The difference between SaaS and On-premise applications

When it comes to SaaS and on-premise applications, there will always appear the question: “Which one to choose”? Or  “What is the difference between them?”. Within this article I will try to make it simple for you to understand the main differences thus you can have an idea about what’s involved in case you’re going to consider buying one of them or even developing one by yourself (and here I mean your business).

 

SaaS vs On-premise

SaaS applications, also known as Cloud-based applications, are the software applications that you can access within your browser (take Zendesk or Jira as an example). Most SaaS applications offer a freemium plan, and in case there is no freemium plan available then for sure it will be a trial period, usually between 7 to 30 days.

On-premise applications are the applications that you buy once, or better said you buy a license that allows you to use that application (that is usually for a limited time 12-24 months).

Let’s have a look at a few differences between the two:


In the case of SaaS, the fact that you don’t actually need to install the application makes it a huge advantage, as this will save you hardware resources, and with this, money. Besides that, you can access it from any device that has an internet connection, so this makes it very flexible for on-going situations. 

On the other side, the on-premise applications require you to have the hardware resources to run the application, also in most cases, it will require additional IT infrastructure and human resources in order to handle the support and implementation for the whole company.


There are also some cost differences, which can be split into entry costs and on-going maintenance costs. In the case of SaaS, the entry costs are lower but in the long run, you might end up spending more. 

On-premise application’s entry costs are higher, but on the on-going, you pay less. Although in this case there will exist additional costs for human resources and hardware. Why additional costs for human resources? Because somebody needs to create and support the working environments for that application.


One thing that makes the on-premise application better than SaaS is the fact that you don’t need internet access to run the application. Of course, there may be cases where you can only access the applications being logged-in with a licensed account, which is fine if you set it up to stay logged-in.


Let’s talk about one more difference between the two types of applications, which is security. On-premise solutions will involve more time and resources in case you want high-level security, when most SaaS providers, especially the big ones, offer top-level security support, so you don’t have to bother about that.


There are even more differences between SaaS and on-premise, but this short article is meant to give you an idea about these two types. In case this is not totally clear to you, you can always contact us to learn more about them. Also, you can have a look at our SaaS application at https://digiscope.training which has the potential to improve the mindset of your team not only in this large area of IT but also in the any-other industry you are interested in.