{"id":2368,"date":"2023-04-19T18:40:25","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T22:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog2wrkdev.wpenginepowered.com\/ipaas-vs-paas\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T08:25:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T12:25:54","slug":"ipaas-vs-paas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/ipaas-vs-paas\/","title":{"rendered":"iPaaS vs PaaS: here&#8217;s how the two differ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While iPaaS and PaaS appear nearly identical, they\u2019re completely different in practice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organizations use the former to integrate their ever-growing tech stack, which enables them to keep data across systems in sync and automate their workflows; and they use the latter to streamline and reduce the complexity of developing and maintaining applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s take a closer look at each cloud-based service and then compare them directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is iPaaS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>iPaaS, or an integration platform as a service, is a type of integration solution that lets you connect cloud applications, on-prem systems, IoT devices, mobile apps, and build data flows between them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is iPaaS? Here\u2019s what you need to know\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dkq2o1lDm9w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it depends on the vendor, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/ipaas-complete-guide\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/ipaas-complete-guide\/\">iPaaS solution<\/a> generally offers the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Application connectors<\/strong> for popular SaaS applications and on-prem systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Automation templates<\/strong> for common use cases (as shown below)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data centers<\/strong> throughout the globe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Security and governance controls<\/strong>, such as role-based access controls and activity audit logs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>An embedded offering <\/strong>(i.e. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/embedded-ipaas\/\">embedded iPaaS<\/a>) that allows you to use the iPaaS solution for building customizable integrations between your product and others\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To help illustrate how an iPaaS can be used, let\u2019s break down an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can connect your CRM (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/integrations\/salesforce\">Salesforce<\/a>) with your document storage solution (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/integrations\/box\">Box<\/a>) and implement the following workflow:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-5-2.png\" alt=\"A workflow between Salesforce and Box that allows you to add files from the former to a folder in the latter\" class=\"wp-image-30493\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once a new account with attachments gets created in Salesforce, the workflow gets triggered.\u00a0If a folder with the Salesforce account name doesn\u2019t exist in Box, it gets created; if it already exists, the workflow skips to the next step. Each attachment from the newly-created account gets downloaded and uploaded to the folder in Box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is PaaS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PaaS, or platform as a service, is a type of cloud computing service that provides organizations with the key components for developing, running, and maintaining applications; this includes the necessary infrastructure, development tools, operating systems, and middleware.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PaaS is one of the three models of cloud computing, which also include software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Here\u2019s how it compares to these other models:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PaaS-relationship-with-IaaS-and-SaaS-1024x480.png\" alt=\"An image that shows how SaaS applications include all of IaaS\u2019 and PaaS\u2019 components, while PaaS includes all of IaaS\u2019 components.\u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-30483\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>SaaS applications include all of IaaS\u2019 and PaaS\u2019 components, while PaaS includes all of IaaS\u2019 components<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Related: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/ipaas-vs-saas\/\"><em>The differences between SaaS and iPaaS<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>iPaaS vs PaaS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two address fundamentally different needs. PaaS solutions allow organizations to manage the end-to-end lifecycle of application development in-house, while iPaaS solutions let organizations integrate any number of cloud and on-prem applications.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n    <div class=\"article__cta\">\r\n\t\t            <div class=\"article__cta-right\">\r\n                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article__cta-right_image\" src=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AD_4nXcOwkKcrrTEe2h5Uh3Y0JgSO9grPIl3dfscv-VpSgbFyy4CugiH6fzvyiSO7dQTgpn3guRD2nErQYcNLFWUo7PqdmzFb56nDOKN69K2O8mlrcSC8Ahc5Zeg-E3ZQP1OLyqNFgmOPAkeycsFHeprG52GEgFrBoBrMojE7-150x150.png\"\r\n                     alt=\"\">\r\n                <div class=\"article__cta-right_content\">\r\n                    <h4>Ready to leverage a best-in-class iPaaS?<\/h4>\r\n                    <p>Workato, the leader in enterprise automation, lets you integrate your applications, automate your workflows end-to-end, develop APIs, and more\u2014all without having to write a single line of code.<\/p>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t                    <a class=\"article__cta-right_btn\"\r\n                       href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/request_demo?ref=connector\">Schedule a demo<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t            <\/div>\r\n\t\t    <\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While iPaaS and PaaS appear nearly identical, they\u2019re completely different in practice.&nbsp; Organizations use the former to integrate their ever-growing tech stack, which enables them to keep data across systems in sync and automate their workflows; and they use the latter to streamline and reduce the complexity of developing and maintaining applications. Let\u2019s take a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":12483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automation-integration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>iPaaS vs PaaS: here&#039;s how the two differ - Workato<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about each cloud service and discover how they differ so that you can avoid using the acronyms interchangeably.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/ipaas-vs-paas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"iPaaS vs PaaS: here&#039;s how the two differ - Workato\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about each cloud service and discover how they differ so that you can avoid using the acronyms interchangeably.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/ipaas-vs-paas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Workato\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-19T22:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-30T12:25:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/workato.com\/the-connector\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PaaS-vs-iPaaS.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jon Gitlin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jon Gitlin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\\\/ipaas-vs-paas\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\\\/ipaas-vs-paas\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jon Gitlin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.workato.com\\\/the-connector\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f3da64b9a8d4e29689a77d18992c857\"},\"headline\":\"iPaaS vs PaaS: here&#8217;s how the two differ\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T22:40:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-30T12:25:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\\\/ipaas-vs-paas\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":420,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\\\/ipaas-vs-paas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/PaaS-vs-iPaaS.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Automation &amp; 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