This section introduces the billing rules, application scenarios, overdue payment processing rules, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of pay-as-you-go to help you quickly understand this billing mode.
Pay-as-you-go is a postpaid billing mode that allows you to use resources first and pay later. In this billing mode, you only need to pay for what you actually use.
Application Scenarios
Significant fluctuations are found during the development of the business, making it challenging to make precise predictions.
Resources need to be available to meet temporary and unexpected business demands.
Description
In the pay-as-you-go billing mode, you are billed based on the billing cycle of resources. Typically, you are billed by hour, day, or month. When a billing cycle ends, the system automatically generates a bill to deduct fees.
If the account balance or credit quota is insufficient, the corresponding resources are retained only for a certain period. You need to pay for the resource fees within the retention period. Otherwise, after the retention period ends, the resources are released and reclaimed.
Resource Freezing Due to Overdue Payments
After overdue payments occur, the corresponding resources are only retained for a certain period. During the retention period, the data stored in your cloud services is retained, but you can no longer access or use the cloud services (because the resources are frozen).
If you top up your account during the retention period, the system automatically deducts the overdue payment amount.
If no amount is added to your account before the retention period ends, the data stored in the cloud services is deleted and the resources are released.
For both online and offline customers:
Product Type | Frozen Period |
Compute, storage, network, and database products | 15 days |
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
You can use resources first and pay later. You only need to pay for what you actually use. This billing mode ensures accurate billing and avoids resource waste. It is more flexible than the yearly/monthly subscription billing mode.
You can quickly adjust the resource purchasing demands as needed.
Disadvantages
The unit price is higher than that of the yearly/monthly subscription billing mode.
When the resource demand surges, you may find that no resources are available.