rr_RiskReturnHeading

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN VPS INTERMEDIATE BOND PORTFOLIO

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio's investment objective is to generate income and price appreciation without assuming what the Adviser considers undue risk.

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The operating expenses information below is designed to assist Contractholders of variable products that invest in the Portfolio in understanding the fees and expenses that they may pay as an investor. Because the information does not reflect deductions at the separate account level or contract level for any charges that may be incurred under a contract, Contractholders that invest in the Portfolio should refer to the variable contract prospectus for a description of fees and expenses that apply to Contractholders. Inclusion of these charges would increase the fees and expenses provided below.

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a

percentage of the value of your investment)

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 108% of the average value of its portfolio.

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rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Portfolio invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in fixed-income securities. The Portfolio expects to invest in readily marketable fixed-income securities with a range of maturities from short- to long-term and relatively attractive yields that do not involve undue risk of loss of capital. The Portfolio expects to invest in fixed-income securities with a dollar-weighted average maturity of between three to ten years and an average duration of three to six years. The Portfolio may invest up to 25% of its net assets in below investment grade bonds (commonly known as "junk bonds"). The Portfolio may use leverage for investment purposes.

The Portfolio may invest without limit in U.S. Dollar-denominated foreign fixed-income securities and may invest up to 25% of its assets in non-U.S. Dollar-denominated foreign fixed-income securities. These investments may include, in each case, developed and emerging market debt securities.

The Adviser selects securities for purchase or sale based on its assessment of the securities' risk and return characteristics as well as the securities' impact on the overall risk and return characteristics of the Portfolio. In making this assessment, the Adviser takes into account various factors, including the credit quality and sensitivity to interest rates of the securities under consideration and of the Portfolio's other holdings.

The Portfolio may invest in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, loan participations, inflation-protected securities, structured securities, variable, floating and inverse floating rate instruments, and preferred stock, and may use other investment techniques. The Portfolio intends, among other things, to enter into transactions such as reverse repurchase agreements and dollar rolls. The Portfolio may enter into, without limit, derivatives transactions, such as options, futures, forwards and swaps.

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. MARKET RISK: The value of the Portfolio's assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events that affect large portions of the market.

. INTEREST RATE RISK: Changes in interest rates will affect the value of investments in fixed-income securities. When interest rates rise, the value of investments in fixed-income securities tends to fall and this decrease in value may not be offset by higher income from new investments. Interest rate risk is generally greater for fixed-income securities with longer maturities or durations.

. CREDIT RISK: An issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivatives or other contract, may be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or principal, or to otherwise honor its obligations. The issuer or guarantor may default, causing a loss of the full principal amount of a security. The degree of risk for a particular security may be reflected in its credit rating. There is the possibility that the credit rating of a fixed-income security may be downgraded after purchase, which may adversely affect the value of the security.

. BELOW INVESTMENT GRADE SECURITY RISK: Investments in fixed-income securities with lower ratings ("junk bonds") tend to have a higher probability that an issuer will default or fail to meet its payment obligations. These securities may be subject to greater price volatility due to such factors as specific corporate developments, interest rate sensitivity, negative perceptions of the junk bond market generally and less secondary market liquidity.

. INFLATION RISK: This is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the value of the Portfolio's assets can decline as can the value of the Portfolio's distributions. This risk is significantly greater if the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer maturities.

. FOREIGN (NON-U.S.) RISK: Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers may involve more risk than those of U.S. issuers. These securities may fluctuate more widely in price and may be less liquid due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors.

. EMERGING MARKET RISK: Investments in emerging market countries may have more risk because the markets are less developed and less liquid as well as being subject to increased economic, political, regulatory or other uncertainties.

. CURRENCY RISK: Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may negatively affect the value of the Portfolio's investments or reduce its returns.

