How Cloud Compute is billed

An instance you order on your own account is billed by what it uses, whichever size you choose. The size sets its vCPUs, memory and disk. It does not set a price. We measure use by the second, and take the cost from your credit each hour, or put it on your monthly invoice.

An instance you ordered before usage billing keeps the plan price it has until you move it. How usage billing works explains the parts every product shares, and Usage rates lists each rate.

• An instance needs the Paid plan. Pro, Business and Enterprise include it, and a Free account adds it (The Paid plan). Without it, the order answers 402 with the code paid_plan_required.
• A prepaid account needs the first deposit: $10.00 added in total, by default, before an instance runs. It stays in your account as credit. The order answers 403 until it is in. An account billed by invoice needs none (What you need before you order).

The order has nothing to pay up front, apart from any add-ons you order with it.

Memory

Its memory size, for each second it runs. A paused instance still holds its memory, so it counts as running.

Disk

Its disk, for as long as the instance exists, whether it runs or not.

CPU

The processor time it uses, never the processor time it could use. If the host sends no reading for an hour, that hour has no CPU charge.

Data out

What it sends to visitors, priced by the region of its location. Data it receives is free.

A Performance size pays 1.5 times the memory, CPU and disk rates.

On the order page, each size shows its price an hour with every vCPU busy, a typical month and the most a month can cost, and the Paid plan card says whether your account has the plan. The figures are the usage block of the size, worked out from the rate card.

On the instance's Billing tab, the Cost card shows what the instance has cost This month so far, what A typical month, Most a month, Idle, memory and disk and Stopped, disk only cost for its size, whether the Paid plan is active, each rate, and a line for each meter with what it used, how much of it the Paid plan included and what it cost. The Change plan… button is not offered, because the instance has no plan price to change (Change an instance's plan or cancel it).

A stopped instance pays for its disk and nothing else. Its memory and CPU are not billed while it is off. It keeps its disk and its addresses, so start it again when you need it, or cancel it to stop the disk charge.

A stopped instance does not hold its memory on its host, so starting one is a new claim on the host. When the host has no room for the instance's memory, the start is refused with There is no room to start this instance right now. Its disk is safe. Try again in a few minutes, or contact support if it stays like this. The instance stays stopped and keeps its disk. We check this only for an instance billed by use. An instance that keeps a plan price has its place held (Start, stop and restart).

With the Paid plan, each month includes 25 GiB-hours of memory, 6.25 vCPU-hours of CPU, 200 GB-hours of disk and an amount of data out for each region, shared by all your instances, game servers and databases (Usage rates). Without the Paid plan, nothing is included and every unit is billed.

An rx-2 instance has 2 vCPUs, 2 GB of memory and a 40 GB disk. It runs all month, a 730-hour month, and uses 10% of its vCPUs on average. It sends 500 GB out from a location in North America and Europe. The account has the Paid plan. These are the list rates and the included amounts of Oct 11, 2026.

The Paid plan adds its own price to the account once, however many instances the account runs.

If the same instance stays stopped all month, only its disk is billed: 29,000 GB-hours at $0.00005, or $1.45. If it is an rx-2-performance instance and runs the same way, memory costs $6.458, disk $2.175 and CPU $3.144, which is $11.78 in all.

A bill can differ from this arithmetic by a fraction of a cent, because each hour is rounded on its own.

GET /api/v1/products/ gives each size a usage block, worked out from its memory, vCPUs and disk at the current rates, before the included amounts:

{
  "billing_model": "usage",
  "usage": {
    "hourly_idle": "0.0080",
    "hourly_typical": "0.0110",
    "hourly_max": "0.0380",
    "monthly_idle": "5.84",
    "monthly_typical": "8.03",
    "monthly_max": "27.74",
    "disk_monthly": "1.46"
  }
}

hourly_idle and monthly_idle are the cost with no CPU in use. The typical figures add CPU at 10% of the vCPUs, and the max figures have every vCPU busy all hour, which is the most the size can cost. disk_monthly is the disk part of a 730-hour month, which a stopped instance still pays. The pricing list in the same answer is the flat price brands and older services use. It is not what an order on coritan.com costs.

POST /api/v1/checkout/quote takes an order's body and answers billing_mode usage, no line for the instance, the same figures under estimate, and whether the order needs the Paid plan (paid_plan) or the first deposit (deposit).

An add-on that renews with the instance, such as the weekly and daily backups, costs a share of the instance's price, and an instance billed by use has none. The instance takes an add-on only when your account plan pays for it, as the Business plan does for automatic backups on up to three instances (Automatic backups). Floating IPs and the other products you order on their own are billed as they always were.

There is no hourly cap on an instance, because it cannot use more than its vCPUs. Its monthly_max is the most a month can cost. An account spend limit counts every instance, and Stop every instance suspends them when the limit is reached. An account limit that is reached also refuses new orders of services billed by use.

• How usage billing works
• Usage rates and included amounts
• Create an instance
• Change an instance's plan or cancel it
• How instance traffic is counted