Power Pages vs. Power Apps: What's the difference?

What is Power Pages?

Microsoft's Power Pages lets businesses create, host and manage customer-facing websites for their audiences, stakeholders and vendors. Rather than using third-party services, this low-code platform connects to the Microsoft Dataverse and all its data sources.

Users can also create portals, such as discussion boards and forums. For teams and businesses that want a space to further connect with customers and partners, this feature can help build a community within the organization.

Key features include the following:

• Easy-to-use interface. Its simplified drag-and-drop tools help people of all skill levels create websites and portals.
• Security features. Role-based permissions help delegate access to members across teams for specific pages, tables and control functions. Additionally, Power Pages has built-in authentication for providers, such as LinkedIn and Azure Active Directory B2C.
• Custom analytics. Users can directly embed reports into websites to pull data from the Microsoft Dataverse to gain insights into performance metrics and analytics.

That being said, Power Pages has some drawbacks, including the following:

• Cost. After the 30-day free trial period, the pricing model -- $200 for 100 authenticated users per site monthly -- may be too expensive for smaller businesses to justify.
• Steep learning curve. Although Power Pages has low-code capabilities, novice developers and users unfamiliar with Microsoft tools may struggle to adapt to and learn the systems quickly.
• Microsoft's limitations. For organizations that don't already use Microsoft products, integrating tools and data may be difficult and require additional development to ensure all systems are compatible.

What is Power Apps?

Power Apps helps teams create internal apps to streamline workflows and increase productivity. Much like Power Pages, the suite of apps offers a low-code service for development connected to the Microsoft Dataverse for easy integration within the platform.

Users can design any app, from inventory management tools to job application apps and employee feedback platforms. They can choose from two types of apps: canvas apps, which can be built from scratch and are fully customizable, or model-driven apps, which are based on the organization's data sources within the Dataverse.

Benefits of Power Apps include the following:

• Cost-effectiveness. Building apps in-house rather than outsourcing to third-party organizations can significantly reduce costs.
• Increased development. The use of built-in templates and drag-and-drop functions boosts productivity and lets businesses create, test and release apps faster and more efficiently.
• Scalability. As a business continues to grow, so do its data sources. Having the ability to scale apps in relation to growth makes it easier to remain at peak performance.

However, challenges include the following:

• Troubleshooting issues. Depending on the complexity of the app, some technical issues are too time-consuming to resolve.
• Slow loading times. Apps that run on large data sets may experience slow loading times or general performance issues. These problems can also lead to holdups in real-time data processing.
• Limited customization. Advanced users who prefer more control over app development may find the low-code templates too restrictive.

4 differences between Power Pages and Power Apps

As tools included in the Dynamic 365 platform, Power Pages and Power Apps are best used in tandem. They complement each other, as they offer tools for both internal users and external audiences, yet they serve different purposes.

1. Features and customization

Power Pages focuses on customer-facing webpages and portals and uses customizable templates and themes to enhance the visual presentation and experience. Power Apps prioritizes functionality, with limited customization when it comes to the aesthetics of the app and tools.

2. Level of complexity

Despite being a low-code platform, the learning curve for Power Pages can be steep. Having a foundational knowledge of website and data management can help users handle the platform more easily. Alternatively, Power Apps has a drag-and-drop, template-based approach to design, which is more user-friendly for beginners.

3. Free plans

Power Pages only offers a 30-day free trial, after which the business must select one of the paid plans to continue using the suite of tools. On the other hand, Power Apps offers an entirely free plan with up to 750 free automation flows and unlimited app designs per month.

4. Cost and licensing

The Power Pages pricing plan is based on how many users have access to each website per month, with the option to choose between $200 for 100 authenticated users or $75 for 500 anonymous users. With Power Apps, organizations can either select the $20 per month subscription for individual users or commit to $12 per month with a minimum requirement of 2,000 licensed and authenticated users.

If a business already uses Microsoft in some way or wants a streamlined pathway to connect data for external and internal use, Power Pages and Power Apps can help.

Zaida Marston is a freelance content writer with more than 10 years of creative writing experience.