Appian vs Microsoft Power Automate (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Microsoft Power Automate grades higher than Appian: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Microsoft Power Automate grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft Power Automate
Cloud workflows and desktop RPA in the Microsoft Power Platform
Which one is for you
Pick Appian if
- Fits if you build process apps for a large company with a budget
- Works for a team that wants to learn on the free Community Edition first
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to know the price up front, as none is published
- Not for you if you need production use on the free plan, as Community is for learning
- Watch out: Standard caps data at one source and 4M rows per record type, and RPA at 5 bots
- Watch out: AI features carry AI Action limits
Pick Microsoft Power Automate if
- Fits if your company already pays for Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365
- Works for teams where an old Windows program has no API and someone retypes its data every day
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want bots running unattended, at $150 a bot a month, or $215 hosted
- Skip it if your desktop work isn't on Windows, because that's all the desktop app runs on, and not on ARM
- Tight if you're staying free, with standard connectors only and no sharing of flows
- Watch out: the phone app reached end of support on August 31, 2026, so mobile means the browser or Teams
- Watch out: the pricing page says the trial is 30 days, while Microsoft's licensing docs describe 90
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAppianFair | 2.8GPAMicrosoft Power AutomateGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo amounts are published: plans are priced per user, per month, per app. With no figure to set against the category, it sits in the middle. | BPremium is $15 a user a month paid yearly, at the low end of this category, and it covers premium and custom connectors, attended desktop flows and process mining data. The expensive part is unattended work: a Process license is $150 a bot a month, and hosted bots are $215. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe Community Edition is a free developer site with no time limit, but it is for building and learning, not for production. | BThe free license covers cloud flows with standard connectors, and desktop flows authored and run locally in attended mode. You can't share a flow or use premium connectors, but one person could get real work done. A Microsoft 365 license covers the same ground. |
| Features | CLow-code apps, process orchestration, RPA bots, AI agents, document processing and data fabric. But Standard limits data to one source and 4M rows per record type, and RPA to 5 bots. | BIt covers the whole job, both halves of it: more than 1,400 certified connectors for cloud flows, plus desktop RPA that clicks through Windows software with no API, with process and task mining and Copilot to draft a flow. UiPath sits in this category doing the same two halves, so the ground isn't Microsoft's alone. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Building apps and processes means a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record, and the licensing alone takes reading: which connectors are premium, which plan a bot needs, how Dataverse capacity is counted. Copilot drafts flows from a description, and the standalone phone app lost support in August 2026, so mobile means the browser. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb platform, with mobile and portals listed. No integrations list or desktop app on record. | BWeb plus a Windows desktop app, with 1,400+ connectors, custom connectors and an on-premises gateway, and flows that run inside Teams, Excel and SharePoint. The desktop app is Windows only, ARM machines aren't supported, and the phone app is gone. |
| Best for | enterprise low-code process apps | automation for companies already on Microsoft 365 |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Appian and Microsoft Power Automate. How we grade
Where they differ
- Appian also covers AI agents, app builder, no-code and case management.
- Microsoft Power Automate also covers templates.
At a glance
| Appian | Microsoft Power Automate | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $15 per user / month, paid yearly |
| Free plan | Community Edition: a free developer site with no time limit, for building low-code apps and learning. | Power Automate Free license: create and run cloud flows with standard connectors only, without sharing them, plus desktop flows authored and run locally in attended mode. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial per the pricing page; Microsoft's licensing docs describe a 90-day self-service trial license |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Appian | Microsoft |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | microsoft.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Appian
- No amounts are published; the pricing page says only that plans are priced per user, per month, per app.
- Standard caps data at one source and 4M rows per record type, and limits RPA to 5 bots.
- AI features carry AI Action limits, and several capabilities are marked with footnotes on the pricing page.
- The Community Edition is described as a developer and learning site, not a production plan.
Microsoft Power Automate
- The free license and Microsoft 365 licenses cover standard connectors only; premium and custom connectors need Premium at $15 per user / month.
- Unattended desktop flows need a Process license at $150 per bot / month, and the machine must be registered by a Premium user.
- The desktop app runs only on Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server, and devices with ARM processors are not supported.
- The standalone iOS and Android app reached end of support on August 31, 2026; Microsoft points mobile users to the browser portal and Teams.
Key features
Appian
- Low-code app development
- Applications are built visually, and the pricing page lists Composer and an AI copilot for developers among the AI-assisted build tools.
- Process orchestration and cases
- Process automation sits alongside Case Management Studio and Process HQ, a process intelligence view of how work flows.
- RPA bots
- Robotic process automation is bundled: the Standard tier lists 5 bots and the Advanced tier lists 25 bots.
- AI agents and document processing
- Agent Studio builds AI agents and DocCenter handles document processing, both subject to AI Action limits shown on the pricing page.
- Data fabric
- Data Fabric connects data sources. Standard allows a single source with 4M rows per record type; Advanced allows multiple sources and 20M rows.
- Mobile and portals
- Mobile apps with offline mode are listed on both tiers, with one portal per app on Standard and unlimited portals on Advanced.
Microsoft Power Automate
- Cloud flows
- Automated, scheduled and instant flows connect cloud apps, and on-premises services through a data gateway. Microsoft cites more than 1,400 prebuilt, certified connectors, and custom connectors can be built.
- Desktop flows (RPA)
- Power Automate for desktop builds or records flows that operate Windows and web applications through their interfaces. Attended runs happen with a person present; unattended runs need a Process license.
- Copilot authoring
- Copilot in Power Automate creates, edits and extends flows from a natural-language description, in both the cloud designer and the desktop app.
- Process and task mining
- Analyzes how a process actually runs to find steps worth automating. Premium includes 50 MB of mining data per user, and a tenant-wide add-on provides 100 GB.
- Microsoft 365 integration
- Flows can be built and run from inside Teams, Excel, SharePoint and OneDrive. Microsoft 365 licenses include the right to create and run cloud flows with standard connectors.
- Governance and hosted machines
- Managed Environments and data loss prevention policies give admins control over flows. Hosted Process runs unattended bots on virtual machines that Microsoft manages.
Plans
Appian
Pricing could not be confirmed. See appian.com.
Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate Free$0
Free license described in Microsoft's licensing docs: cloud flows with standard connectors only, no sharing, and desktop flows run locally in attended mode.
Power Automate Premium$15
per user / month, paid yearly
Cloud flows with standard, premium and custom connectors, attended desktop flows, process and task mining with 50 MB of data, and 250 MB of Dataverse database capacity.
Power Automate Process$150
per bot / month, paid yearly
One bot for unattended desktop flows, or a license for a cloud flow that any number of users can run, with up to 250,000 actions a day.
Power Automate Hosted Process$215
per bot / month, paid yearly
Unattended desktop flows on a virtual machine that Microsoft manages and hosts on Azure, so there is no machine of your own to maintain.
Process Mining add-on$5,000
per tenant / month, paid yearly
Add-on for the Premium plan only: 100 GB of process mining data, with 2 GB of Dataverse database and 1 TB of file capacity.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Appian or Microsoft Power Automate?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Appian has no price we could confirm, and Microsoft Power Automate starts at $15 per user / month, paid yearly.
Which has a free plan, Appian or Microsoft Power Automate?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Appian and Microsoft Power Automate have a free plan.
Which platforms do Appian and Microsoft Power Automate run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Microsoft Power Automate lists a Windows app. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.