Embodiments of this application provide a resource obtaining method. A server side obtains a resource request that includes information about a resource requested by the server side. The server side sends the resource request to a client. After receiving the resource request, the client obtains, according to the information about the resource requested by the server side, information about a resource allocated to the server side. The client sends, to the server side, a resource response that includes the information about the resource allocated to the server side. In the method provided in the embodiments of this application, the server side actively sends, to the client, the resource request used to request the resource, and the resource that is allocated by the client to the server side according to the resource request of the server side can better meet an actual requirement of the server side.