is based on the actual number of successful API calls. The pay-per-use mode allows you to flexibly adjust resource usage based on actual business needs, without the need to pre-set resources, thereby reducing the risk of over or under provisioning. This mode is typically suitable for scenarios with unstable needs.

Table 1 compares the two billing modes.

**Table 1** Differences between billing modes
Billing Mode	Package	Pay-per-Use
Payment	Prepaid	Postpaid
Billing Method	Billed by the subscription term you purchase The package has a validity period of one year and will not be automatically extended upon expiration. Please use it within the validity period.	You are billed based on the number of API calls.
Changing the Billing Mode	Package can be changed to pay-per-use. If you do not renew or purchase a new package in a timely manner after the package expires or is used up, the system will automatically switch to pay-per-use billing. Package to Pay-per-Use	Pay-per-use can be changed to package. Pay-per-Use to Package
Application Scenarios	For scenarios where resource usage can be predicted, this pricing mode is more cost-effective than pay-per-use. This mode is recommended for long-term users.	This mode is suitable for scenarios where there are fluctuations in the demand for compute resources. The service can be subscribed to and unsubscribed from at any time.
Other	Compared to pay-per-use, package offers a greater discount. The package fee is a one-time payment, and this mode can take effect immediately. Packages can be used together. If you purchase multiple packages, the deduction rules are as follows: Fees are deducted according to the source type of the package, with the priority from high to low being: package -> pay-per-use. Fees are deducted based on the creation, activation, and expiration time of the package. For multiple packages created at the same time, the first effective package will be prioritized for deduction. For multiple packages with the same activation time, the first expired package will be prioritized for deduction. For multiple packages with the same expiration time, the first created package will be prioritized for deduction.	Default billing mode

OCR can operate properly even if it is not deployed in the region where it is called. Generally, you are advised to choose a region close to you or your target users to reduce network latency and improve access speed.
OCR is billed on a pay-per-use basis by default. After purchasing a package, the package fee will be deducted first. If the usage exceeds the purchased package quota, the excess will be automatically billed on a pay-per-use basis.
When using pay-per-use billing, the calling region must be consistent with the region where the service is subscribed to. Otherwise, an error message ModelArts.4204 Service is not enabled. will be prompted. For example, if you subscribe to Passport OCR in the AP-Bangkok region, you should call the service in the region where you subscribe to it.
When using package billing, the region where you call the API must be the same as the region where you purchase the package. Packages do not support cross-region API calls, otherwise additional charges or arrears may occur.

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