It might seem like a big differentiates between SaaS (software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service), but the two are quite similar in reality.
A high-level overview of the differentiates might be that with SaaS, you’re paying for software on an ongoing basis (monthly or yearly), while with PaaS. You’re usually buying it only once and then using it for an extended period.
The main way that they differentiates is that SaaS is all about software and how it’s delivered, while PaaS is more of a platform and how it’s delivered. It means that there can be some overlap in what each of these two services does. And although the two may not be identical, they both provide.
Table of Contents
What Is SaaS?
It is a Software as a service delivered over the internet and licensed through a simple license agreement. It is one of the most popular types of SaaS available today.
A PaaS is a Software as a Service that is delivered on a device. In other words, it is on-demand.
What Is PaaS?
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a software application architecture that enables software developers to build and host applications via infrastructure resources like servers and storage systems.
It allows for elastic scaling of resources and greater flexibility in terms of infrastructure. Software as a Service (SaaS) is an extension of PaaS, where the cloud resources are completely managed and provisioned by an external third-party provider.
The customer is limited to the public cloud platform of their choice.
biggest Differentiates PaaS From SaaS:
Cloud computing is the concept of letting someone else (sometimes called a cloud provider) take care of the hardware, networking, operating system, and software (the necessary pieces of the puzzle) to provide the service to you.
The key is to let someone else take care of those items and enable you to focus on your core business functions. That is the biggest differentiates paas and saas.
Why Do We Call It PaaS and SaaS?
PaaS and SaaS are both cloud-based software offerings. But PaaS is a software development solution, while SaaS is a service for implementing cloud computing.
Why Would You Use SaaS Over PaaS?
If you are using your website hosting platform, you’re probably using the software (SaaS). And chances are, you’re not paying a huge amount for it.
I think you would probably be hard-pressed to find a hosting company that charges more than a few dollars per month. Is it worth going for SaaS over PaaS when you don’t need to be in the cloud for software-only websites?
SaaS has the advantage when it comes to simplicity of implementation. Just fire up a web browser, and you’re all set. You don’t even need to sign up, but many businesses feel they need some human interface for certain types of software.
Why would you use PaaS over SaaS?
A popular reason people cite for choosing PaaS over SaaS is lower maintenance costs. With PaaS, if the system is not performing as expected, developers can easily switch it out for a different platform without the costs associated with new licenses.
Another big differentiates SaaS from PaaS that you download on your laptop, you still need to manage your application once the code is deployed. With PaaS, you only need to manage the infrastructure.
You can add as many users and roles as you want. For each account, you have access to its API. It’s flexible and works well for small, temporary projects where you build something and want to test it. PaaS offers much flexibility and higher speed to market.
Some examples of SaaS, PaaS, & IaaS
SaaS: Google Workspace, BigCommerce, Cisco, Salesforce, Dropbox, MailChimp, ZenDesk, DocuSign, WebEx, Concur, GoToMeeting Slack, Hubspot.
PaaS: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, Windows Azure, Force.com, OpenShift, Apache Stratos, Magento Commerce Cloud.
IaaS: AWS EC2, Rackspace, Linode, Google Compute Engine (GCE), Digital Ocean, , Cisco Metapod.
Frequently Asked Questions about SaaS and PaaS
Which is better, SaaS or PaaS?
The simple answer is that SaaS is faster and cheaper than PaaS. The key factor here is that when it comes to increasing the server resources, SaaS is a lot faster.
If you have only one server, it can take hours to increase the server capacity. But when you want to increase server capacity in few minutes and upload multiple sites, it’s all done with SaaS. It’s faster than buying dedicated servers in the cloud.
The second difference is that you can start using it immediately with PaaS without setting up any infrastructure. Its price depends on how much you want to use it.
Which has greater scalability, PaaS or SaaS?
With SaaS, you have to buy a product that has security in mind. While the underlying technology addresses the problem of security (it’s like security by obscurity), the solution the vendor offers to your security issue is often not the best solution to the problem.