. PREPAYMENT RISK: The value of mortgage-related or other asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. Early payments of principal on some of these securities may occur during periods of falling mortgage interest rates and expose the Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Early payments associated with these securities cause these securities to experience significantly greater price and yield volatility than is experienced by traditional fixed-income securities. During periods of rising interest rates, a reduction in prepayments may increase the effective life of mortgage-related securities, subjecting them to greater risk of decline in market value in response to rising interest rates. If the life of a mortgage-related security is inaccurately predicted, the Portfolio may not be able to realize the rate of return it expected.

. LEVERAGE RISK: To the extent the Portfolio uses leveraging techniques, its net asset value, or NAV, may be more volatile because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of changes in interest rates and any increase or decrease in the value of the Portfolio's investments.

. DERIVATIVES RISK: Derivatives may be illiquid, difficult to price, and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Portfolio, and may be subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments.

. MANAGEMENT RISK: The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment fund. The Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results.

As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Portfolio by showing:

. how the Portfolio's performance changed from year to year over ten years; and

. how the Portfolio's average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads

The performance information does not take into account separate account charges. If separate account charges were included, an investor's return would be lower.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_ShareholderFeeOther

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.45%

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.65%

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

66

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

362

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_AnnualReturn2003

3.89%

rr_AnnualReturn2005

1.98%

rr_AnnualReturn2007

4.86%

rr_AnnualReturn2009

18.51%

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.64%

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

WORST QUARTER

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(4.23%)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

6.64%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

5.25%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

6.50%

rr_RiskReturnHeading

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN VPS LARGE CAP GROWTH PORTFOLIO

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio's investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The operating expenses information below is designed to assist Contractholders of variable products that invest in the Portfolio in understanding the fees and expenses that they may pay as an investor. Because the information does not reflect deductions at the separate account level or contract level for any charges that may be incurred under a contract, Contractholders that invest in the Portfolio should refer to the variable contract prospectus for a description of fees and expenses that apply to Contractholders. Inclusion of these charges would increase the fees and expenses provided below.

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a

percentage of the value of your investment)

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 89% of the average value of its portfolio.

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Portfolio invests primarily in equity securities of a limited number of large, carefully selected, high-quality U.S. companies. The Adviser tends to focus on those companies that have strong management, superior industry positions, excellent balance sheets, and superior earnings growth prospects. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in common stocks of large-capitalization companies.

For these purposes, "large-capitalization companies" are those that, at the time of investment, have market capitalizations within the range of market capitalizations of companies appearing in the Russell 1000(R) Growth Index. While the market capitalizations of companies in the Russell 1000(R) Growth Index ranged from approximately $0.1 billion to $417.5 billion as of December 31, 2011, the Portfolio normally will invest in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations of at least $5 billion at the time of purchase.

The Adviser expects that normally the Portfolio's portfolio will tend to emphasize investments in securities issued by U.S. companies, although it may invest in foreign securities. The Portfolio is designed for those seeking to accumulate capital over time with less volatility than that associated with investments in smaller companies. Normally, the Portfolio invests in about 50-70 companies, with the 25 most highly regarded of these companies usually constituting approximately 70% of the Portfolio's net assets. The Portfolio is thus atypical from most equity mutual funds in its focus on a relatively small number of intensively researched companies.

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

. MARKET RISK: The value of the Portfolio's assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events that affect large portions of the market. It includes the risk that a particular style of investing, such as growth, may underperform the market generally.

. FOCUSED PORTFOLIO RISK: Investments in a limited number of companies may have more risk because changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Portfolio's, net asset value, or NAV.

. FOREIGN (NON-U.S.) RISK: Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers may involve more risk than those of U.S. issuers. These securities may fluctuate more widely in price and may be less liquid due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors.

. DERIVATIVES RISK: Investments in derivatives may be illiquid, difficult to price, and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Portfolio, and may be subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments.

. MANAGEMENT RISK: The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment fund. The Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Portfolio, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results.

