PowerApps is available in two distinct versions. The first is the „free“ iteration, which comes as part of the Microsoft E3 or Microsoft E5 License. While it provides a valuable glimpse into the capabilities of the PowerPlatform, it falls short of the opportunities unlocked by the premium version, „PowerApps Premium.“
Within this article, we have provided a concise overview of what the Premium License entails. It’s important to note that this information holds true regardless of whether you are utilizing the per-user license or the Pay-As-You-Go model.
Downsides
First, let’s delve into the downsides of Premium Licenses, which encompass both the pricing considerations and the constraints they entail. It’s essential to acknowledge that these downsides can be particularly relevant when considering a price range tailored to organizations with employee counts ranging from 250 to 500. We use the German price segment with Microsoft prices.
Cost
Estimated Prices are as per month.
| 1 | 250 | 500 | |
| Price | 18,70€ | 4675,00€ | 9350,00€ |
| Taxes (19%) | 3,53€ | 888,25€ | 1,776,50€ |
| Totals | 22,23€ | 5.563,25€ | 11.126,50€ |
Disadvantages
The PowerApps Premium licences is restricted in the following way:
- Power Automat Flows with Premium Connectors are only useable in the context of the App.
- To use Flows outside the Context, an additional Power Automate Premium Licence is required.
- Power Virtual Agent is not a component of the Licence.
- All PowerApps Software are only for internal users
Advantages
In fact, they are multiple advantages that a PowerApps Premium Licence has.
Premium Connectors
Connectors are the APIs of any external services. Connectors are divided into two classes. There are Standard Connectors which contains for example: SharePoint, Outlook, Excel. On the other side, there are Premium Connectors like Dataverse, Word Templates or SQL.
The Premium licence of PowerApps allow users to use this connector in the context of the app.
Custom Connectors
Custom Connectors are, as the name intended, connectors that are custom to your tenant. This is a connector you build by yourself. This could be a connector with the usage of the Graph API, as we described in that tutorial. But it also can be a custom connector for external SAP systems.
Premium Elements
Some drag-n-drop elements are only useable with a Premium licence. The following elements are only useable with the licence:
- Chatbot
- Address Input
- Map
- AI Models
- Business Card Reader
- Receipt processor
- Form processor
- Text recognizer
Dataverse
Dataverse stands as a Microsoft PowerPlatform essential—a data platform and service. It provides secure data storage, management, and sharing across applications, ensuring data consistency and security.
Endless Integration
Dataverse allow an endless integration into any business app. If any PowerApp, Power Automate or even Dynamics. Dataverse is the base for all the data.
Simple Management
Dataverse is, in contract to other databases, easy to manage. The intuitive UI allows users to manage databases much easier than using classic code for database managment.
Analytics
If you use Dataverse as a primary datasource, PowerBI can help you to provide reports. This reports can increase the value of the enterprise and the annual revenue.
Security
Because Dataverse allow granular security permissions, it is not only as save as other premium database provider, it is also GDPR conform in any way.
AI Builder
Any licence comes with 500 credits. This means with 250 employees, you gain 125000 Builder units. This allows you to use any AI Model as log as you have Credits left for the run. Read more in this article.
Dataverse Capacity
With the first licence of PowerApps Premium, you get 10GB of Dataverse Database Capacity. With any licence you get 250MB of extra Database and 2GB of File Capacity.
| 1 | 250 | 500 | |
| Database | 10,25GB | 72,50GB | 135GB |
| File Capacity | 2GB | 500GB | 1TB |
*Additional Database Capacity can be bought f0r 37.40€ per GB per month
Conclusion
Short answer. Yes if you use it.
PowerApps Premium, while accompanied by a cost, opens a realm of advantages. Its premium connectors and custom connectors facilitate seamless integration with external services. Exclusive premium elements like chatbots and AI models enhance user experiences, while Dataverse’s secure data storage and management support comprehensive analytics. The inclusion of 500 AI Builder credits empowers AI integration. However, limitations include added expenses and the need for a separate Power Automate Premium license for flows outside the app context. Despite these, PowerApps Premium offers substantial value, particularly for organizations seeking advanced features, expanded capacities, and elevated integration possibilities, making it a strategic investment in optimizing processes and innovation within the German enterprise sector.