Comprehensive Microsoft Power Platform Licensing Guide

Mar 13, 2025

Licensing Overview for Microsoft Power Platform

Introduction

  • Provides detailed information about Microsoft Power Platform licensing.
  • Includes Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and Power Pages.
  • Useful for users creating and running apps, bots, flows, and custom websites.
  • Licenses include access to Dataverse.
  • New Power Platform admin center in public preview.

Key Licensing Areas

  1. Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and Power Pages Offers

    • Licensed users can create and run apps, bots, flows, and custom websites.
    • Licenses include access to Dataverse.
    • AI Builder offers AI features for use in these tools.

  2. Trial Plans

    • Available for Power Apps and Power Automate (30 days for Power Apps; 90 days for Power Automate).
    • Users can self-service sign up for trials.
    • Administrators assist in transitioning from trial to regular licenses or developer plans.

  3. Power Apps and Power Automate for Microsoft 365

    • Allows customization and extension of the Office experience.
    • Users can create applications and flows based on Microsoft 365 data and connect to external services.
    • Limited Dataverse capabilities are included.

  4. Dataverse Capabilities with Microsoft 365 Licenses

    • Limited functionality is included with some Microsoft 365 licenses.
    • Necessary for applications like Microsoft Project.
    • Restrictions on creating custom apps or using premium connectors.
    • Visibility provided in Microsoft 365 admin center.

  5. Power Apps and Power Automate for Dynamics 365

    • Allows customization and extension of Dynamics 365.
    • Power Apps used for customizing Dynamics applications.
    • Power Automate used for extending automations.

  6. Power Apps Developer Plan

    • Free plan for individual users to build apps and flows.
    • Environments for individual use only, not shareable.

  7. Pay-As-You-Go Plan

    • Pay for Power Apps and Power Automate using an Azure subscription.
    • No license commitment or upfront purchase required.

  8. Tenant-Level Special Licenses

    • Activating certain SKUs allows all users in a tenant to access Dataverse environments.
    • Users need assigned security roles to access data.

  9. What Users Are Licensed

    • Individual user licenses can be viewed in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
    • PowerShell command available to export assigned user licenses.

Dataverse and Microsoft 365 Applications

  • Dataverse plans included with select Microsoft 365 applications.
  • Not for creating custom apps or using premium connectors.
  • Visibility in Microsoft 365 admin center for data management.
  • Turning off Dataverse impacts Microsoft 365 features reliant on it.
  • Office-licensed users access Dataverse based on usage.

Known Issues

  • Errors for existing customers accessing Dataverse.
  • Sync issues with Microsoft Dataverse licensed users.

Additional Resources

This summary captures the key aspects of Microsoft Power Platform licensing, touching on different plans, capabilities, and associated services like Dataverse within Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 contexts.