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Basic plans in IaaS host-providers like DigitalOcean and Linode are usually fixed-priced and basic plans in PaaS host-providers like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services are usually dynamically-priced.

Why are IaaS hosting services are usually fixed-priced and PaaS are usually dynamically-priced?

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Fixed price tiered billing is an older billing model that suits a monthly billing cycle where usually the level of resources provided does not change over a month. Even if it is changed, this is usually met with friction from the billing department in form of the higher pricing tier being applied to the whole month.

By comparison AWS can be credited as the first provider to offer simple building blocks on an hourly basis (now per second). This allows for much more sophisticated usage of resources in form of:

  • auto scaling to the best amount of resources required.
  • turn services off out of hours or until turned on manually.
  • ultimately to offering functions as a service, the most finegrainerld resource billing usage available.

So I don't see these two items as being directly comparable, but one is a progression from the other.

Pierre.Vriens
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jdog
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  • Every answer you answered to me so far jdog was like gold to me, can't say how much I thank you and how much you've helped me ! friction from the billing department in form of the higher pricing tier being applied to the whole month. Did you mean the billing department demanded extra payment from the customer?... –  Dec 04 '18 at 16:52
  • So, I don't see these two items as being directly comparable, but one is a progression from the other. Please try to clarify, not sure I understand. You mean to say dynamic pricing is a usually better and an "evolution" from fixed monthly pricing?... –  Dec 04 '18 at 16:55
  • The friction comment is based on experience. I have at various times requested resource increases for short periods (like 3 days) in simple vps environments. These are usually provided in the first or second month, but then I'm usually told its to hard to adjust the invoice and that I will be billed the higher resource for a whole month even if only used for 3 days. In regards to "better" : either pricing model can be better than the other depending on the situation. I would simply say dynamic billing is a progression from fixed – jdog Dec 04 '18 at 17:20