Which of the 3 Power Automate Licensing Plans Is Right for You?

Navigating the Microsoft ecosystem can sometimes feel like learning a new language. Just when you think you’ve mastered the vocabulary, the dictionary gets rewritten. Nowhere is this more accurate than in the world of Power Automate Licensing. With the recent shifts from "Per User with Attended RPA" and "Per Flow" plans to the streamlined (yet still complex) Premium and Process models, IT managers and business leaders are often left scratching their heads.

Understanding Microsoft power automate licensing is not just a box-ticking exercise; it is a critical financial decision. Choose the wrong plan, and you might find yourself throttled by API limits or paying for capacity you don't need. Conversely, under-licensing can lead to compliance headaches and sudden interruptions in your critical business workflows.

This guide will demystify the current pricing structure, focusing on the three primary paid tiers that form the backbone of enterprise automation: Power Automate Premium, Power Automate Process, and Power Automate Hosted Process.

The Foundation: Why Licensing Models Changed

Before diving into the specific plans, it is important to understand why Microsoft adjusted their model. Historically, you had to choose between licensing a human or licensing a specific workflow. While that distinction still exists, the lines have blurred to accommodate modern needs like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI integration.

The new model focuses on scalability. Whether you are a solo developer trying to automate your inbox or a multinational corporation deploying thousands of unattended bots, there is a specific tier for you. The goal is to move away from rigid constraints and toward a system where you pay for the value (execution and capacity) rather than just the seat.

For a comprehensive breakdown of these changes and a detailed comparison table, you can visit this resource on Power Automate Licensing explained.

Plan 1: Power Automate Premium

The "Personal Productivity" Powerhouse

Cost: ~$15 per user/month

The Power Automate Premium license is the direct successor to the old "Per User with Attended RPA" plan. It is designed for the individual "maker" or the employee who needs to run automations on their own workstation.

What You Get

• Unlimited Cloud Flows: Create as many DPA (Digital Process Automation) flows as you need. These are your standard API connectors—think "Save Outlook attachment to SharePoint."
• Attended RPA: This is the big value add. You can build desktop flows (using Power Automate Desktop) that run locally on your machine. The catch? You have to be logged in. It automates tasks with you, like filling out a legacy web form while you watch.
• Process Mining: Includes basic capabilities to analyze your workflows and find inefficiencies.
• AI Builder Credits: You get a monthly allotment (usually 5,000 credits) to dip your toes into AI features like document processing or receipt reading.

Who Is It For?

This plan is ideal for Citizen Developers. If you have a finance manager who wants to automate their own weekly reporting, or an HR specialist who wants to streamline onboarding emails from their own account, this is the right choice. It is tied to a unique identity (e.g., [email protected]).

Pros:

• Cost-effective entry point for power automate pricing.
• Empowers individuals to solve their own bottlenecks.
• Includes both Cloud and Desktop flows.

Cons:

• Not for sharing: If John Doe leaves the company, his flows stop working unless transferred.
• Attended only: You cannot schedule a bot to run at 3 AM on a dark server; a human session is required.

Plan 2: Power Automate Process

The "Enterprise Engine" Choice

Cost: ~$150 per bot/month

This is where things get interesting (and where the power automate licensing cost can jump if you aren't careful). The Power Automate Process license is a "capacity" license. It isn't tied to a human; it's tied to the work being done.

This license is versatile. It can be assigned in two distinct ways:

1. Assigned to a Machine (Unattended RPA):
   This turns a computer into a "bot." It can run automation 24/7 without anyone logging in. This is perfect for high-volume, repetitive tasks like processing 5,000 invoices overnight.
2. Assigned to a Cloud Flow (The "Per Flow" successor):
   If you have a complex flow that is used by the entire organization—for example, a "Request Time Off" approval flow triggered by 500 employees—you don't want to buy 500 Premium licenses. Instead, you buy one Process license for that specific flow. It allows unlimited users to trigger that flow without needing their own license.

Who Is It For?

This is for IT Departments and Centers of Excellence. If you are building "core" business infrastructure that must be resilient, independent of any single employee's employment status, and capable of running autonomously, this is the plan.

Pros:

• Unattended capability: Runs while you sleep.
• Unlimited users: When assigned to a Cloud Flow, it decouples the cost from the user count.
• High throughput: Designed for heavy lifting.

Cons:

• Higher upfront cost per unit.
• Requires infrastructure management (you still need to provide the server/machine for the bot to run on).

Plan 3: Power Automate Hosted Process

The "Zero Infrastructure" Solution

Cost: ~$215 per bot/month

The newest entrant to the power automate premium licensing family is the Hosted Process plan. It is essentially the Process license mentioned above, but with a massive convenience factor: Microsoft provides the machine.

What You Get

• Everything in the Process Plan: Unattended RPA, high capacity.
• Hosted Machine Group: Microsoft spins up a Virtual Machine (VM) in Azure automatically. You don't need to talk to your infrastructure team to provision a server, patch Windows, or manage RDP access. Microsoft handles the hardware.

Who Is It For?

This is for organizations that want Speed to Value. If you need to spin up 10 bots tomorrow to handle a seasonal spike in orders, but your IT team says it will take 3 weeks to provision new servers, the Hosted Process license is your savior. It is also perfect for companies moving to a fully SaaS model who don't want to manage VMs.

Pros:

• Zero setup: Deploy a bot in minutes, not days.
• Auto-scaling: Microsoft manages the load.
• No maintenance: No OS patching or hardware worries.

Cons:

• The most expensive option.
• Less control over the specific machine configuration compared to your own servers.

Summary Comparison

Which Plan Is Right for You?

Choosing the right Power Automate Licensing strategy usually involves a mix of these plans, rather than picking just one.

1. Start with Premium: Equip your key developers and department heads with Premium licenses so they can build prototypes and automate their daily grind.
2. Scale with Process: Once a prototype becomes "mission critical" (e.g., the whole finance team relies on it), move that flow to a Process license. This ensures it doesn't break if the creator leaves.
3. Use Hosted for Agility: If you have a sudden project or lack on-premise servers, use Hosted Process to bridge the gap without burdening your IT infrastructure team.

A Note on Hidden Costs

When calculating your power automate licensing cost, don't forget the "extras."

• Dataverse Capacity: All these plans consume database storage. Heavy usage may require buying extra gigabytes.
• AI Builder: The included credits in Premium are a "starter pack." Real-world AI models (like processing thousands of PDFs) burn credits fast, requiring an additional capacity add-on.

By mapping your workflows to these three tiers, you can optimize your spend and ensure your digital workforce is as efficient as your human one. Whether you are empowering a single user or automating an entire supply chain, Microsoft has a plan—you just have to pick the right one.