Pricing Policies and Best Practices

Billing & Subscription Policy

This document explains the pricing policy, billing behavior, subscription structure, and best practices to help users understand how billing works across different types of cloud resources. It is intended for all standard users of the platform.

1. Scope and Applicability

This billing and subscription policy applies to:

• All customers use compute, storage, managed services, and networking resources.

• Both prepaid and postpaid billing models.

• All supported currencies (INR, USD).

Enterprise accounts or custom contractual terms may differ. Please consult your dedicated account manager if applicable.

2. Glossary of Terms

Term	Definition
Fixed Plan	A subscription with a defined duration (e.g., Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly) and price.
Consumption-based Billing	Pay-as-you-go model where charges are accrued hourly based on usage.
Spot Instances	Discounted compute resources that are billed hourly with variable pricing.
Wallet	Prepaid account balance used to deduct charges for prepaid users.
Credits	Promotional balance given on signup, used before wallet funds.
Renewal	The process of extending a subscription or deducting charges at the end of a billing cycle.
Downgrade	Moving from a higher-cost or longer-term plan to a cheaper or shorter one [allowed only for consumption based plans]

3. Billing Models by Resource Type

3.1 Compute Instances

• Billing Options:

  • Fixed Plan: Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly, Yearly.

  • Consumption-based Plan: Hourly usage-based billing.

• Spot Instances:

  • Always consumption-based (default plan: hourly).

  • Pricing is dynamic and may change based on supply-demand conditions.

  • Users must monitor real-time spot pricing.

3.2 Storage (Volumes)

• Billing Options:

  • Fixed (Subscription-based).

  • Usage-Based (Hourly Subscription).

3.3 Managed Services

Includes: Kubernetes (K8s), DBaaS (Databases), DRaaS (Disaster Recovery), Networking, Load Balancers, Routers, Floating IPs, and Public IPs.

• Billing Model:

  • Primarily, usage-based billing is implemented.

4. Subscription Models

4.1 Prepaid Billing

• Who it's for: Users who want strict control over costs.

• How it works:

  • Usage charges are deducted from the wallet hourly.

  • If the total wallet balance (including credits) falls below the allowed limit, an alert is sent, and services are automatically suspended.

  • No usage is allowed beyond the available balance.

  • Free credits are consumed before the wallet balance.

  • All charges are applied before resource usage.

• Free Credits:

  • These are automatically added after the user places their first project order following signup.

  • Valid for 7 days from account creation.

4.2 Postpaid Billing

• Who it's for: Users who prefer consolidated monthly invoicing.

• How it works:

  • Resource usage is tracked hourly and billed on a monthly basis.

  • Invoices are generated on the 1st of every month (UTC) and are made available to clients by the 9th of the same month.

  • Payment is due immediately upon invoice generation.

5. Resource-Level Subscription Behaviour

• Each resource has its own subscription.

• Subscriptions are created when the resource is provisioned.

• Fixed plans renew automatically unless disabled.

• Prepaid balance and credits are used across subscriptions.

• Alerts are triggered if the total balance (wallet + free credits) falls below the credit limit.

• Fixed-plan subscriptions are reusable when the payment is made upfront, and the associated resource is deleted before the end of the billing cycle.

  • If a resource is deleted mid-cycle, the corresponding subscription is marked as Inactive and becomes available for reuse.

  • Resources such as virtual machines or storage volumes can be provisioned with the same configuration by reusing the Inactive subscription.

6. Billing Frequencies

Billing Type	Prepaid	Postpaid
Hourly	Charges deducted hourly from wallet	Usage tracked hourly, billed monthly
Fixed Plans (Monthly, Quarterly, etc.)	Charge at start of cycle	Invoice generated on the 1st of the following month

7. Billing Calculations

• Pro-rated calculations are only applicable to the ‘Monthly’ fixed plan.

• You can obtain an estimate for your resource(s) by visiting: Estimate | AceCloud

1. Postpaid Billing

In postpaid mode, the user is billed monthly in arrears — that is, they use the service first and are billed on the 1st of the next month (UTC).

Monthly Plan

• If a Monthly Fixed Plan is created on the 16th day of the month:

• The invoice on the 1st of the next month will only include charges for the 15 days of usage.

• Starting the next full month, the entire monthly subscription fee will apply.

Example:

• Plan: Monthly – ₹600

• Created: September 16

• September Invoice (generated on Oct 1): ₹600 ÷ 30 × 15 = ₹300

• October Invoice (generated Nov 1): ₹600 (full month)

Yearly Plan

• If a Yearly Fixed Plan is created on the 16th day of the month:

• The invoice on the 1st of the next month will include charges for the next 1 year of usage, i.e., till the 15th of next year.

• Starting from the next year, the entire yearly subscription will be renewed unless you opt out.

Example:

• Plan: Yearly – ₹6000

• Created: September 16

• September Invoice (generated on Oct 1): ₹6000 (full amount)

2. Prepaid Billing

In prepaid mode, the user pays upfront at the time of subscription creation or upgrade. Pro-rated calculations are applied immediately, and the wallet is charged accordingly.

Monthly Plan

• If created on the 16th day of the month:

• Only the pro-rated amount for the remaining 15 days is charged at the time of subscription.

• From the 1st of the next month, the full monthly fee is charged in advance.

Example:

• Plan: Monthly – ₹600

• Created: September 16

• Wallet charged [September 16] : ₹600 ÷ 30 × 15 = ₹300

• Wallet charged [October 1]: ₹600 is charged for October usage

Yearly Plan

• If created on the 16th day of the month:

• Complete yearly amount is charged at the time of subscription.

