# Avoiding unexpected charges after Free Tier
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**Note**  
***This section only applies to new Amazon customers who created Amazon Web Services accounts before July 15, 2025. If you created your account after July 15, 2025, see [Explore Amazon Web Services services with Amazon Web Services China Region Free Tier](free-tier.md).***

Your eligibility for the 12 month free service offering Amazon Web Services China Region Free Tier expires 12 months after you first activate your Amazon Web Services account. You can’t extend your Free Tier eligibility after this time.

**Note**  
You can continue to use Always Free offers, even after your Amazon Web Services China Region Free Tier eligibility expires. To learn more about available Always Free offers, see [Amazon Web Services China Region Free Tier](http://www.amazonaws.cn/free/).

As the expiration date of your Amazon Web Services China Region Free Tier eligibility approaches, shut down or delete any resources that you don't need. After your eligibility expires, you’re charged at the standard Amazon billing rates for usage.

For short-term trials, there are no expiration notification for these services. You will receive free tier alerts during the trial period only. To avoid unexpected costs in a short-term trial, you must turn off these resources before the end of the trial period.

Even if you aren’t regularly signing in to your account, you might have active resources running. Use the following procedure to identify your account’s active resources.

**Note**  
You can also use the `GetFreeTierUsage` API operation to get your free tier usage. For more information about the Free Tier API, see the [Amazon Billing and Cost Management API Reference](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/aws-cost-management/latest/APIReference/API_Operations_AWS_Free_Tier.html).<a name="identify-active-resources-billing"></a>

**To identify your active resources by using Amazon Billing**

1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Billing console at [https://console.amazonaws.cn/billing/](https://console.amazonaws.cn/billing/).

1. On the navigation pane, choose **Bills** .

1. On the **Charges by service** tab, choose **Expand all**.

1. Review the list to find the services with active resources and by Amazon Web Services Region, and the charges for each resource.<a name="identify-active-resources"></a>

**To identify your active resources by using Amazon Cost Explorer**

1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Amazon Cost Management at [https://console.amazonaws.cn/costmanagement/home](https://console.amazonaws.cn/costmanagement/home).

1.  On the navigation pane, choose **Cost Explorer**.

1. On the **Cost and usage graph**, note the services and Amazon Web Services Regions with resources that you don't need. For instructions on how to shut down or delete those resources, see the documentation for that service.

   For example, to terminate an Amazon EC2 Linux instance, see the [Amazon EC2 User Guide](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/terminating-instances.html).

**Tip**  
You might decide to close your Amazon Web Services account. For more information and important considerations, see [Close your account](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/accounts/latest/reference/manage-acct-closing.html) in the *Amazon Account Management Reference Guide*.