As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Portfolio by showing:

. how the Portfolio's performance changed from year to year over ten years; and

. how the Portfolio's average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads

The performance information does not take into account separate account charges. If separate account charges were included, an investor's return would be lower.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_ShareholderFeeOther

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.75%

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.84%

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

86

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

466

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_AnnualReturn2003

23.67%

rr_AnnualReturn2005

15.14%

rr_AnnualReturn2007

13.92%

rr_AnnualReturn2009

37.52%

rr_AnnualReturn2011

(3.04%)

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

WORST QUARTER

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(19.83%)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(3.04%)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.75%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.50%

rr_RiskReturnHeading

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN VPS GROWTH AND INCOME PORTFOLIO

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio's investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The operating expenses information below is designed to assist Contractholders of variable products that invest in the Portfolio in understanding the fees and expenses that they may pay as an investor. Because the information does not reflect deductions at the separate account level or contract level for any charges that may be incurred under a contract, Contractholders that invest in the Portfolio should refer to the variable contract prospectus for a description of fees and expenses that apply to Contractholders. Inclusion of these charges would increase the fees and expenses provided below.

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a

percentage of the value of your investment)

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 76% of the average value of its portfolio.

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Portfolio invests primarily in the equity securities of U.S. companies that the Adviser believes are undervalued, focusing on dividend-paying securities. The Adviser believes that, over time, a company's stock price will come to reflect its intrinsic economic value. The Portfolio may invest in companies of any size and in any industry.

The Adviser depends heavily upon the fundamental analysis and research of its large internal research staff in making investment decisions for the Portfolio. The research staff follows a primary research universe of approximately 500 largely U.S. companies.

In determining a company's intrinsic economic value, the Adviser takes into account many fundamental and financial factors that it believes bear on the company's ability to perform in the future, including earnings growth, prospective cash flows, dividend growth and growth in book value. The Adviser then ranks each of the companies in its research universe in the relative order of disparity between their intrinsic economic values and their current stock prices, with companies with the greatest disparities receiving the highest rankings (i.e., being considered the most undervalued). The Adviser anticipates that the Portfolio's portfolio normally will include approximately 60-90 companies, with substantially all of those companies ranking in the top three deciles of the Adviser's valuation model.

The Adviser recognizes that the perception of what is a "value" stock is relative and the factors considered in determining whether a stock is a "value" stock may, and often will, have differing relative significance in different phases of an economic cycle. Also, at different times, and as a result of how individual companies are valued in the market, the Portfolio may be attracted to investments in companies with different market capitalizations (i.e.,large-, mid- or small-capitalization) or companies engaged in particular types of business (e.g., banks and other financial institutions), although the Portfolio does not intend to concentrate in any particular industries or businesses. The Portfolio's portfolio emphasis upon particular industries or sectors will be a by-product of the stock selection process rather than the result of assigned targets or ranges.

The Portfolio may enter into derivatives transactions, such as options, futures, forwards and swaps. The Portfolio may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indexes, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indexes) or shares of exchange-traded funds. These transactions may be used, for example, to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Portfolio's portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges.

The Portfolio also invests in high-quality securities of non-U.S. issuers.

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

. MARKET RISK: The value of the Portfolio's assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events that affect large portions of the market.

. FOREIGN (NON-U.S.) RISK: Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers may involve more risk than those of U.S. issuers. These securities may fluctuate more widely in price and may be less liquid due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors.

. CURRENCY RISK: Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may negatively affect the value of the Portfolio's investments or reduce its returns.

. DERIVATIVES RISK: Investments in derivatives may be illiquid, difficult to price, and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Portfolio, and may be subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments.

. INDUSTRY/SECTOR RISK: Investments in a particular industry or group of related industries may have more risk because market or economic factors affecting that industry could have a significant effect on the value of the Portfolio's investments.

. MANAGEMENT RISK: The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment fund. The Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Portfolio, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results.