Example:

• Plan: Monthly – ₹6000

• Created: September 16

• Wallet charged [September 16]: ₹6000

3. Upgrade Path With Pro-Rating (Prepaid or Postpaid)

When upgrading from a shorter plan to a longer one (e.g., Monthly → Quarterly):

• The current subscription is marked expired

• The unused value from the current plan is credited to the new plan

• The new plan starts immediately, and the only difference is billed/charged

Example:

• Current: Monthly Plan – ₹600, used for 15 days

• Upgrade: Quarterly Plan – ₹1500

• Unused value: ₹300

• Final charge: ₹1500 – ₹300 = ₹1200 (billed on next invoice for postpaid, or immediately deducted for prepaid)

8. Upgrades and Downgrades

8.1 Allowed Paths

From	To	Notes
Monthly	Quarterly / Half-Yearly / Yearly	Plan duration upgrade
Small VM	Large VM	Flavor/size upgrade
Consumption Based	Consumption Based (higher/lower spec)	New config with usage-based billing
Fixed Plan	Higher Fixed Plan	Long-term commitment upgrade
Large VM	Small VM	Allowed only in case of Hourly or Spot pricing

8.2 Disallowed Actions

• Downgrading (e.g., Yearly → Quarterly/Monthly/Hourly OR Quarterly → Monthly/Hourly)

• Reducing VM/Volume flavor or size

• Upgrading hourly plans directly (create new subscription)

8.3 Upgrade Process

• Existing subscription is marked as expired

• New subscription begins immediately

• End date of old plan set to the current time

• Remaining value is credited to the new plan

• All upgrades are seamless (avoid deleting and recreating resources)

9. Invoicing and Payments

9.1 Invoice Generation

• Postpaid: Invoice on 1st of each month (UTC)

• Prepaid: Charges are deducted per usage or at subscription start

9.2 Grouping

• Invoices are grouped per project per region

• Each invoice contains a detailed breakdown of resources

9.3 Payment Methods Accepted

• Credit/Debit Cards

• Razor-pay [India]

• Stripe [US]

9.4 Currency and Tax Handling

• Supported currencies: INR, USD

• Billing currency selected during signup

• Prices are exclusive of taxes

• Taxes (GST/VAT) are added to the invoice based on the billing address

  • If the billing address is in the same state as the service provider, an 18% GST is applied.

  • If the billing address is in a different state, 9% CGST and 9% SGST are applied.

9.5 Invoice Disputes

• Any invoice-related disputes can be resolved by creating a support ticket through our portal.

10. Refund Policy

All payments are non-refundable.

10.1 No Refund Scenarios

• Fixed plans once the cycle has started

• Deletion of prepaid resources mid-cycle

• Unused services within an active plan

Users are encouraged to monitor their usage and budget via the dashboard.

11. Best Practices for Users

11.1 Operational Rules

• All times and renewals follow UTC

• Fixed plans auto-renew unless canceled or the resources associated with the plan are deleted

• Instance shutoff occurs immediately once the prepaid balance is exhausted

• An alert is sent when nearing credit exhaustion

• Avoid deleting and recreating resources to reset billing (creates multiple invoices)

11.2 Recommended Guidelines

• Use Prepaid for test/staging workloads or strict budget control

• Use Postpaid for production workloads needing consolidated billing

• Use Fixed plans for long-running, stable workloads to save cost

• Monitor spot instance prices before deploying

• Upgrade plans instead of starting new ones to ensure continuity

• Enable spending alerts via the dashboard

12. Sample Billing Scenarios

Scenario 1: Postpaid Hourly Usage

• Resource: VM Instance (S.8)

• Created: June 10, 2025, 10:00 UTC

• Rate: ₹3/hour

• Billing:

  • Usage tracked from June 10 to June 30

  • Invoice generated on July 1: ₹3 * hours used

  • Services continue unless terminated

Scenario 2: Prepaid Hourly Usage

• Wallet balance: ₹500 + ₹2000 in free-credits

• Resource consumes ₹10/hour

• Usage continues until balance + credits = 0

• Services shut off automatically when exhausted

Scenario 3: Fixed Plan Upgrade

• Original Plan: Monthly (₹600), started Sept 1

• Upgrade to Yearly Plan on Sept 15 (₹6000)

• Remaining balance: ₹300 credited

• New charge: ₹6000 - ₹300 = ₹5700

• New plan is active immediately

Scenario 4: Spot Instance Price Change

• Initial rate: ₹2/hour

• Spot price surges to ₹3/hour

• User billed at the new rate from the price change timestamp

• Total invoice reflects dynamic pricing

Scenario 5: Downgrade Attempt

• User tries to downgrade from Yearly to Monthly

• Action blocked with message: “Downgrade not supported. Please contact support for options.”

13. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What happens if I run out of prepaid balance? A: Your services will be suspended immediately. You will receive an alert beforehand.

Q2: Can I change my billing model from Prepaid to Postpaid? A: Not directly. You need to contact support or create a new account under the desired model.

Q3: If my wallet runs out or if I cancel, do I lose my data immediately? A: If your wallet balance runs out, your resources will be removed after a few days.

Q4: Will I get a refund if I delete a prepaid resource early? A: No. Unused time on fixed plans is non-refundable. The subscription can be reused if needed

Q5: How do I know when my free credits expire? A: Credits are valid for 7 days from signup. Alerts are sent before the expiry date. You can also check your dashboard for the remaining credit and expiry date.

Q6: When will I be billed? A: Prepaid: Instantly, at the time of resource creation.

Postpaid: Monthly, based on actual usage.

Q7: Can I downgrade my plan? A: Yes, downgrades are allowed for hourly/spot instance (usage-based) subscriptions.