Standard vs. Premium Connectors in Power Apps: Everything You Need to Know

If you’ve been building apps in Power Apps for any length of time, you’ve probably hit a moment where a connector you wanted to use suddenly flagged your app as “Premium.” And then came the question: wait, does this mean everyone using my app now needs a paid license?

Yes, it does.

This is one of those things that trips up a lot of people — even experienced makers. In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through exactly what standard and premium connectors are, how they differ, what the licensing implications are, and how to make smart choices when you’re building.

Let’s get into it.

What Is a Connector, Anyway?

Before we get into the standard vs. premium debate, let me quickly explain what a connector is, for anyone who’s newer to Power Apps.

A connector is basically a pre-built bridge between Power Apps and an external service or data source. Instead of writing code to connect to SharePoint, Salesforce, or SQL Server, you just pick a connector, sign in, and you’re connected. Power Apps handles all the API communication in the background.

Microsoft has hundreds of these connectors available — for Microsoft services, third-party platforms, and even custom-built APIs. They split them into two main buckets: Standard and Premium.

That split is more than just a label. It determines what licenses you and your users need.

Power Apps Standard Connectors: The Everyday Workhorses

Power Apps Standard connectors are included with most Microsoft 365 plans. If your organization already has Microsoft 365 licenses — and most do — you can use standard connectors without buying anything extra.

These connectors cover the tools most organizations are already using on a daily basis:

• SharePoint — Lists, libraries, and document management
• Microsoft Teams — Post messages, get team info
• Outlook — Send emails, manage calendar events
• Excel Online (Business) — Read/write data in Excel files stored on SharePoint or OneDrive
• OneDrive for Business — Access and manage files
• Microsoft Planner — Task management
• Microsoft Forms — Collect form responses
• Azure Blob Storage — Access blobs (this one surprises people — it’s standard)
• Google Drive, Twitter/X, GitHub — Yes, some third-party connectors are standard too

The general pattern: if it’s a service that supports everyday productivity and collaboration, it’s likely standard.

A Practical Example

Say you’re building a simple Leave Request app for your team. The app reads a list of employees from SharePoint, sends a confirmation email via Outlook, and saves the leave record back to a SharePoint list. That entire app uses only standard connectors — no extra licensing needed. Everyone with a Microsoft 365 license can use it.

This is actually the sweet spot for many internal business apps. SharePoint + Excel + Outlook can get you surprisingly far.

Power Apps Premium Connectors: The Power-Ups With a Price Tag

Power Apps Premium connectors are where things get more interesting — and more expensive. These connectors connect to more specialized or external systems, and using even one of them in your app flips it into “Premium” status.

Here are some of the most commonly used premium connectors:

• Dataverse — Microsoft’s own database platform, used heavily in model-driven apps
• SQL Server — Connect to an on-premises or Azure SQL database
• Salesforce — CRM integration
• SAP — Enterprise resource planning
• ServiceNow — IT service management
• Zendesk — Customer support platform
• DocuSign — Electronic signatures
• Jira — Project tracking
• HTTP — Making custom web requests to any REST API
• Azure DevOps — DevOps pipelines and boards
• Adobe PDF Services — PDF generation and manipulation

There are hundreds more. The list changes over time too — Microsoft has reclassified connectors before, and they usually announce these changes via the Message Center or Release Wave notes.

How to Spot a Power Apps Premium Connector

In the Power Apps studio, premium connectors are easy to identify — they have a small diamond icon next to their name. You’ll see this when browsing the connectors list or when you go to Data > Add data in your app. If there’s a diamond next to it, it’s premium.

You can also check after the fact. Go to the Details page of your app in make.powerapps.com, then look at the Connections tab. Any connector with a diamond icon there is premium and is making your app require a premium license.

The Big Licensing Impact

This is the part that catches people off guard, so I want to be really clear here.

The moment you add a single premium connector to your app, every single user who accesses that app needs a premium Power Apps license.

It doesn’t matter if the rest of the app uses only standard connectors. One premium connector = premium app = premium license for all users.

Let me show you how this plays out.

Scenario 1: Standard App, Standard Users

You build a timesheet app using SharePoint as the backend. Users submit their hours to a SharePoint list, and their manager gets an Outlook email notification.

Licensing needed: Microsoft 365 (already covered). No extra cost.

Scenario 2: One Premium Connector Added

Later, someone asks you to add a feature that looks up customer data from Salesforce. You add the Salesforce connector to the app.

Now the entire app is premium. Every one of the 50 users who uses this app now needs a Power Apps Premium license — currently around $20/user/month.

That’s one connector addition turning into a potential $1,000/month cost increase. It’s a big deal.

Scenario 3: Flow With a Premium Action

Here’s one a lot of people miss. If your app triggers a Power Automate flow, and that flow uses a premium action — even if the app itself doesn’t directly use a premium connector — the app gets marked as premium.

For example, if your app triggers a flow that uses the Word Online Business connector to generate a Word document, that flow-level premium action bubbles up and makes the whole app premium.

Power Apps Custom Connectors: Also Premium

Power Apps Custom connectors deserve their own mention because I see confusion about these all the time.

If you build your own custom connector — say, to connect to your company’s internal API or a third-party service that doesn’t have a built-in connector — it’s always treated as premium, regardless of what it does.

Even if your custom connector simply wraps a simple REST API that returns a JSON response, it will still require a premium license. There’s no getting around this.

