Platform as a Service (PaaS) Glossary Definition

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model in which a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools -- usually those needed for application development -- to users over the internet. A PaaS provider hosts the hardware and software on its own infrastructure. As a result, PaaS frees users from having to install in-house hardware and software to develop or run a new application.

PaaS (Platform as a Service) is a Cloud service-model concept used to describe how responsibility is divided between a provider and a consumer.

This term is commonly used in software engineering, programming, scripting, application design, testing, and development lifecycle work.

Stakeholders use this concept when comparing responsibility, control, cost, and operational effort across cloud service offerings.

Related concepts include Infrastructure as a Service and Software as a Service.