As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Portfolio by showing:

. how the Portfolio's performance changed from year to year over ten years; and

. how the Portfolio's average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads

The performance information does not take into account separate account charges. If separate account charges were included, an investor's return would be lower.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_ShareholderFeeOther

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.55%

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.60%

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

61

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

335

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_AnnualReturn2003

32.50%

rr_AnnualReturn2005

4.87%

rr_AnnualReturn2007

5.12%

rr_AnnualReturn2009

20.82%

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.32%

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2003

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

WORST QUARTER

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(20.17%)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

6.32%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.53%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(2.64%)

rr_RiskReturnHeading

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN VPS GROWTH PORTFOLIO

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio's investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The operating expenses information below is designed to assist Contractholders of variable products that invest in the Portfolio in understanding the fees and expenses that they may pay as an investor. Because the information does not reflect deductions at the separate account level or contract level for any charges that may be incurred under a contract, Contractholders that invest in the Portfolio should refer to the variable contract prospectus for a description of fees and expenses that apply to Contractholders. Inclusion of these charges would increase the fees and expenses provided below.

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a

percentage of the value of your investment)

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 97% of the average value of its portfolio.

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Portfolio invests primarily in a domestic portfolio of equity securities of companies selected by the Adviser for their growth potential within various market sectors. Examples of the types of market sectors in which the Portfolio may invest include, but are not limited to, information technology (which includes telecommunications), health care, financial services, infrastructure, energy and natural resources, and consumer groups. The Adviser's growth analysts use proprietary research to seek to identify companies or industries that other investors have underestimated, overlooked or ignored--for example, some hidden earnings driver (including, but not limited to, reduced competition, market share gain, better margin trend, increased customer base, or similar factors) that would cause a company to grow faster than market forecasts.

In consultation with the Portfolio's Investment Advisory Members (oversight group composed of senior investment professionals), senior sector analysts are responsible for the construction of the portfolio. This investment team allocates the Portfolio's investments among broad sector groups based on the fundamental company research conducted by the Adviser's large internal research staff, assessing the current and forecasted investment opportunities and conditions, as well as diversification and risk considerations. The investment team may vary the percentage allocations among market sectors and may change the market sectors in which the Portfolio invests as companies' potential for growth within a sector matures and new trends for growth emerge.

In addition to working with the senior sector analysts to review and assess the Portfolio's portfolio characteristics, the Investment Advisory Members' responsibility includes cross-fertilizing best practices and insight across the firm.

The Portfolio emphasizes investments in large- and mid-capitalization companies; however, the Portfolio has the flexibility to invest across the capitalization spectrum. The Portfolio is designed for those seeking exposure to companies of various sizes. Normally, the Portfolio invests in approximately 65-120 companies.

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

. MARKET RISK: The value of the Portfolio's assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events that affect large portions of the market. It includes the risk that a particular style of investing, such as growth, may underperform the market generally.

. CAPITALIZATION RISK: Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile than investments in large-capitalization companies. Investments in small-capitalization companies may have additional risks because these companies have limited product lines, markets or financial resources.

.DERIVATIVES RISK: Derivatives may be illiquid, difficult to price, and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Portfolio, and may be subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments.

. MANAGEMENT RISK: The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment fund. The Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Portfolio, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results.

As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Portfolio by showing:

. how the Portfolio's performance changed from year to year over ten years; and

. how the Portfolio's average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads

The performance information does not take into account separate account charges. If separate account charges were included, an investor's return would be lower.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_ShareholderFeeOther

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.75%

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.00%

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

102

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

552

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

rr_AnnualReturn2003

35.06%

rr_AnnualReturn2005

11.97%

rr_AnnualReturn2007

13.02%

rr_AnnualReturn2009

33.13%

rr_AnnualReturn2011

1.24%

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2003

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

WORST QUARTER

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(22.09%)

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.24%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.22%

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.50%

rr_RiskReturnHeading

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN VPS INTERNATIONAL GROWTH PORTFOLIO

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio's investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The operating expenses information below is designed to assist Contractholders of variable products that invest in the Portfolio in understanding the fees and expenses that they may pay as an investor. Because the information does not reflect deductions at the separate account level or contract level for any charges that may be incurred under a contract, Contractholders that invest in the Portfolio should refer to the variable contract prospectus for a description of fees and expenses that apply to Contractholders. Inclusion of these charges would increase the fees and expenses provided below.

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a

percentage of the value of your investment)

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 66% of the average value of its portfolio.

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: