Microsoft
Power Apps per app pricing, pay for what users touch.
The $5 per app plan beats the $20 per user plan for most of the workforce. The breakeven math, the Dataverse limits, and the levers that cut Power Platform spend.
The $5 per app plan beats the $20 per user plan for most of the workforce. The breakeven math, the Dataverse limits, and the levers that cut Power Platform spend.
Microsoft prices Power Apps two ways, and most enterprises buy the expensive one for users who open a single app once a week.
The Power Apps per app plan costs $5 per user per app per month and licenses one user to run one app or one website. Microsoft publishes the rate on its Power Apps pricing page, and it has held at $5 since the 2023 price reset.
Licenses are assigned, not consumed. A per app license sits with the user, and the same user needs a second license to run a second premium app.
Per app licensing beats the per user plan whenever a user regularly runs fewer than four premium apps. The math is mechanical: four per app licenses cost $20, the exact price of the unlimited plan.
Power Apps plan comparison, buyer view
| Plan | Price | Covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per app | $5 per user per app | One app or website | Users who touch 1 to 3 premium apps |
| Per user | $20 per user | Unlimited apps | Power users on 4 plus premium apps |
| Pay as you go | $10 per active user per app | One app, billed on use | Seasonal or unpredictable usage |
Pull app launch telemetry from the Power Platform admin center for the trailing 90 days. Count distinct premium apps per user, not assigned apps. Assignment lists overstate real usage in every estate we have reviewed.
Apps that use only standard connectors run under seeded Microsoft 365 rights and need no Power Apps license at all. Audit connectors before buying anything. In our reviews, 20 to 30 percent of premium licensed apps used no premium connector.
Each per app license accrues 50 MB of Dataverse database capacity and 400 MB of file capacity to the tenant pool. The per user plan accrues 250 MB database and 2 GB file per license, so plan mix changes your capacity position, not just your license bill.
Three levers cut Power Platform spend: a usage based plan mix, seeded rights harvesting, and timing the change to the EA renewal. Each works because Microsoft prices the platform for default behavior, which is licensing everyone on the $20 plan.
The standard partner advice is to standardize everyone on the $20 per user plan because it is simpler to administer. We disagree. In roughly 12 of the 15 to 20 Microsoft licensing engagements Fredrik Filipsson advised in 2024 to 2025 that included Power Platform, 60 to 70 percent of licensed users ran exactly one premium app, which makes the per user plan a 4x overpay for most of the population. The buyer side move is to license per app by default, measure launch telemetry quarterly, and upgrade only the users the data nominates. Simplicity is the most expensive feature Microsoft sells.
Three cuts of our advisory engagement file frame the opportunity.
Source: Redress Compliance advisory engagement file, 2024 to 2025.
Treat the ranges as negotiation benchmarks, not promises. Your telemetry sets the baseline; the engagement file shows what disciplined buyers achieved against the same default licensing behavior.
Power Apps overspend is rarely a price problem. It is a plan mix problem that nobody owns once the rollout team disbands.
The moves below turn this analysis into a lower Power Platform invoice at the next EA renewal.
Power Apps costs $5 per user per app per month on the per app plan and $20 per user per month for unlimited apps. Pay as you go runs $10 per active user per app through Azure billing.
One user running one app or one website with full premium connector access inside that app, plus 50 MB Dataverse database and 400 MB file capacity accrued to the tenant pool.
When a user regularly launches four or more premium apps. Four per app licenses cost the same $20, so the unlimited plan only pays off above that line.
Apps built on standard connectors run under seeded Microsoft 365 rights at no extra cost. A premium license is only needed when the app uses premium connectors, Dataverse, or runs standalone.
A metered option billed at $10 per active user per app per month through an Azure subscription. It suits seasonal or unpredictable usage because inactive months cost nothing.
Per app accrues 50 MB database and 400 MB file capacity; per user accrues 250 MB database and 2 GB file. Capacity pools at the tenant level across all licenses.
Yes, and most cost efficient estates do. License the wide population per app and reserve per user plans for measured power users. Microsoft supports the mix natively.
The licensing math, the seeded rights map, and the renewal moves that cut Power Platform spend.
Used across more than five hundred enterprise engagements. Independent. Buyer side. Built for procurement leaders running the next renewal cycle.
Simplicity is the most expensive feature Microsoft sells. The per user plan is simple. The per app plan is cheap.
500+ enterprise clients. 11 vendor practices. Industry recognized. One conversation can change what you pay for the next three years.
One buyer side briefing a week. Pricing moves, audit signals, and the levers that work. No vendor spin.
