Anna Gajdowicz Jan 12, 2026 Power Automate licensing options
In one of our previous articles, we discussed the components of the Power Platform and the licensing of Power Apps. Now it’s time to explore another piece of Microsoft’s low-code, no-code platform: Power Automate. This powerful tool for automating business processes allows the creation of multi-step workflows across various applications and services.
Power Automate streamlines company operations, saving time and effort, which translates into increased operational efficiency. Understanding the licensing options for Power Automate services is crucial for making informed decisions about effectively utilizing this platform in your business.
Microsoft offers several licensing options for Power Automate, tailored to different user needs and organizational requirements. These are:
- Power Automate Premium (per user)
- Power Automate per user (cloud-only use cases)
- Power Automate Process (per bot / per process)
- Power Automate per flow
Additionally, there are supplementary licenses (purchased in addition to the base license):
- Power Automate Hosted RPA add-on
- Power Automate unattended RPA add-on
- Power Automate Process Mining
- AI Builder
Base products
Power Automate Premium (per user)
Power Automate Premium (per user) allows the creation and execution of unlimited cloud flows (Digital Process Automation – DPA) using premium and standard connectors, as well as API-based automation scenarios.
It also enables the automation of legacy applications through desktop flows using attended Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which simulates human work on a local machine. To run an unattended RPA bot (automation running without a logged-in user), an additional Power Automate unattended RPA add-on or Process license is required.
Power Automate Premium includes:
- Limited Process Mining functionality (full functionality requires an add-on)
- A small amount of Process Mining data storage
- Access to AI Builder capabilities, supporting scenarios such as form processing, text recognition, object detection, prediction, and classification
Microsoft has announced that AI Builder credits seeded with base licenses will be gradually phased out, meaning long-term or large-scale AI usage will require purchasing additional AI Builder capacity.
Power Automate per user (cloud automation)
Power Automate per user, similar to the Premium version, allows the creation and execution of unlimited cloud workflows and business processes for a single user.
However, this license:
- Does not include desktop flows
- Does not include unattended RPA
- Does not include Process Mining or AI Builder capacity
This option is suitable for users focused purely on cloud-based automation using connectors such as Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Dynamics 365 (within context), and other SaaS applications.
Power Automate Process (per bot/per process)
The Power Automate Process license (sometimes referred to as per bot) allows the use of a single unattended automation resource to run processes that can be accessed by an unlimited number of users within an organization.
This license is designed for:
- Background automation
- Enterprise-wide processes
- Scenarios where flows are not tied to individual users
It is suitable for teams or company departments that rely on shared or mission-critical automations and need unattended execution without assigning licenses to every user.ts using only one bot.
Power Automate per flow
Power Automate per flow provides users across a department or organization with workflow automation for a single process (flow).
Key characteristics:
- Licensed per flow rather than per user
- Can be triggered by unlimited users
- Does not include desktop flows or unattended RPA
- Purchased with a minimum number of flows
Each subscription includes Power Automate service capacity allocated to a specific flow, making this model suitable for well-defined, high-value processes used across teams.
Depending on whether you need licenses for unlimited flows per user or a shared automation process, Microsoft typically recommends Power Automate Premium or Power Automate Process. These offer the most flexibility and scalability and allow future expansion into RPA, AI, and process analytics.
Add-ons
Power Automate Hosted RPA add-on
The Power Automate Hosted RPA add-on is available for Power Automate Premium and Power Automate Process licenses. It allows organizations to run unattended RPA bots hosted by Microsoft on cloud-based virtual machines.
Each Hosted RPA license:
- Provides capacity for one hosted bot
- Eliminates the need to manage local or virtual infrastructure
- Is ideal for scalable, centrally managed automation environments
The Power Automate unattended RPA add-on
The Power Automate unattended RPA add-on enables unattended desktop automation on:
- Local machines
- Remote desktops
- Customer-managed virtual environments
This add-on is licensed per bot and requires a base Power Automate license. If bots run on virtual machines, customers are responsible for provisioning the required compute resources unless using Hosted RPA.
For both Hosted RPA and Unattended RPA, any applications accessed by the bot must be properly licensed. For example, if a bot accesses Microsoft 365 services, a Microsoft 365 Unattended License add-on may be required in addition to the RPA license.
Unattended license information for M365 is available at the following link
Power Automate Process Mining
Power Automate Process Mining is a capacity-based add-on for Power Automate Premium and Process licenses. It helps organizations discover and analyze real business processes, identify bottlenecks, and measure automation ROI.
According to Microsoft’s licensing guide, each Process Mining capacity pack includes: 100 GB of process mining data storage, 2 GB of Dataverse database capacity, 1 TB of Dataverse file storage.
All capacity is allocated per tenant per month and is subject to change.
AI Builder
AI Builder enables organizations to embed artificial intelligence into Power Automate and Power Apps scenarios, including: form processing, document classification, prediction models, text recognition and sentiment analysis.
AI Builder is capacity-based, measured in service credits. While limited AI Builder access has historically been included in some Power Platform licenses, Microsoft is moving toward a fully consumption-based AI model, requiring dedicated capacity purchases for sustained usage.
Additional information
Summary
Understanding the licensing policy of Power Automate services is crucial to fully leveraging the potential of this platform. Choosing the right licensing plan should be based on: automation scale, user vs. process-based needs, desktop vs. cloud automation, future use of AI and analytics.
With the correct licensing approach, organizations can optimize operations, improve efficiency, and scale automation in a cost-effective and compliant way.
If you’re interested, feel free to contact us – we’ll tailor the offer to your needs and help you select the appropriate subscription model.