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Compare · Microsoft Power Automate

Power Automate’s place in Microsoft 365, next to a governed workflow platform.

Power Automate is Microsoft’s workflow and robotic process automation product, part of the Power Platform. Teams look at OCNORA when their processes span many vendors’ apps, when AI spend has to be capped per tenant, when an approval must sit inside the workflow graph, or when the platform has to run in their own cloud. Every Power Automate statement below is quoted from Microsoft’s own pages, with the date we read it.

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Every Microsoft Power Automate figure on this page is quoted from a page Microsoft Power Automate publishes, and links to it with the date we read it (oldest: 2026-09-28). OCNORA numbers are counted from the running catalogue on 2026-09-22. We do not state what Microsoft Power Automate lacks — only what each of us publishes.

Side by side

What each one publishes today.

What OCNORA and Microsoft Power Automate each publish. Every Microsoft Power Automate value links to the Microsoft Power Automate page it was read from and the date it was read.
WhatOCNORAMicrosoft Power Automate, as Microsoft Power Automate publishes itNote
Catalogue, as each vendor counts it1,000+ providers · 7,600+ node typesMore than 1,400 prebuilt, certified connectorsmicrosoft.com · Power Automate · 2026-09-28Different units: OCNORA counts providers and node types; the other vendor counts its own unit. Neither number converts into the other. The same Microsoft page also says "more than 1,000 API connectors", so even one vendor’s page gives two figures.
Free tierNone; every deployment is quoted — see /pricing30-day free trialmicrosoft.com · Power Automate pricing · 2026-09-28
Per-user planUnlimited users in a workspacePremium — $15.00 user/month, paid yearlymicrosoft.com · Power Automate pricing · 2026-09-28
Unattended automation planQuoted on executions and AI spendProcess — $150.00 bot/month, paid yearlymicrosoft.com · Power Automate pricing · 2026-09-28
Vendor-hosted unattended planQuoted on executions and AI spendHosted Process — $215.00 bot/month, paid yearly, Microsoft hosted virtual machinemicrosoft.com · Power Automate pricing · 2026-09-28
Billing unitWorkflow executions and AI spendPer user or per bot, per monthmicrosoft.com · Power Automate pricing · 2026-09-28A Power Automate user or bot licence and an OCNORA execution are not the same unit.
Reaching systems behind the firewallRun the whole platform in your own cloud with Docker Compose or HelmOn-premises data gateway, a Windows app with outbound connections onlylearn.microsoft.com/data-integration/gateway/service-gateway-onprem · 2026-09-28Microsoft’s pages describe a gateway that bridges to the Microsoft cloud, not a self-hosted Power Automate; we did not find a statement either way.
Where data is processedYour own region when self-hosted; OCNORA Cloud region on requestDefault geo per tenant; environments can target a specific geolearn.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/wp-compliance-data-privacy · 2026-09-28
Audit of workflow changesPower Automate events in Microsoft Purview audit search, retained 90 dayslearn.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/wp-compliance-data-privacy · 2026-09-28OCNORA: Each run keeps its steps with their input, output, status and the connection used, and the audit log records who changed which workflow, connection or setting and when. The audit log is exportable.
Build from natural languageCopilot in Microsoft Power Automatemicrosoft.com · Power Automate · 2026-09-28
Microsoft Power Automate, in Microsoft Power Automate’s own words
OCNORA at a glance
  • 7,600+ documented node types across 1,000+ providers; 84 trigger types; 21 UI languages.
  • Multi-tenant control plane with per-tenant AI budgets, plugins and secrets; embed with JIT SSO.
  • Human-in-the-loop as a node; Workflow Health before the first run; Auto Fix; ops center; business ROI reports.
  • Envelope-encrypted secrets, PII crypto-shred, audit log on every mutation and run step, offline signed licence.
  • Python code node, hosted models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and DeepSeek plus local models, MCP server and client, evaluations via the API.

Pricing follows executions and AI spend; see pricing.

What OCNORA adds

The governance layer, as part of the engine.

These are statements about OCNORA, not about anyone else. Check them against the other vendor yourself — we would rather you did.

  • AI budgets per tenant

    Token and USD caps per workspace, per provider and per workflow, with threshold alerts and a circuit breaker that stops spend rather than warning about it after the fact.

  • Workflow Health before the first run

    A validation, pre-flight and dry run that checks connections, hosts, expressions and unknowable values before a workflow is ever allowed to touch production — plus an Auto Fix worker for what it can repair safely.

  • Human-in-the-loop as a node

    An approval step is part of the graph, not a webhook you wire up yourself. The run parks, the approver sees the payload, and the decision lands in the audit log.

  • A multi-tenant control plane

    One installation serves many customers: per-tenant budgets, plugins, secrets and licences, with JIT SSO when the builder is embedded inside your own product.

  • An audit record of every mutation and run step

    Every change and every step input, output and decision is recorded, with envelope-encrypted secrets and PII crypto-shred.

  • 21 UI languages

    The builder and the dashboard ship translated, not machine-substituted at render time.

Being fair

When Microsoft Power Automate is the better choice.

We would rather you pick the right tool than pick us and regret it.

  • The work is clicking through a desktop or legacy application

    Microsoft states that desktop flows automate legacy applications such as terminal emulators, desktop and web applications, Excel files and folders, attended or unattended. If the system has no API and a person drives it through its screen today, that is the job desktop flows are built for.

  • Your organisation already runs on the Microsoft cloud

    Microsoft states one on-premises data gateway serves Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI, Azure Logic Apps, Azure Data Factory and Microsoft Fabric, and Power Automate events land in Microsoft Purview audit search. If that is your estate, staying inside it is simpler.

  • You want a published per-user price

    Microsoft publishes Power Automate Premium at $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly. OCNORA quotes every deployment and publishes no price list.

If none of those are blockers and you need per-tenant budgets, approvals in the engine, a health check before the first run, or one control plane for many customers, OCNORA is the shorter path. See the product or enterprise, or compare against something else.

Where every Microsoft Power Automate figure came from

This site states nothing about Microsoft Power Automate that is not printed on a page Microsoft Power Automate publishes. Each source below was read on the date shown. Where a capability is not on this page, it means we could not source it from Microsoft Power Automate — not that Microsoft Power Automate lacks it. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.

  1. 1.microsoft.com · Power Automate — read 2026-09-28
  2. 2.microsoft.com · Power Automate pricing — read 2026-09-28
  3. 3.learn.microsoft.com/power-automate/desktop-flows/introduction — read 2026-09-28
  4. 4.learn.microsoft.com/data-integration/gateway/service-gateway-onprem — read 2026-09-28
  5. 5.learn.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/wp-compliance-data-privacy — read 2026-09-28

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