IaaS vs PaaS: How Much of the Stack You Manage

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 06:18:04 +0900

Overview

IaaS and PaaS are cloud service models that differ in how much of the technology stack the provider abstracts away from you. IaaS hands you raw virtualized infrastructure and leaves the OS, runtime, and app management to you, while PaaS also manages the OS and runtime so you only push application code. The distinction matters because it determines your team’s operational burden, control, and how fast you can ship.

Comparison Diagram

Comparison Table

Aspect	IaaS	PaaS
Provisioning unit	Virtual machines, block storage, virtual networks	Application slots or containers bound to a managed runtime
OS and runtime management	Customer installs, configures, and patches OS and runtime	Provider installs and patches OS and runtime automatically
Deployment workflow	Customer scripts server setup, then deploys app via SSH/config management	Customer pushes code (git push, CI artifact); platform builds and deploys
Scaling	Customer configures auto-scaling groups and load balancers manually	Platform scales instances automatically based on traffic or rules
Customization and control	Full root access, any OS, any custom software stack	Constrained to platform-supported languages, frameworks, and versions
Failure recovery	Customer builds and monitors health checks, failover, and backups	Platform handles instance replacement and basic health monitoring
Vendor lock-in	Low — standard VM images port across most cloud providers	Higher — apps depend on platform-specific APIs and build conventions
Typical adopter	Infrastructure/ops teams migrating or replicating existing systems	Application developers who want to ship features without managing servers

Key Differences

IaaS gives you a virtual machine; PaaS gives you a managed runtime for your code
PaaS abstracts away OS patching, which IaaS leaves entirely to the customer
IaaS deployment means configuring servers yourself; PaaS deployment is typically a git push
PaaS trades flexibility for speed, increasing vendor lock-in compared to IaaS
Auto-scaling is built into PaaS, whereas IaaS requires customer-configured scaling groups

When to Use Each

IaaS

Iaas on IT Comparison

IaaS vs PaaS: How Much of the Stack You Manage

Overview

Comparison Diagram

Comparison Table

Key Differences

When to Use Each