Pricing & CostsPower Apps vs custom development: a cost comparison over three years

For most internal business apps used by tens or low hundreds of staff, Power Apps is usually cheaper over three years than a custom-built web application, because the build is faster and hosting, security and identity come with Microsoft 365. Custom development tends to win when you have many external or occasional users, very high transaction volumes, or a product you intend to sell. The honest answer depends on four numbers: users, build effort, licence model and who maintains it.

At the time of writing (October 2026). Microsoft licence prices change. The model below uses list prices and stated assumptions purely as an illustration. It is not market data or a quote. Check current Microsoft pricing and get real quotes for your own comparison.

What you are actually comparing

A fair comparison looks at total cost of ownership over a realistic life, not just the build invoice. Three years is a sensible horizon for an internal app. For each option, add up:

The licence line is the one people focus on, but hosting, security and maintenance are where custom builds quietly cost more.

A worked three-year model

This is an illustrative model using round numbers. Change the assumptions to fit your own situation.

Scenario: an internal app for 40 staff in a UK organisation, replacing a set of spreadsheets used to track jobs, approvals and reporting. It needs role-based security, so the Power Apps version uses Dataverse and premium licences.

Assumptions:

• Power Apps build at a fixed price of £6,500 to £15,000, in line with typical scoped builds of this size (our own Spreadsheet to App package starts from £6,500).
• Custom build at 30 to 60 developer days. We use an illustrative £550 to £800 per day; real UK rates vary widely by supplier and region.
• Power Apps Premium at around USD 20 per user per month list price, converted at an illustrative rate. Use your reseller's GBP price in practice.
• Custom hosting, database, monitoring and backups at an illustrative £150 to £400 per month.
• Ongoing changes of roughly two days a month for custom, and roughly one day a month for Power Apps, reflecting smaller change effort on low-code.

On these assumptions, the build and hosting savings for Power Apps are partly offset by licences. If the app uses only standard connectors, the licence line disappears and Power Apps is clearly cheaper. If users already hold Power Apps Premium for other apps, the marginal licence cost is nil.

The model flips towards custom development when user numbers grow large or include many external users, because per-user licences scale linearly while custom hosting does not.

Where Power Apps usually wins

• Internal users already on Microsoft 365. Sign-in, security groups and mobile access work on day one.
• Data that lives in SharePoint, Excel, Outlook or Teams. Integration is through standard connectors rather than custom code.
• Processes that change. Low-code changes are typically hours rather than days.
• Approvals and workflow. Power Automate is included, so approvals do not need a separate system. See approvals without email.
• Getting a first version in front of users quickly. We aim for a working first version in about two weeks, demonstrated weekly in your own tenant.

Where custom development usually wins

• Large external audiences. Thousands of customers or members change the licence maths, although Power Pages may still be worth comparing.
• Very high transaction volumes or complex real-time processing.
• A product you will sell. You want full control of the code, hosting and roadmap.
• Highly bespoke user interfaces that low-code cannot produce well.
• Strict requirements to run outside Microsoft cloud services.

We say this plainly on scoping calls: if Power Platform is the wrong tool, it is better to know before spending money. Our page on Power Platform vs custom development covers the decision in more depth.

The costs people forget on each side

Power Apps

• Premium creep. One premium connector turns a free app into a licensed one. Check at design time.
• Dataverse capacity. Large attachments can push you over the included storage.
• Governance. Without environment strategy and DLP policies, sprawl creates support cost later. Our governance service addresses this.
• Leaver risk. Apps and flows owned by one person cause problems when that person leaves.

Custom development

• Security patching. Frameworks and libraries need regular updates for the life of the app.
• Identity. Single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and role management are real work if they are not already in place.
• Key-person dependency. If one developer built it, their departure is expensive.
• Hosting sprawl. Separate test and production environments, backups and monitoring all add monthly cost.

How to run the comparison for your own app

• Write down the users by type: internal, external, regular, occasional.
• List the data sources and mark each Power Platform connector as standard or premium.
• Get a fixed-price quote for the Power Apps build and a quote or estimate for the custom build of the same scope.
• Price licences using your current GBP rates, or the licensing calculator.
• Add hosting and maintenance for the custom option.
• Add an allowance for change requests on both sides.
• Compare over three years, then sense-check the result at double the user count.

Checklist: signs Power Apps is the better fit

• Users are mostly staff with Microsoft 365 accounts.
• The app replaces spreadsheets, paper forms or email-based requests.
• Data lives mainly in Microsoft 365 or can sit in Dataverse.
• The process is likely to change in the next year.
• You need something working within weeks, not months.
• You want to own the solution without depending on one developer's code.

If you are replacing spreadsheets, our replace Excel trackers and paper forms to app use cases show what a typical build includes.

Frequently asked questions

Is Power Apps always cheaper than custom development?

No. It is usually cheaper for internal apps with tens to low hundreds of users. With many external users, very high volumes or a product to sell, custom development can be cheaper over time.

Do Power Apps licences make it more expensive in the long run?

They can, if the app uses premium connectors and has many users. If it uses standard connectors, or users already have Power Apps Premium, licences add little or nothing.

Can a Power Apps solution be moved to custom code later?

Yes, but it is a rebuild rather than a migration. The data, especially if it is in Dataverse or SharePoint, carries across, and the working app acts as a precise specification.

Who owns a Power Apps solution built by a consultant?

You should. We deliver everything as a managed solution in your own tenant with documentation, so there is no lock-in to us.

How long does a typical Power Apps build take compared with custom?

For a scoped internal app, a working first version in about two weeks is realistic on Power Apps. Equivalent custom builds commonly take longer because identity, hosting and user interface need building from scratch.

Key takeaways

• Compare three-year total cost, not just the build price.
• Power Apps usually wins for internal apps on Microsoft 365, especially on standard connectors.
• Per-user licences are the main counterweight, so model users carefully.
• Custom development usually wins for large external audiences, high volumes or products you sell.
• Get a fixed-price quote before deciding; our packages publish from-prices so you can sanity-check quickly.