Power Apps and Power Automate licensing in 2026: what to check
Asking whether the company has Microsoft 365 is not enough. Licensing depends on the actual app or flow, connectors, data source, runtime model and users.
01
1. Describe the use case first
A personal productivity flow and a business-critical app used by hundreds of people have very different licensing implications.
- who uses it
- what triggers it
- which data sources it touches
- where it runs
02
2. Standard or premium capability?
Connectors and data sources can determine whether Microsoft 365 rights are enough or a separate Power Platform licence is needed.
- standard connectors
- premium connectors
- Dataverse
- custom connectors and APIs
03
3. User, process or capacity model?
Microsoft offers several licensing models. The right one depends on how the solution is used, not just what it is built with.
- user licensing
- process / bot licensing
- capacity
- consumption options
04
4. Verify current terms
Licensing changes. Final architecture and commercial estimates should always be checked against current Microsoft pricing and your organisation's agreement.
- current Microsoft pricing
- licensing guide
- existing tenant licences
- CSP / enterprise agreement