The same goes for the HTTP connector. If you’re making raw HTTP calls to external services from your app, that’s premium.

Current Licensing Options (as of Early 2026)

As of early 2026, Microsoft has changed how it packages Power Apps licensing. Here’s the current picture:

• Power Apps Premium (per user) — Around $20/user/month. This gives the user unlimited access to all premium apps and connectors. Best for power users or people who use multiple apps.
• Pay-As-You-Go — Billed through Azure. Great for apps with occasional or unpredictable usage. No upfront seat commitment.

One important note: Microsoft quietly discontinued the Per App Plan in January 2026. This used to be the $5/user/app option. If your licensing strategy relied on per-app licensing, you’ll want to revisit your approach and move users to the Power Apps Premium plan.

How to Check if Your Power Apps App Is Premium

Here’s a quick way to audit your app before you publish it:

1. Open your app in make.powerapps.com
2. Click on the three dots (… more)
3. Go to the Connections tab
4. Look for any connectors with a diamond icon — those are premium

You should also check any Power Automate flows your app is calling. Open each flow and look for any actions marked with a diamond. If any step in the flow is premium, it affects your app’s license status.

Another approach: go to the Power Platform Admin Center and check the Connectors section in your environment. You can filter by premium connectors to see what’s in use across your environment.

Comparing Standard vs. Premium: Quick Reference

Feature	Standard Connectors	Premium Connectors
License required	Microsoft 365	Power Apps Premium
Examples	SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Excel	SQL Server, Salesforce, Dataverse, HTTP
Cost impact	None (covered by M365)	~$20/user/month per user of the app
Custom connectors	N/A	Always premium
Diamond icon in studio	No	Yes
Flows using premium actions	Doesn’t make app premium	Makes app premium

Real-World Decision Making: When to Use Each

Here’s how I actually think about this when I’m scoping a new app.

Start with standard connectors by default. SharePoint, Excel, Teams, and Outlook cover a surprising number of use cases. If you can get the job done with standard connectors, do it. Your users won’t need extra licensing, deployment is simpler, and there’s less to manage.

Move to premium only when the use case genuinely needs it. If the business requirement is to pull real-time data from Salesforce, or write records to a SQL database, then yes — use the appropriate premium connector. Just go into it with your eyes open about the licensing cost.

Check before you add. Before you drag a new connector into your app, look for the diamond icon. If it’s there, make sure you’ve got a conversation with whoever manages licensing in your org before you go further.

Think about your whole flow, not just the app. If your app calls a Power Automate flow, audit that flow for premium actions too. I’ve seen teams get blindsided by a single Word template action in a flow that nobody thought to check.

Common Mistakes I See Makers Make

Mistake 1: Not checking connector status before building
People spend weeks building an app, then realize at deployment that a connector they used is premium — and now they need licensing for 200 users. Always check at the design phase.

Mistake 2: Assuming Dataverse is “free” because it’s a Microsoft product
Dataverse is Microsoft’s own database, but it’s a premium connector. Using it in a canvas app requires premium licensing (outside of the Teams environment context, which has its own rules).

Mistake 3: Adding the HTTP connector “just for a simple API call”
The HTTP connector is premium. Full stop. Even for a tiny GET request to a simple API. If this is a deal-breaker, consider whether you can build a custom connector through an Azure Function instead — though that’s premium too. At that point, evaluate whether the business value justifies the licensing cost.

Mistake 4: Not auditing flows triggered by the app
Your app might look clean — all standard connectors — but if it triggers a flow with a premium action, you’re still in premium territory. Always check your flows.

When Standard Connectors Fall Short

There are legitimate scenarios where standard connectors just aren’t enough:

• You need a relational database with complex querying — SharePoint lists have limitations. SQL Server or Dataverse give you much more power.
• You’re integrating with enterprise systems — Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow — these all need premium connectors. There’s no workaround.
• You need to make custom API calls — The HTTP connector is your tool here, but it’s premium.
• You’re building a model-driven app — These always use Dataverse, which is premium.

In these cases, the premium licensing cost is the cost of doing business. Factor it into your project budget from day one.

A Note on Connector Reclassifications

This is worth mentioning because it has caught organizations off guard in the past. Microsoft occasionally reclassifies connectors — moving something from standard to premium. When this happens, any apps using that connector suddenly require premium licensing.

Microsoft typically announces these changes in advance through the Message Center, so it’s worth keeping an eye on those notifications. If you’re a maker or admin, make sure your team has alerts set up for Power Platform updates. A connector reclassification can silently break your app’s licensing compliance overnight.

Wrapping Up

Here’s the short version of everything we covered:

• Standard connectors are free with Microsoft 365 and cover your everyday Microsoft tools and many popular services.
• Premium connectors require a Power Apps Premium license — and adding even one makes your entire app premium for every user.
• Custom connectors are always treated as premium, no exceptions.
• Flows matter too — a premium action in a triggered flow makes your app premium.
• The per-app plan is gone as of January 2026, so the main licensing path is now Power Apps Premium at ~$20/user/month.
• Always audit before you build and before you deploy — check for diamond icons in your connectors list and in your flows.

Once you internalize this, you’ll make much smarter decisions about how you architect your apps. It’s not about avoiding premium connectors entirely — sometimes they’re exactly what you need. It’s about going in with clarity, so there are no surprises when it’s time to roll the app out to 500 users.

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