Alibaba Cloud offers a generous free tier program that allows new users to explore and experiment with cloud services without initial costs. Understanding the free tier offerings helps organizations get started with Alibaba Cloud and evaluate services before committing to paid plans.

Free Tier Overview

Alibaba Cloud’s free tier includes:

• Free Trial Credits: Credits for new accounts
• Always Free Services: Services that remain free
• Free Trial Periods: Time-limited free access to services
• Free Tier Limits: Usage limits for free services

Free Trial Credits

New Account Credits

New Alibaba Cloud accounts receive:

• $300 USD Credits: For international accounts
• ¥300 CNY Credits: For China accounts
• Validity Period: Credits valid for 12 months
• Usage Restrictions: Some services excluded from credits

Eligible Services

Free credits can be used for:

• Elastic Compute Service (ECS)
• Object Storage Service (OSS)
• Relational Database Service (RDS)
• Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• And many other services

Always Free Services

Object Storage Service (OSS)

• 5 GB Storage: Free storage quota
• 20,000 GET Requests: Free read requests per month
• 2,000 PUT Requests: Free write requests per month
• 5 GB Data Transfer Out: Free outbound data transfer

Cloud Monitor

• Free Monitoring: Basic monitoring for all services
• 10 Custom Metrics: Free custom metrics
• Unlimited Alarms: Free alarm notifications
• Data Retention: 15 days free retention

Resource Access Management (RAM)

• Free Service: No charges for RAM usage
• Unlimited Users: Free user management
• Policy Management: Free policy creation
• MFA Support: Free multi-factor authentication

ActionTrail

• Free Trail: Free audit trail service
• 90 Days Retention: Free log retention
• Unlimited Events: Free event tracking

Certificate Service

• Free SSL Certificates: Free DV SSL certificates
• Unlimited Certificates: No limit on free certificates
• Auto-Renewal: Free automatic renewal

Free Trial Services

Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

• t5 Instance: Free t5 instance for 12 months
• Specifications: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM
• Storage: 40 GB cloud disk
• Bandwidth: 1 Mbps bandwidth

ApsaraDB RDS

• MySQL Instance: Free RDS MySQL instance
• Specifications: 1 GB storage, basic instance
• Duration: 12 months free trial

Server Load Balancer (SLB)

• Free Tier: Free SLB instance
• Specifications: Basic performance tier
• Duration: Limited free usage

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

• Free Bandwidth: Limited free bandwidth
• Free Requests: Limited free requests
• Duration: Trial period

Free Tier Limits and Restrictions

Usage Limits

• Regional Limits: Some free tiers are region-specific
• Account Limits: One free tier per account
• Service Limits: Usage limits apply to free services
• Expiration: Free trials expire after specified period

Restrictions

• No Production Use: Free tier not recommended for production
• Limited Support: Basic support for free tier
• Service Availability: Some services may have availability limits
• Upgrade Required: Upgrade to paid for production workloads

Getting Started with Free Tier

Account Registration

1. Create Account: Sign up for Alibaba Cloud account
2. Verify Identity: Complete identity verification
3. Receive Credits: Credits automatically added to account
4. Start Using: Begin using free services

Activating Free Services

# Free services are automatically available
# No activation required for always-free services

# For free trial services, activate via console:
# 1. Navigate to service in console
# 2. Click "Free Trial" or "Activate"
# 3. Follow activation wizard

Monitoring Free Tier Usage

• Billing Console: Track credit usage
• Usage Reports: View detailed usage reports
• Alerts: Set up spending alerts
• Budget Management: Configure budgets

Best Practices for Free Tier

Cost Management

1. Monitor Usage: Regularly check credit balance
2. Set Alerts: Configure spending alerts
3. Optimize Resources: Use appropriate instance sizes
4. Clean Up: Remove unused resources

Service Evaluation

1. Test Services: Use free tier to evaluate services
2. Document Findings: Document service capabilities
3. Plan Migration: Plan production migration
4. Budget Planning: Estimate production costs

Learning and Development

1. Training: Use free tier for training
2. Experimentation: Experiment with new services
3. Proof of Concept: Build proof of concepts
4. Skill Development: Develop cloud skills

Upgrading from Free Tier

When to Upgrade

• Production Workloads: Move to paid for production
• Exceed Limits: When free limits are exceeded
• Support Needs: Require enhanced support
• Service Requirements: Need advanced features

Upgrade Process

1. Review Usage: Review current usage and needs
2. Choose Plan: Select appropriate paid plan
3. Migrate Resources: Migrate to paid resources
4. Update Configuration: Update configurations as needed

Free Tier Comparison

Alibaba Cloud vs Competitors

• More Generous: Often more generous than competitors
• Longer Validity: 12-month credit validity
• More Services: More services in free tier
• Better Limits: Higher usage limits

Conclusion

Alibaba Cloud’s free tier program provides an excellent opportunity for organizations to explore cloud services, develop skills, and evaluate capabilities without initial investment. With generous credits, always-free services, and free trial periods, the free tier enables organizations to get started with Alibaba Cloud and plan their cloud journey.

By understanding free tier offerings and following best practices, organizations can maximize value from free services while preparing for production deployments on paid plans.