Cloud vs On-Premise

What is On-Premise?

On-premise refers to a software and hardware infrastructural setup, deployed and running on the premises of your organization, rather than at a remote facility (such as cloud). You have complete control over your data as well as the infrastructural set up. Data stays in your private network (intranet), nobody other than your organization's users has access to the information. Once the software is purchased and downloaded, it is then installed on your servers. With no third-party involvement, you assume complete ownership and need not rely on internet connection or external factors to access your software.

Key differences between Cloud and On-Premise

  • Essentially, the fundamental difference between cloud and on-premise software is where the software resides or where it is hosted. On-premise software is installed locally on your organization’s servers, whereas cloud software is hosted on the vendor’s server and accessed via a web browser. 
  • When compared to cloud software, on premise is more flexible, reliable, and secure. On the other hand, cloud software eases the pressure of maintaining and updating systems, allowing you to focus your time, effort and money into fulfilling your core business strategies.
  • Cloud software requires a reliable internet connection, whereas in on-premise, you need not rely on internet connection or external factors to access your software.

Therefore, choosing between cloud and on-premise depends on your organization's requirements, which eventually influences the selection of a suitable deployment strategy.

Feature availability - Cloud and On-premis

ModuleFeatureCloudOn-Premise
Account SetupEmail Management - Domain AuthenticationYesNot supported
Account SetupEmail Management - Domain RestrictionYesNot supported
Account SetupConnectionsYesOnly Clickatell is supported
Account SetupMarketplaceYesNot supported
Account SetupSAML AuthenticationYesYes
Account SetupBackup/Restore accountNot supportedYes
Account SetupPayment gatewayYesNot supported
Account SetupZoho Directory integrationYesNot supported
App creationUsing gallery app (template)YesYes
Application SettingsWidgetsYesSupported. However, there is no support for internal hosting.
Application SettingsFederated Sign-inYesSupported
Application SettingsDownload and publish rebranded mobile applicationsYesSupported on-demand
Application SettingsMulti-language support (localization)YesGoogle translate is not supported. Can manually translate all supported languages.
Form Properties Email dataYesNot supported for both cases — Allow from everyone and Allow only from application users
FormsIntegrations formYesNot supported
Field typesIntegration fieldsYesNot supported
Field typesAI fieldsYesNot supported
In-built IntegrationsPayPal, iCal Feed, Box, Dropbox, GDrive, OneDrive, Zoho Docs, WordPressYesNot supported
ReportsPivot chartYesCan be supported using Zoho Analytics On-premise
ReportsPivot tableYesCan be supported using Zoho Analytics On-premise
WorkflowsEmail notificationsYesYes, via your email client; for PDF attachments, max file size is 15 MB
WorkflowsSMS notificationsYesYes, subject to your network permission
WorkflowsMobile push notificationsYesNot supported
WorkflowsPaymentYesNot supported
Workflows, APIExternal calls (webhooks and integration tasks)YesYes, subject to your network permission
Deluge tasksAI tasksYesNot supported
GeneralUnified data service (Microservices)YesNot supported
GeneralEmail Server (SMTP)Not supportedYes
GeneralDesign apps for the web, mobile, and tabletYesYes
GeneralApplication Lifecycle ManagementYesNot supported
GeneralZoho FlowYesNot supported

Note: The following features are cloud-specific and hence, not applicable to On-premise:

  • My Developers
  • Developer Zone
  • Workspace
  • App filtering based on workspace

Native and other in-app mobile features

Common featuresCloudOn-Premise
 iOSAndroidiOSAndroid
Navigation from map reportsYesYesYesYes
Push notificationsYesYesNoNo
State restorationYesNoNoNo
Launching Zia Search from List ReportsYesYesNoNo
Multi-window support for iPad (iOS 13)YesNo
Siri shortcuts (iOS 13)YesNo
​Spotlight search (iOS 13)YesNo
​App shortcuts (Android)YesNo

Still can't find what you're looking for?

Write to us: support@zohocreator.com