IaaS vs PaaS
IaaS and PaaS are two layers of the same cloud stack. The choice between them comes down to how much infrastructure you want to manage yourself.
The key difference: IaaS gives you raw infrastructure to configure. PaaS gives you a managed platform that handles infrastructure for you.
| Dimension | IaaS | PaaS |
|---|---|---|
| You manage | OS, runtime, scaling, networking | Just your application code |
| Vendor manages | Physical hardware, virtualisation | Everything below your code |
| Examples | AWS EC2, GCP Compute, Azure VMs | Vercel, Heroku, Render, Supabase |
| Flexibility | Highest — any stack, any config | Lower — opinionated runtimes |
| Operational burden | High — needs DevOps capability | Low — push to deploy |
When to use IaaS
Pick IaaS when you need full control — custom networking, unusual runtimes, regulated workloads.
When to use PaaS
Pick PaaS when your team would rather ship product than maintain servers, and your stack fits the platform.
FAQs
Can you mix IaaS and PaaS?
All the time. Most modern stacks run application code on PaaS but use IaaS for databases, queues or ML workloads that need specific hardware.
Is PaaS more expensive than IaaS?
At the same scale, often yes per unit of compute — you're paying for managed services. But the saved DevOps salaries usually swing it the other way.
Where does SaaS fit?
SaaS is the layer above PaaS — a finished application. IaaS is infrastructure, PaaS is platform, SaaS is product.