IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS: Cloud Service Models Explained
A clear comparison of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with a responsibility chart showing exactly what you manage and what the cloud provider manages.
Cloud & DevOps
What is Platform as a Service?
Quick answer
A cloud model that provides a ready-to-use environment for building, deploying, and running applications without managing servers.
Platform as a Service, explained
With platform as a service (PaaS), developers focus on their code while the provider handles the underlying infrastructure, operating systems, runtime, scaling, and often databases. You push your application, and the platform builds, deploys, and runs it.
PaaS sits between infrastructure as a service, where you manage virtual machines yourself, and software as a service, where you simply use a finished application. Well-known examples include Heroku, Google App Engine, Azure App Service, and many newer platforms aimed at web developers. Benefits include faster development and less operational work. Trade-offs include less control over the environment, potential vendor lock-in, and costs that can rise quickly at scale compared with managing infrastructure directly.
Related terms
Cloud Computing
Delivering computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, and software over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Infrastructure as a ServiceA cloud model, known as IaaS, in which a provider rents out computing resources such as virtual servers, storage, and networking on demand.
ServerlessA cloud model where developers run code without managing servers, and the provider automatically handles scaling and charges per use.
Software as a ServiceA model in which software is hosted in the cloud and delivered to users over the internet, usually through a subscription.
XaaSAnything as a Service: the broad trend of delivering products, tools, and capabilities over the internet as subscription-based services.
Guides that mention Platform as a Service
Cloud & DevOps
Trending
What Is Cloud Computing? A Simple Guide for Business
A plain-English guide to cloud computing for business owners: how it works, the services you already use, the real benefits and the risks to manage.
The Cloud Shared Responsibility Model Explained: Who Secures What in IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
Who is responsible for what when your systems run in the cloud? A clear breakdown of the shared responsibility model across IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, with the tasks that always stay with you.