Business Segment Information - Additional Information (Details) - segment	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Number of operating segments	1
AllianceBernstein Global High Yield Portfolio [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Percentage of investment advisory and service fees	10.00%	11.00%	12.00%
Percentage of net revenues	10.00%	12.00%	13.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| AXA Advisors LLC [Member]
Major Customers [Abstract]
Percentage of open-end mutual fund sales	2.00%	4.00%	3.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| UBS AG [Member]
Major Customers [Abstract]
Percentage of open-end mutual fund sales		8.00%	11.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| AXA and subsidiaries [Member]
Major Customers [Abstract]
Percentage of total revenues from general and separate accounts of affiliates	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%
Percentage of total revenues from unaffiliated customer (more than)	1.00%	1.00%	1.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| HSBC [Member]
Major Customers [Abstract]
Percentage of open-end mutual fund sales	12.00%

No definition available.

Name:	ablp_MajorCustomersAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of total investment advisory fees recognized during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ablp_PercentageOfInvestmentAdvisoryAndServiceFeesGenerated
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the total net revenue recognized during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ablp_PercentageOfNetRevenuesGenerated
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of open ended mutual fund sales that companies are responsible. (open ended mutual fund does not have restrictions on the amount of shares the fund will issue)

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ablp_PercentageOfOpenEndMutualFundSales
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage amount of total revenue deriving from affiliated companies general and separate accounts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ablp_PercentageOfTotalRevenuesFromGeneralAndSeparateAccountsOfAffiliates
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum percentage amount of total revenue deriving from customers other than affiliated clients.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ablp_PercentageOfTotalRevenuesFromMajorCustomer
Namespace Prefix:	ablp_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	ablp_ConcentrationRiskByEntityAxis=ablp_AlliancebernsteinGlobalHighYieldPortfolioMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByTypeAxis=us-gaap_CustomerConcentrationRiskMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ablp_ConcentrationRiskByEntityAxis=ablp_AxaAdvisorsLlcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ablp_ConcentrationRiskByEntityAxis=ablp_UbsAgMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ablp_ConcentrationRiskByEntityAxis=ablp_AxaAndSubsidiariesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ablp_ConcentrationRiskByEntityAxis=ablp_HSBCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: