PaaS (Platform as a Service)

PaaS (Platform as a Service) is a cloud ✕ "The cloud" refers to services and storage that run not on your device but on external servers on the internet. You can access them from anywhere. More in the glossary → model aimed at developers: the provider offers a complete environment — servers, operating system, databases and tools — on which to write, test and publish applications, without dealing with the physical infrastructure. The team focuses on writing code and on the product, while the platform handles maintenance, scaling and much of the security. Well-known examples are Heroku, Google App Engine and Vercel. It sits between IaaS ✕ IaaS means renting the basic computing resources — servers, storage, networking — over the internet, on demand and pay-as-you-go, without buying your own hardware. More in the glossary → , which offers only basic resources, and SaaS ✕ SaaS is software you use over the internet on a subscription, hosted by the provider: you log in from the browser, with nothing to install and no updates or servers to worry about. More in the glossary → , which delivers the finished program. Its advantage is faster development; in return, you have less control over the underlying environment.