Which of the following is a characteristic of cloud-based services?

Cloud-based services are commonly associated with subscription-based pricing models. This characteristic allows users to pay a regular fee, often monthly or annually, for access to the software and its updates, rather than making a single large upfront purchase. This model offers flexibility for businesses, as they can scale their usage up or down based on their needs and avoid the high initial costs typically associated with traditional software.

While many cloud services do offer lower costs compared to traditional software when considering long-term ownership and maintenance, they are not guaranteed to be always cheaper, which makes that statement inaccurate. Additionally, cloud services depend on internet access for functionality, so claiming they require no internet access is incorrect, and they are not limited to desktop solutions as they can also be accessed via mobile devices and tablets.