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Key Takeaways
- From September 11, Data Agent pay-as-you-go items are billed in Credits. The announcement gives only a date; the exact time and time zone are UNKNOWN.
- From September 18, Token Plan upgrades to Credit Plan, and complimentary quota is deducted in Credits. This is not Model Studio's 90-day new-user model quota.
- The announcement does not explain site-level Credit conversion, remaining-quota migration, existing contracts, taxes or currency treatment. Do not directly convert old token counts into Credits yourself.
- The current detailed pricing and quota documents still largely use tokens. Save the announcement and console snapshots, and reconcile against actual billing items, the product site and account contract.
- Set a small limit for a nonproduction task, record balances before and after the call, task type, user, time and bill, then decide whether to continue pay-as-you-go usage.
- Insufficient Credits, quota blocks and contract eligibility are not network faults. Fixed egress cannot change balances, prices, plans or migration eligibility.
What changed: September 11 and September 18 are separate milestones
In an announcement updated on September 3, 2026, Alibaba Cloud states that DataWorks Data Agent pay-as-you-go items will be billed in Credits from September 11. From September 18, Data Agent Token Plan upgrades to Credit Plan, and complimentary quota is also deducted in Credits. The official page gives dates only, without exact execution times or time zones. Do not describe the effective time as midnight Beijing time.
This change concerns DataWorks Data Agent commercialization and billing. It is separate from Model Studio Singapore new-user model quota, model API prices and the 90-day validity period. Do not combine balances, consoles or billing items from the two products.
Save the premigration baseline; do not let old token dashboards obscure new facts
Before continuing production tasks, export the account and site, DataWorks workspace or tenant, Data Agent feature, current Trial/Personal/Team edition and seats, Token Plan status, complimentary balance, PAYG setting, quota limits, billing currency and owner. Include observation times on screenshots or exports and retain the September 3 official announcement.
The current Data Agent fees and token quotas documents still describe detailed rules using tokens, seat quotas and token caps, while the new announcement introduces Credits. Inconsistent documentation terminology does not mean you can choose whichever number you prefer. Record old token counts, console Credits, billing SKUs and contract explanations side by side, and ask support or your account manager when they cannot be reconciled.
What remains UNKNOWN: Conversion, balance migration and contracts
The announcement does not publish a token-to-Credit conversion rate valid across all sites and editions. It also does not say whether old complimentary balances migrate unchanged, are converted, reset by period or displayed separately. Treatment of existing contracts, unused plans, taxes, exchange rates, refunds and invoice items is not detailed either.
Do not substitute page examples, Credits from another Alibaba Cloud product or screenshots from another site for your own account's facts. At minimum, confirm the Credit Plan name, total and available Credits, expiry, deduction order, PAYG price reference and billing SKU. Mark any missing item UNKNOWN rather than 0.
Cost and continuity: Exhausting complimentary quota may lead to PAYG
Current pricing documentation says Data Agent features are billed by actual usage, with Agent and Chat BI seat subscriptions using complimentary quota first. Once that quota is exhausted, enabled pay-as-you-go billing continues charging by usage. After September 18, reconfirm how this deduction order appears in Credit Plan. Do not assume a rename automatically disables PAYG.
If team budgets, alerts or cost reports recognize only tokens, add monitoring for Credits and new billing items before migration. No alert does not mean no charge. Billing and usage may be delayed, so wait for the current bill to update and reconcile it after testing.
Quota protection: Verify the control unit before relying on blocking
The Data Agent token quotas documentation provides tenant-level monthly/weekly limits and user-level weekly/every-5-hour limits. A limit at any layer can block calls, and the documentation warns that delayed usage statistics can allow slight overruns. The Credits announcement does not explain whether old limits convert automatically, stay in tokens or need reconfiguration.
Administrators should inspect each limit's unit, period, usage and next reset time in the console, then perform a small validation with one nonproduction user. Stop expanding usage if the interface still shows old units, limits do not work, balances cannot be reconciled or blocking differs from expectations. Do not verify behavior by rapidly repeating requests.
One auditable, low-cost validation
Choose a Data Agent task with no sensitive data and a disposable result, and set an approved small budget or quota in advance. Record the site, workspace, user, edition, task type, start time, pre-call Credits, old token balance, PAYG status and expected billing owner. Execute it only once, then record the task result, post-call balance and itemized bill.
Completion means more than receiving an answer: Credit deductions must be explainable, complimentary-versus-PAYG ordering demonstrable, quotas and alerts working as expected, and the billing owner satisfied. If you can see success but not deduction or price evidence, pause production Data Agent tasks and return to the original manual or non-Agent DataWorks workflow.
Stop conditions, fallback and network boundaries
Stop new tasks immediately if Credit balances or expiry are unclear, old tokens cannot be mapped, contracts conflict with the console, PAYG charges are unexpected, quota units are unknown, billing delays remain unresolved or the owner has not approved. Preserve evidence and confirm through an Alibaba Cloud support ticket or account manager. Do not cancel plans, repurchase seats or change production budgets to probe the migration.
For 401/403, check the account, RAM permissions, plan, Credits and quotas first. For unusual costs, check SKUs, deduction order and billing period. Only with evidence of DNS, TLS, proxy 407 or connection timeouts should you use the systematic proxy connection troubleshooting checklist. Fixed egress cannot create Credits, change conversion rates, restore quota or grant contract eligibility. PRODUCT_FIT=PARTIAL.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Data Agent start billing in Credits?
The official announcement states September 11, 2026, without an exact time or time zone. Check the actual console and billing state on your account's site.
When does Token Plan become Credit Plan?
The announced date is September 18, 2026, with complimentary quota also deducted in Credits. Specific conversion and remaining-balance treatment have not been published.
Can I convert old tokens to Credits at a fixed ratio?
Do not infer one yourself. The announcement provides no universal conversion rate. Check the actual console, billing SKU, site and contract, and submit a ticket if unclear.
Will service stop when complimentary quota runs out?
Current pricing documentation says usage may continue as pay-as-you-go when PAYG is enabled. After migration, reverify deduction order, budgets and quota blocking.
Will old token quotas convert automatically?
The announcement does not say. Check tenant and user limits' units, periods and blocking behavior after migration. Stop expanding traffic if displays are inconsistent.
Can switching to a fixed IP reduce Credit deductions or restore a balance?
No. Credits, plans, prices, quotas and contract eligibility depend on platform billing state. Fixed egress has diagnostic value only for DNS, TLS, 407 or connection-timeout issues.