Our verdict: decide by connector, not by brand
The deciding question is which apps the workflow touches. A small business that already pays for Microsoft 365 and automates between Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive and Excel can usually do that with the Power Automate rights it already has. The moment a flow needs a connector Microsoft classes as premium, the cost changes from zero to a per-user annual license, and Make's pay-by-usage model becomes worth comparing.
We would pick Power Automate for Microsoft-centric approval flows, SharePoint list automation, and anything needing desktop automation. We would test Make first for a workflow built mostly on non-Microsoft SaaS apps, or for a one-person business that does not want a per-user annual commitment.
What Microsoft 365 already includes
Microsoft calls these seeded licenses: Power Automate rights tied to other Microsoft products. Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is on the list, and those licenses entitle users to create and run cloud flows with standard connectors. [3] Microsoft's comparison table shows Microsoft 365 with a 6,000 daily action limit per user, standard connectors included, and premium connectors, custom connectors, RPA and on-premises gateways not included. [3]
Separately, the Power Automate Free license is available to work or school accounts, includes creating and running cloud flows without sharing, and is limited to standard connectors. [2] Microsoft notes you cannot share flows on the Free license. [3]
Standard connectors are a long list, not just Microsoft apps. Microsoft's standard-tier list includes Office 365 Outlook, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive for Business, Excel Online (Business) and Microsoft Forms, and also Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack and Trello. [5] Salesforce, Shopify, HubSpot, Stripe and Mailchimp do not appear on that standard list. [5] Check each connector you plan to use on Microsoft's list before you build.
When you need to pay Microsoft
Microsoft's pricing page lists Power Automate Premium at $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly, covering cloud flows, attended desktop flows and process mining. [1] Power Automate Process is $150.00 per bot per month and Hosted Process is $215.00 per bot per month, both paid yearly. [1] Premium includes standard, premium and custom connectors and a 40,000 daily action limit per user. [2]
A Process license can be assigned to a single cloud flow, which then gets premium and custom connectors regardless of who runs it, with 250,000 actions per day; the flow must be in a solution. [2] That is the route for a shared flow that many unlicensed colleagues trigger, but at $150 a month it only makes sense for a high-value process.
Request limits are currently looser than the official numbers: Microsoft says organizations are in a transition period where Office 365 flows get 10,000 requests per cloud flow per 24 hours and Premium gets 200,000, and that you should design for the official per-user limits that apply when the transition ends. [4]
| Power Automate license | Price | Connectors | Daily action limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 seeded rights | Included with Microsoft 365 [3] | Standard only [3] | 6,000 per user [3] |
| Power Automate Free | No cost for work or school accounts [2] | Standard only; no sharing [2][3] | 6,000 per user [3] |
| Power Automate Premium | $15.00 per user/month, paid yearly [1] | Standard, premium, custom [2] | 40,000 per user [2] |
| Power Automate Process | $150.00 per bot/month, paid yearly [1] | Standard, premium, custom when assigned to a flow [2] | 250,000 per license [2] |
How Make charges instead
Make's pricing page says credits are the billing unit; it does not list per-user seat pricing. The Free plan includes 1,000 credits per month, and Make says most actions consume 1 credit, with some AI features using more. [6] Its help page says 1 operation equals 1 credit by default for non-AI apps. [7] Paid plans are named Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise; prices were not visible on the pricing page when we checked, so confirm the current price for the credit tier you need before buying. [6]
Two Make details matter for a small team. Only plans at or above Teams can have multiple teams and manage roles within them; on lower plans the organization has one team without role management. [8] And unused extra credits expire, after one month on monthly plans or at year-end on annual Pro and Teams plans. [6]
Make's pricing page cites 3,000+ native apps. [6] The pricing page does not split apps into standard and premium connectors the way Microsoft does, though it mentions Enterprise Apps among higher-plan features and warns that scenarios using higher-plan features stop if you downgrade. [6] For most small-business apps, the cost question is how many credits each run uses.
Worked example: a five-person office
Flow A: a Microsoft Forms request creates a SharePoint list item and posts to a Teams channel. All three connectors are standard, so each staff member's Microsoft 365 rights cover it at no extra cost, within 6,000 daily actions per user. [3][5] Power Automate is the obvious choice.
Flow B: each Shopify order adds a row to an Excel sheet and emails the warehouse. Shopify is not on the standard list, so in Power Automate the flow owner needs Premium at $15 per month paid yearly, which is $180 a year, or the flow needs a Process license. [1][5] In Make, if each order run uses 3 operations, 300 orders a month is about 900 credits plus any polling checks, which is close to the 1,000-credit free allowance, so a low paid tier would be the realistic budget. [6][7] Run your own count: credits scale with order volume, the Microsoft license does not.
Flow C: the office manager copies data from an old desktop accounting program into a spreadsheet. That needs desktop automation, which Power Automate Premium includes as one attended bot. [2] Desktop automation is not listed on the Make pages we reviewed, so this one stays with Microsoft.
Side-by-side summary
| Question | Power Automate | Make |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Per-user or per-flow licenses, yearly [1] | Monthly credits; most actions use 1 credit [6] |
| Free starting point | Microsoft 365 seeded rights or Free license, standard connectors only [2][3] | Free plan, 1,000 credits per month [6] |
| Non-Microsoft SaaS apps | Many are premium and need Premium or Process [5] | Credit-metered; no standard/premium connector split on the pricing page [6] |
| Desktop automation | Attended bot with Premium; unattended with Process [2] | Not listed on the Make pages we reviewed |
| Sharing and roles | Free license cannot share flows [3] | Multiple teams and roles on Teams plan and above [8] |
| Best fit | Microsoft-centric offices | Mixed SaaS stacks and solo operators |
Checklist before you choose
- List every app the flow touches and look each one up on Microsoft's standard-tier connector list. [5]
- If any connector is premium, price Premium for every flow owner at $15 per user per month on an annual term. [1]
- Count Make operations per run and multiply by expected monthly runs; add polling checks if the trigger is scheduled.
- Check whether anyone needs to automate a desktop program; Power Automate Premium includes an attended bot for that. [2]
- Check who must share and edit the automation: Power Automate Free cannot share flows, and Make roles need the Teams plan or above. [3][8]
Questions before you decide
Does my Microsoft 365 Business subscription include Power Automate?
It includes limited rights. Microsoft lists Microsoft 365 among the seeded licenses that let users create and run cloud flows with standard connectors; premium and custom connectors are not included, and the daily action limit is 6,000 per user.
Is Gmail or Google Sheets a premium connector in Power Automate?
No. Both appear on Microsoft's standard-tier connector list as of our check, alongside Slack and Trello.
Can I pay for Power Automate Premium monthly?
Microsoft's pricing page lists Premium at $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly. Plan for an annual commitment.
Which one handles desktop automation?
Power Automate. Premium includes one attended desktop (RPA) bot per user, and Process licenses add unattended bots. Desktop automation is not listed on the Make pricing and help pages we reviewed.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Microsoft: Power Automate pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Microsoft Learn: Types of Power Automate licenses Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Microsoft Learn: Deep dive on specific licenses Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Microsoft Learn: Requests limits and allocations Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Microsoft Learn: List of all Standard tier connectors Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make Help: Credits Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Make Help: Teams Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.