Getting Started With PowerApps

We have already learned the basics of PowerApps in Introduction to PowerApps. Now let us move one step forward and get started with using PowerApps.

How can we get PowerApps?

To get a PowerApps service, we have multiple options.

Along with Office365: You can sign up for Office 365, if you do so, you will have PowerApps with some capabilities based on your selected license.

Signup for PowerApps Account: To have full feature access, you can buy PowerApps license.

PowerApps Trail Account: If you just want to give a try to PowerApps, then you can even subscribe to Trail version of PowerApps for 30 days. Microsoft allow user to create a trail account for PowerApps that give full access for 30 days. Signup for Trail in PowerApps

Developer Subscription: If you need to learn PowerApps then in that case Microsoft provides developer license for office 365. Once you create that developer license to Office 365, you already get PowerApps license for free. It gives you 25 licenses to PowerApps.

Types of licensing available in PowerApps

There are currently 2 pricing model available with PowerApps.

1. Per App Plan
2. Per User Plan

Per App Plan

Per App license is useful when you need to have limited number of apps to run, or build let us say 2-3 apps. This plan will cost you approx. $10 per user/app/month. It means that if you need to build 1 app and you have 1 user then you will be charged $10 per month (Taxes may be added as per country’s tax rule). Similarly, if you need 2 apps then in that case it will cost you $20 per month (Taxes may be added as per country’s tax rule).

This plan is for the business that wants to license their multiple users to run/build a single app.

Per User Plan (as of Published date of article)

Per-user plan is suggested if you have a smaller number of users and you want to develop unlimited number of apps for those users. This plan will cost you approx. $40 per user per month (Taxes may be added as per country’s tax rule). It means that if you are purchasing a single user license then in that case you can build unlimited apps using that user account. This plan Is for the business that want to develop N number of apps using single user.

Please note that pricing gets changed every often so it would be good to refer to the official Microsoft site here for latest pricing.

How to decide between Per App Plan & Per User Plan

To identify which plan is suitable to you or your business let us consider two scenarios.

Scenario-1: You have a small business with 10 users, and you need to give access of PowerApps to each user to build their own apps.

Scenario-2: You have small business with 10 users, and you do not need to give access to PowerApps to all users.

Case-1: Choosing Per-App Plan

If you choose this plan in Scenario-1 or Scenario-2, then in that case you need to purchase 10 licenses for 10 apps for 10 users. 1 user can create one app each. In this case your cost would be:

$10 X 10 = $100/app/user/month

If you need to have N number of apps then in that case, you need to spend.

$10 X N per app per user per month.

Case-2: Choosing Per User Plan

If you choose this plan in Scenario-1, then in that case you need to purchase 10 licenses. In this case, each user can create unlimited number of apps. If we calculate the cost,

$40 X 10 = $400/user/month.

If you choose this plan in Scenario-2, then in that case you need to purchase the per user plan for only those users to which you want to give access. For example, if you need to build 100 apps with 2 users only, then in that case you need to purchase only 2 licenses, the cost would be.

$40 X 2 = $80/month.

So here, you can have to spend only $80 for an unlimited number of apps.

In this way, you can select appropriate licensing based on your business needs.

Comparison of Per-App Plan & Per User Plan

Now let us understand the basic difference between these two plans.

Per App Plan	Per User Plan
1 app per user	Unlimited app per user (within service limit)
Use pre-built and custom connectors	Same as Per App Plan
Use on-premises connectors and gateway	Same as Per App Plan
Create and access custom entities	Same as Per App Plan
50 MB database capacity in Dataverse	250 MB database capacity in Dataverse
400 MB file capacity	2GB file capacity
Power Automate use rights (including premium connectors)	Same as Per App Plan
Asynchronous and custom real-time workflows	Same as Per App Plan

Detailed information on licensing cost and features of PowerApps is given at PowerApps Pricing

Once you have signup and got your PowerApps license, then the next step is to start building your app.

To access the PowerApps portal you have multiple ways.

Via Office 365 Portal.

Login to https://www.portal.office.com, expand the top left tile, and you will see the menu for PowerApps.

Another way is, hit https://make.powerapps.com/ URL into the browser and you will see the following PowerApps portal window.

Click on Canvas app from blank and create your first app.

Enter the App Name and then select the App layout.

And click on Create to create the app. After creation, you will see the following app builder screen.

Now you can add your controls and start building the apps.

In this article, we have learned how we can get a PowerApps subscription, we also understood the PowerApps licensing model, and how to create your first blank app.