Microsoft Dynamics 365 And Power Apps Licensing Plan: Fuel Your Business With Right App

Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Apps are the top business solutions available for all businesses, irrespective of their type or size. Businesses use these solutions to streamline their existing processes and operations while increasing productivity and efficiency.

Microsoft not only offers you these tools but also various other tools that directly influence the growth of the business, eliminating redundancies from the entire system. There are a lot of similarities as well as differences when we compare Dynamics 365 and Power Apps. Before understanding the comparison, let’s understand these tools a bit.

What is Microsoft Power Apps?

Microsoft Power Apps is one of the five apps available under Microsoft Power Platform. It is a collection of five Power Apps that integrate with other Microsoft business solutions to enhance their overall capabilities. The five applications are:

• Power Apps
• Power Automate
• Power BI
• Power Pages
• Power Virtual Agents

These apps connect with the main system using a common data platform known as Microsoft Dataverse to offer a centralised platform for data sharing and management. The Power Platform apps easily integrate with almost all applications of Dynamics 365, like Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 for Commerce, and other apps as well. 

Power Platform apps

Power App is a business application that lets the user create a personalised app without any code. It is a low-code application that allows businesses to develop a specific app without any programming skill to resolve a particular issue or simplify a task.

Built on Azure cloud services, you can use Azure licencing to access this powerful platform from anywhere and at any time. The best part about these custom-made apps is their responsiveness across all devices. With a stable internet connection, these apps can be used on any device or screen size.

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of different business applications capable of managing all the operations of a business. It consists of ERP (enterprise resource planning), CRM (customer relationship management), and other powerful solutions to empower businesses with the latest technologies.

Most of the apps are built using various technologies, including AI (artificial intelligence), BI (business intelligence), ML (machine learning), and big data. The server deployment is not only based on the cloud, but you can also deploy the servers of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 application using on-premises or hybrid options.

These flexible deployment options let businesses choose the best option based on their requirements and changing needs. Also, based on the uniqueness of the business, you can customise any solution to suit the core requirements. Even so, you can easily integrate native as well as third-party applications to enhance the overall performance.

How Power Apps is different from Dynamics 365?

Let me start with the basic difference in terms of price. Power Apps licencing is much cheaper than the cost of Dynamics 365 licensing. And in terms of capabilities, it depends solely on the basic requirements. Let’s understand it using the below example:

Situation: There is a process in a company where an employee has to manually enter the account details, process the calculation, and create an invoice accordingly including VAT and other charges.

Solution 1: You would purchase the Dynamics 365 for Finance licence and automate this process. The licencing and implementation of Dynamics 365 Finance is high and requires a lot of investment. Also, this solution is capable of doing much more than creating invoices.

Solution 2: You would purchase the Power Apps licencing plan and develop a personalised app without using any code that could calculate the data and create the invoice in seconds. You can choose between the Power Apps Per App Plan and the Power Apps Per User Plan, depending on your needs.

If I were the decision maker, I would go with solution 2, as it is cost-effective, simple, easy to implement, and completes the only job I require. However, to manage different complex financial applications altogether, I would go for Dynamics 365. But the requirement was to resolve a single task.

Being built on the same platform, this is the basic difference between these two powerful apps.

Using Power Apps, you can build a customised business application using pre-made templates and simplify the existing operations in a cost-effective manner.

Power Apps Licensing and Plan

The Power Apps’ licencing and pricing are available in two different models: subscription plans and pay-as-you-go plans.

Subscription Plan: This is best for those businesses that want to use the Power Apps on a per-user and per-app basis. It offers the flexibility to run an app at a time or run unlimited apps.

Pay-as-you-go Plan: Ideal for businesses that want to pay only when a user uses an app in a given month.  

This plan also includes Microsoft Dataverse capacity and crucial components such as connectors for operations to work on the Microsoft Platform.

When we compare Dynamics 365 pricing to Power Apps pricing, we see that the Dynamics 365 applications have different pricing. 

Which suits you better? 

It’s up to you and your specific requirements. I would suggest you consider Power apps to simplify and automate a process before considering Dynamics 365. If you have various requirements based on your current and future business needs, you can even opt for a fully-fledged ERP system, like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Also, you should consider Dynamics 365 apps in the case of complex issues. 

How Dynamics Square can help you?

There are chances that you are unable to understand your business requirements, and if you are in a dilemma about choosing one of these applications, consider contacting a reliable Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner, like Dynamics Square. Being a Microsoft certified gold partner, we have been helping businesses and owners like you resolve all your queries while pushing your business towards unstoppable growth. 

You can directly call us at 0207-193-2502 or write a mail to info@dynamicssquare.co.uk.