About Power Automate: Business Process Workflow Automation | Microsoft Power Platform
Overview
Power Automate is Microsoft's business process and workflow automation solution within the Power Platform. It combines robotic process automation (RPA), digital process automation (DPA), and AI into one end-to-end offering built for enterprise use with low-code tooling.
The platform helps teams automate processes across nearly unlimited systems, desktop apps, and websites. Users can author flows in natural language with Copilot, deploy them in the cloud or on-premises, and govern them at scale.
Key Benefits
- Combine robotic, digital, and AI-driven automation in a single platform.
- Automate across more than 1,000 API connectors, desktop apps, and websites.
- Author, edit, and extend flows in natural language with Copilot.
- Discover automation opportunities with process and task mining.
- Scale unattended automation with Microsoft-hosted virtual machines.
- Keep data secure with Managed Environments and data loss prevention.
How It Works
Users start from scratch, pick a prebuilt template, or ask an agent to build a flow. Cloud flows automate apps, data, and services, while desktop flows handle legacy systems through user-interface actions. Copilot assists with natural-language authoring, and deployments run under centralized monitoring and governance.
Use Cases
- Business and IT teams create, manage, and share approval processes across the organization.
- Procurement teams deploy the SAP solution template to carry out core purchasing processes.
- Analysts connect Power Automate to Power BI and trigger downstream workflows when KPIs cross thresholds.
- Office workers automate tasks in Excel, OneDrive, or Teams without switching applications.
- Organizations build document processing automation with Power Apps and Dataverse.
- Enterprises run unattended desktop flows for back-office processes with hosted infrastructure.
Why Choose This Product
Power Automate fits directly into the Microsoft ecosystem, with native experiences in Microsoft 365 and more than 1,400 prebuilt connectors. Its low-code approach, AI assistance, and unified RPA and DPA capabilities let enterprises scale automation under central governance.
Power Automate: Business Process Workflow Automation | Microsoft Power Platform Pros & Cons
- More than 1,400 prebuilt connectors, including Dynamics 365, SAP, and Salesforce
- Free 30-day trial covering premium features
- Unified RPA, DPA, and AI automation in one platform
- Native Microsoft 365 integration with Teams, Excel, and SharePoint
- AI authoring with Copilot using natural language
- Cloud service only; not available as an on-premises deployment
- Unattended desktop flows require the Process or Hosted Process tier
Key Features
AI authoring
Create, edit, and extend process automation faster using natural language with Copilot in Power Automate.
Cloud flows
Automate apps, data, and services running in the cloud or on-premises with digital process automation.
Desktop flows
Use robotic process automation to automate legacy systems with prebuilt or custom user-interface actions.
Process mining
Discover, visualize, and analyze processes to identify opportunities for improvement and optimization.
Task mining
Identify automation opportunities by analyzing how users complete routine tasks.
API connectors
Choose from more than 1,000 API connectors or create your own custom API connector.
Prebuilt templates
Deploy from built-in templates for rapid automation, from data ingestion to predefined custom reports.
Managed Environments
Govern at scale with Managed Environments, data loss prevention, and centralized administration.
Hosted RPA
Run unattended automation on a Microsoft-managed virtual machine hosted on Azure infrastructure.
AI insights
Uncover optimization and automation opportunities faster with AI recommendations.
Power Automate: Business Process Workflow Automation | Microsoft Power Platform Pricing
View full pricing →- Cloud flows (DPA) within service limits
- Attended desktop flows (RPA)
- Standard connectors only
- Free 30-day trial of premium features
- Cloud flows (DPA)
- Desktop flows (RPA) in attended mode
- Process and task mining with 50 MB data stored
- Dataverse entitlements of 250 MB database and 2 GB file
- Cloud flows (DPA)
- Desktop flows (RPA) in unattended mode
- Dataverse entitlements of 50 MB database and 200 MB file
- Cloud flows (DPA)
- Desktop flows (RPA) in unattended mode
- Microsoft-hosted virtual machine on Azure
- Dataverse entitlements of 50 MB database and 200 MB file
- Discover, visualize, and analyze processes
- 100 GB data stored
- Dataverse entitlements of 2 GB database and 1 TB file
- Available with the Power Automate Premium plan
| Feature | Power Automate free trial Free/mo | Power Automate Premium $15/mo | Power Automate Process $150/mo | Power Automate Hosted Process $215/mo | Process Mining add-on $5000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud flows (DPA) within service limits | |||||
| Attended desktop flows (RPA) | |||||
| Standard connectors only | |||||
| Free 30-day trial of premium features | |||||
| Cloud flows (DPA) | |||||
| Desktop flows (RPA) in attended mode | |||||
| Process and task mining with 50 MB data stored | |||||
| Dataverse entitlements of 250 MB database and 2 GB file | |||||
| Desktop flows (RPA) in unattended mode | |||||
| Dataverse entitlements of 50 MB database and 200 MB file | |||||
| Microsoft-hosted virtual machine on Azure | |||||
| Discover, visualize, and analyze processes | |||||
| 100 GB data stored | |||||
| Dataverse entitlements of 2 GB database and 1 TB file | |||||
| Available with the Power Automate Premium plan |
Pricing extracted from the product website and may change. Check the source for current details.
Frequently asked questions about Power Automate: Business Process Workflow Automation | Microsoft Power Platform
What do I need to use Power Automate?
All you need is a web browser and an email address to start using Power Automate.
Which devices and browsers can I use with Power Automate?
Power Automate runs on a wide range of devices and browsers. Use the most up-to-date version compatible with your operating system: Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox. The Power Automate for desktop app is also available for Windows 10 and 11.
Is Power Automate available on-premises?
No. Power Automate is a cloud service. However, you can securely connect to your own on-premises services through its on-premises data gateway.
How many services can Power Automate connect to?
More than 1,400 prebuilt, certified connectors are available, including popular services such as Dynamics 365, SAP, and Salesforce. You can also build a custom connector to any cloud application. To automate non-API services, use desktop flows (RPA).
What are templates?
Templates are prebuilt flows for popular and common scenarios. To use one, you just need access to the services in the template and to input any required settings.
Can I share the flows I create?
Yes. Add coworkers or groups in your organization as owners to edit and manage the flows. For flows that can be run manually, you can grant other people or groups permission to run them.