If you’re using SaaS, your data is not encrypted, which means you would be able to tell if stolen data. Even if encrypted the data, it’s not so apparent from the black box, so there’s a slight chance that it would steal the data in the future.
With PaaS, you have to buy the platform which provides security on the data level.
What are the benefits of the cloud?
More choices. You can choose from different products that are delivered by a SaaS provider and from various PaaS providers.
You don’t have to worry about hardware. With the cloud, you don’t have to buy hardware yourself.
For each new release of your software, you can buy a new version of the same hardware, which saves you from the burden of purchasing and maintaining the hardware separately.
With the cloud, you don’t have to buy hardware yourself. For each new release of your software, you can buy a new version of the same hardware, which saves you from the burden of purchasing and maintaining the hardware separately. You can add new features faster.
What is PaaS used for?
There are different PaaS providers that provide you services that help developers test and debug and deploy or configure a piece of software to get it up and to run.
It can be a valuable resource for a developer trying to gain some experience with a particular framework. Or library without needing to master the exact way it is used to design the code.”
So you don’t have to design your solution. You can use a ready-made solution provided by your SaaS provider. You don’t have to put up with waiting and solving customer support issues. Sounds good, right?
There’s one major problem with SaaS solutions: you are paying for something you do not use. You are buying something that you don’t even use.
When should we use PaaS?
Though a PaaS-based cloud service offers tremendous benefits over other platforms, it’s not always the right choice. There are some times when PaaS can hurt you more than help you. And that’s when you’re stuck in a situation where you don’t have your developer or QA resources.
It’s essential to consider the kind of platform you will use before making a final decision to avoid potential pitfalls. If you’re going to use the cloud platform you’ve bought, you’ll have to consider a few different features, and PaaS might not be the best option.
PaaS is all about making your environment as simple as possible. One, it has complete control to define what happens in the app environment and when.
What are the benefits of PaaS?
1. Easy to deploy
After all, it’s one of the top reasons you might be considering SaaS. But it’s not the only reason.
When it comes to PaaS, many of the same benefits of SaaS apply: you can quickly and rapidly deploy, scale and manage your software. And since you’re paying for the software, you’re not spending extra on the implementation.
2. Simple upgrades and downgrades
At one time, with some PaaS providers, upgrading was a real pain. So, in most cases, if you wanted to upgrade, you had to contact support and pay a hefty sum of money.
Since most PaaS providers have made it easier to upgrade and most of them have cloud-based billing. It’s still possible to upgrade (especially when you’re paying a small monthly fee for the software). Still, it’s often more accessible than the PaaS equivalent.
Event-based vs. Non-Event based Apps
Event-based apps use system APIs like email, REST, and others to send and receive data.
If we look into the data loop to build the event-based app,
Each client sends data to an event bus.The event bus will then make calls to external APIs like mail, etc., for data.
The event bus could be anything: a phone, a mobile, an email application.
A non-event-based app will generally use traditional web frameworks, such as Ruby on Rails, Django, Node.js, etc.
Are open protocols secure?
One of the strengths of these platforms is that they have robust security protocols in place, which have helped them be widely used in many industries.
The issue is, not all platforms follow them 100%. There are many open protocols in use, and many enterprises use them but don’t think of them as secure.
Several open protocols enable API implementations. We are all familiar with the TCP/IP Protocol used in all the major internet protocols. Open Web technology like HTTP is often used in client-server communication, along with others. SaaS is a variant of these.
Is SaaS the same as a cloud?
Yes, they are very similar. They’re both for providing software and technology for a particular customer. They’re both for elastic compute and storage. And even though these are mainly used as stand-alone programs, they might be used together on a specific occasion.
Which type should I choose?
SaaS is mainly for smaller yet less profitable companies who want to offer products/services. They usually don’t have any experienced IT/ developers.
They could therefore not afford to buy the software on a monthly/yearly basis. With PaaS, you need professional, experienced IT/ developers in your company. You can afford a monthly subscription.
