Decoding Power Apps Licensing– An Overview

Navigating software licencing is a difficult undertaking, but we’ll break it down into a few important points to help you understand it better. Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, and Power Virtual Agents are all part of the Microsoft Power Platform. This article will concentrate on the licencing of Power Apps and Power Apps Portals. If you already have Dynamics 365 or Microsoft 365 licences, we can assist you with licencing.

Power Apps Licensing and Pricing

What kinds of Power Apps licenses are there?

There are three types of Power Apps licenses, they are:

1. Power Apps Nested License

When you buy Microsoft 365 (Office 365) and Dynamics 365, you get a Power Apps nested licence. If your scenario simply involves SharePoint, OneDrive, or Dynamics 365, you can use these capabilities at no additional cost.

2. Power Apps per App License

Power Apps per app licence ($5USD/$6.40CAD as of October 1, 2021) is designed to help businesses solve for one business case at a time, which may entail a combination of apps. Each “per app” licence grants access to one app (canvas and/or model-driven) or one Power Apps Portal to a single user. If a person needs access to various solutions, they can have multiple “per app” licences. Two licences are required if customers want access to one app and one portal.

3. Power Apps per User License

The Power Apps per user licence ($20USD/$25.60CAD as of October 1, 2021) allows a single user to use an unlimited number of Power Apps with Premium connections like Microsoft Dataverse, formerly known as the Common Data Service. When a user required four Power App licences for four different business situations, the break-even point was usually reached.

* At the tenant level, Dataverse database and file capacity entitlements are pooled.

**Trigger flows within the app’s context.

The information in the table above came from Microsoft’s Power Apps Pricing website.

Power Apps licencing changed on October 1, 2021, and it is still in effect. This blog has been updated to reflect the price changes. Please notice that the entitlement to run two apps and access one portal for the Power Apps per app plan has been simplified to access one app or one portal. Customers who purchased the per app plan before October 1, 2021, will have their current entitlement until the agreement term ends. Please see Microsoft’s announcement for more details on the Power Apps pricing and licence changes.

Where can I learn how to work with Power Apps?

The Dataverse is included in the Power Apps Community Plan, which is a free environment for individual usage. You can learn everything about Power Automate and Power Apps for free in this environment, but the Power Apps Community Plan is not meant for production use. More information is available in the Power Apps Community Plan.

What Power Apps rights come with Dynamics 365?

Before we get started, it’s important to understand that Dynamics 365 Pro and Enterprise licences cannot be mixed and matched at the instance level. This is only possible at the tenant level. If you have a Dynamics 365 instance, this means that all users must have the same Pro or Enterprise licencing level. If the tenant has another instance of Dynamics 365, those users can have a different licence in the second instance. All users in instance 1 must have a Pro licence, while all users in instance 2 must have an Enterprise licence. Please consult Encore for a user storey and security review if users require multi-instance access, as each circumstance is unique and complex.

Power Apps Use Rights with Dynamics 365 Applications

Running bespoke apps, linking your data, storing and managing data, executing flows, injecting AI, and Power Apps Portal use rights are some of the Power Apps use rights capabilities for Dynamics 365 applications.

Dynamics 365 Applications and Dynamics 365 Enterprise Applications, which encompass both CRM and ERP solutions, are mentioned in the table above. The precise Dynamics 365 licence types in each category cited in the above table are listed below.

Dynamics 365 Applications

  • Dynamics 365 Sales Professional
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Service Professional
  • Dynamics 365 Team Members
  • Dynamics 365 Operations – Activity
  • Dynamics 365 Human Resources Self Service
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members

Dynamics 365 Enterprise Applications

  • Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise
  • Dynamics 365 Field Service
  • Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation
  • Dynamics 365 Finance
  • Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
  • Dynamics 365 Commerce
  • Dynamics 365 Human Resources
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central

Power Apps Portals Licensing and Pricing

What are Power Apps Portals?

You’ll need a Power Apps Portal if you need a Power App experience for external users. Over the Dataverse, Power Apps Portals enable you to create standalone, external-facing portals. To learn more about Power Apps Portals, go to Microsoft’s Power Apps Portals page.

How are Power Apps Portals licensed?

Each end user that uses a Power Apps Portals instance must have the appropriate licence. The sorts of end users are listed in the table below.

Per Login Licensing

A per login licence would be used by external (authenticated) users.

  • A user is given a “24-hour pass” to the portal each time they check in. It’s one billable login if they log in many times in one day. Another billable login occurs when the user signs in on a different day, and so forth.
  • The maximum number of logins is “per month” and “across all portals.” So, if a user logs into one portal and then another, he or she will have used up two billable logins for the month. If they log in again the next day, it will be a chargeable login, and so on.
  • Each unit delivers 100 monthly logins. The minimum purchase requirements determine which volume tiers and SKUs are available. Once the minimum purchase criterion has been satisfied for each tier, more units can be purchased in 1 unit increments.
  • A user who needs 5,500 logins per month, for example, can buy 55 units of the “Power Apps Portals login capacity add-on tier-3.”

Power Apps Portals Login Capacity Tiers

For Power Apps Portals login capacity, there are five add-on tiers. Microsoft announced Tier 4 and Tier 5 in June 2021.

Tier 4 and Tier 5 are currently available for a limited time only, from June 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Pricing for Microsoft Power Apps can be found here.

Power Apps Portals Login Capacity Tier Pricing Per Unit Per Month

*After achieving 5 x Tier 1 login capacity, the customer should upgrade to Tier 2 based on the Tier 2 discount.

Per Page View Licensing

A page view capacity licence would be used by external (anonymous) users.

*Customers should purchase enough page views capacity for all Portals instances that provide anonymous access.

Power Apps Portals Page View Capacity Add-on

Each unit generates 100,000 monthly page views. A user who needs 570,000 page views per month, for example, should buy 6 units of the “Power Apps Portals page view capacity add-on.”

Is Power Apps Portals page view capacity enforced?

Yes, with Power Apps Portals page view capacity add-on SKUs, purchased capacity is enforced monthly. Page views that aren’t used in one month aren’t carried over to the next. Customers should buy enough capacity to cover their peak monthly usage expectations.

How are overages handled?

While modest overages will be accepted on occasion, customers who exceed their purchased capacity should alter their purchase quantity in accordance with Microsoft’s standard conditions to stay in compliance.

How do I license internal users?

The use rights for Power Apps Portals are essentially custom portals aligned with use rights to custom Power Apps for internal users, i.e. people licenced with Power Apps or Dynamics 365 licences.

Custom Power Apps Portals Use Rights

Please keep in mind that all prices are subject to change at any time. For the most up-to-date product pricing, always contact Encore.

As you can see, while architecting your Power Apps and Power Apps Portal installations, there are a lot of things to consider. To get help with your Power Platform strategic ambitions, contact us or reach out to your Addend Account Executive.

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