A cloud computing service model that provides a hosted platform for software developers to develop, deploy, and manage applications. The three most common models of cloud computing services are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), PaaS, and Software as a Service (SaaS). These models are built or stacked on top of each other, starting with IaaS at the bottom, PaaS in the middle, and SaaS at the top.

For more information about PaaS and related legal and commercial considerations, see Practice Note, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) Agreements.