Is SaaS easy to learn?
Simple enough – yes. However, to learn it well will require a lot of time and study. The lessons and the training will help you master the SaaS world.
You might have an intuitive feel on how to use cloud-based systems. However, to fully understand all the complex aspects of SaaS. And learn to work with cloud-based products, you must go through some well-planned and systematic learning processes.
Is SaaS hard to upgrade or replace?
Yes and no. With cloud-based products, you’ll be notified whenever there is a new version of the software released. However, the process of upgrading and replacing old SaaS solutions might be a bit tricky.
Understand your risk. Consider the trade-offs you may be facing and the risks in upgrading or replacing SaaS.
What is Enterprise SaaS?
SaaS is the Enterprise Version of PaaS. SaaS is aimed at large businesses rather than small teams (some PaaS offerings are hosted as a Service).
It consists of managed infrastructure, combined with a cloud service provider (or SaaS as we’re calling them here). An excellent example of a SaaS offering is Google App Engine or App server.
What is Cloud PaaS?
Cloud PaaS refers to the deployment of open source software on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and other infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
Typical PaaS offerings are Redis Enterprise, Docker Enterprise, and the open-source Kano and Flask projects, among many others. It is also available on other platforms, such as Windows Azure and IBM Bluemix.
What is SaaS software?
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) describes a collection of services provided either free or at a fee to a business by an independent vendor. SaaS is often sold as a subscription-based model.
The vendor offers a set of software applications via the Internet at no cost. The business can then use those services as if they had installed the software directly on their servers. Usually, businesses buy software this way because of the cost savings: SaaS providers do not need to maintain and update their applications.
On the other hand, the provider has to handle the ongoing support and maintenance costs. The most crucial difference between SaaS and PaaS is separating the business logic (or application code) and the delivery model.
What is SaaS sale?
SaaS (software as a service) is the delivery of services through a cloud platform. This makes it a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. These solutions come in many shapes and sizes, with each solution offering a different function.
Many companies are focusing on selling their solutions through SaaS software as a service because it allows companies to diversify their services. For example, most SaaS solutions are integrated with a hosting service, so you don’t need to host your servers for these SaaS solutions.
Some companies sell software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on a monthly or yearly subscription model (Salesforce is a notable example). You pay once for the solution and only for the services delivered in the monthly or annual cycle.
What does SaaS stand for?
Software as a Service.
Why does a SaaS (Software as a Service) cost so much?
The high upfront cost of the application plus service charges for cloud hosting. Also, software in the PaaS model has become super cheap, which adds to its cost.
Public Cloud vs. Private Cloud
The term “private cloud” is often used to refer to the system in which applications run on your servers.
On the other hand, “public cloud” refers to a non-distributed computing environment or a shared service delivery model. The service provider provides remote access to an organization’s IT infrastructure.
What does PaaS stand for?
Platform as a Service
What is SaaS in cloud computing?
A cloud computing service is a service that is delivered through the Internet but does not reside on a user’s local computer or network or have any hardware.
The user can access the service via the Internet, from anywhere globally, through a web browser, or mobile. These services use virtual machines stored on the servers and are remotely managed through an internet connection.
For example, the Netflix movie subscription service uses a remote software called the DVD2k, which runs on Amazon servers and is accessed remotely through a user’s internet browser.
What is PaaS in cloud computing?
PaaS refers to a platform as a Service where a service provider allows you to use the software through the cloud instead of on-premises. Platform as a Service provider includes IBM’s SoftLayer and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for web applications and other offerings.
Of the two, PaaS is faster to implement and can integrate with other software, making it ideal for deploying websites and mobile applications.
In a nutshell, you will get the computing power without having to provide your servers.
Conclusion: What Differentiates PaaS From SaaS
I hope this article differentiates PaaS From SaaS will help you to understand the differences.For more information on software engineering best practices, free resources, and how you can build a better dev team, sign up for our latest free newsletter.
