Application Load Balancer (ALB) instance fees are billed based on the usage duration. In pay‑as‑you‑go billing mode, billing starts immediately upon successful instance creation.
Billing Cycle
Billing is performed on an hourly basis, and settlements are made once every hour.
The billing start time is determined by the time when the instance is successfully created, and the billing end time is determined by the time when you initiate the termination operation.
The minimum billable period is 1 hour.
The system deducts the instance fee for 1 hour in advance upon instance creation.
Attention:
If your account balance is insufficient, the prepayment fails, causing the instance creation to fail. Ensure your account has sufficient balance before you can create an instance.
Pricing Details
Billing Formula
The formula for calculating pay-as-you-go instance fees is as follows:
Instance fee = Instance unit price (USD/hour) x Actual usage duration (in hours)
Note:
The minimum billable period is 1 hour.
Billing Example
Scenario: You want to create a pay-as-you-go ALB instance in the Guangzhou region. The instance is successfully created at 00:00:00 (UTC+8) on July 1, 2026, and the termination operation is initiated at 02:30:00 (UTC+8) on July 1, 2026.
Calculation description: The actual usage duration is 2.5 hours. Since the minimum billable period is 1 hour, the actual billable duration is 3 hours.
Fee calculation: The instance fee is calculated by using the following formula: USD 0.0286/hour x 3 hours = USD 0.0858.
References