Stoppable Services
Stoppable service billing controls whether compute charges pause when a Virtual Machine or Kubernetes cluster is stopped (including while resources are suspended/stopped by the customer or by disciplinary / schedule flows).
Controlled by the global setting:
enable_stoppable_service_billing
| Value | Behaviour |
|---|---|
true (ON) | Compute billing pauses while the resource is stopped; storage (and related allocated resources) keep billing |
false (OFF) | Compute and storage keep billing for the full period even while VMs / Kubernetes are stopped |
Stoppable compute pause works correctly only when compute and storage are billed separately — override root disk must be enabled.
If storage is bundled inside the compute offering, “CPU/RAM only” pause is not cleanly separated — storage is tied to the same package, so stoppable billing does not behave as customers expect. Prefer compute-only packages + override disk for PAYG stoppable billing.
Stoppable behaviour is meaningful for hourly (pay-as-you-go) compute. Fixed cycles (monthly and longer) still follow full-period commitment rules — see Billing cycles.
When enable_stoppable_service_billing is ON (true)
While a VM or Kubernetes cluster is stopped:
| Resource | Billing while stopped |
|---|---|
| Compute (VM CPU/RAM, Kubernetes compute) | Stops — no compute charges accrue for the stopped hours |
| Disk / storage (volumes, allocated disks) | Continues — storage stays allocated, so disk billing continues |
| IP address (if any) | Continues — same as storage; the IP remains allocated |
You are billed for compute only for hours when the VM / Kubernetes cluster was actually running. During suspension or a customer stop, compute does not accrue; disk (and IP) still do.
Example: Hourly VM stopped for 48 hours → no CPU/RAM charge for those 48 hours; root/data volume charges continue for the whole time.
When enable_stoppable_service_billing is OFF (false)
All resources continue to be charged for the full period — compute and disk/storage — even while VMs and Kubernetes are stopped due to suspension or a manual stop.
| Resource | Billing while stopped |
|---|---|
| Compute | Continues |
| Disk / storage | Continues |
Stopping the workload does not reduce the bill when this flag is off.
Scheduled start / stop
Scheduler-driven stop/start follows the same rules. When the flag is ON and a VM is stopped by schedule, compute pauses and storage continues. See also FAQ — scheduled VMs.
Comparison
| Flag ON | Flag OFF | |
|---|---|---|
| VM / K8s running | Compute + storage billed | Compute + storage billed |
| VM / K8s stopped | Compute paused; storage (and IP) continue | Compute + storage both continue |
| Customer saving money by stopping | ✅ Compute hours saved | ❌ No compute saving while stopped |