SaaS, or software as a service, is a cloud computing model that provides on-demand access to ready-to-use, cloud-hosted application software. SaaS customers do not need to install, configure, manage, or maintain any hardware or software infrastructure to use the applications. The cloud service provider is responsible for all the technical aspects of the service, such as hosting, security, performance, availability, updates, and backups. SaaS customers only need an internet connection and a web browser or a mobile app to access the applications. SaaS provides the smallest amount of technical overhead for customers, as they do not have to deal with any of the underlying infrastructure or platform components. SaaS customers can focus on using the applications for their business needs, without worrying about the technical details.

Some examples of SaaS applications are Gmail, Google Docs, Salesforce, Slack, and Zoom .