When we talk to operations teams about a field app, one answer comes up often: “We already have Microsoft 365, so Power Apps is free. Why would we pay for something else?”
It’s a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer. Power Apps is a capable platform, and many organizations use it well. But the license is only one part of what it takes to put a working app in the hands of drivers, technicians and inspectors. This post looks at what the license covers, what a field app still needs, and how to decide.
What Microsoft 365 Actually Includes
Microsoft’s own licensing overview is the right place to start. It says that some Microsoft 365 licenses include limited Power Apps and Power Automate use rights, intended for scenarios that use Microsoft 365 data and standard connectors, and that these rights are not the same as a standalone premium license.
In practice, that means a few things are worth checking before you assume the app is free:
- Premium connectors and Dataverse. Connecting to on-premises systems, custom connectors and Dataverse are part of Power Apps Premium, which Microsoft licenses per user.
- AI features. AI Builder runs on credits, which Microsoft lists among its capacity add-ons.
- Building and testing versus running. Microsoft offers a free Developer Plan, but it is meant for building and testing, not for production use.
Microsoft’s licensing changes from time to time, so check the current Power Platform licensing overview and licensing guide for your own case. The point is not that Power Apps is expensive. It’s that “included” usually means the tool is included, for certain scenarios.
Power Apps Is Excellent at What It Was Built For
Power Apps is a general-purpose platform for building apps. Microsoft describes it as a place where business users and developers build together, with drag and drop, generative AI or custom code, and deploy across web and mobile. If your staff already work in Teams, SharePoint and Excel, and you need an app on top of that data, it fits naturally. Organizations with skilled makers build useful things with it every day.
The important word is build. Power Apps gives your people the tools. Your own team, or someone you hire, still designs and builds the app, then looks after it once it’s live.
None of that is a weakness. It is what a general-purpose platform looks like, and for many office apps it is exactly right.
The Tool Is Included. The Rest Isn’t.
When a company says Power Apps is free, it is usually comparing a license with our subscription. But the license was never the expensive part of a field app. The real costs sit around it:
- Building the app. Someone has to map the process, design the screens, set up the data, build the approvals and the reports, and test it with real users. That is your IT team’s time, or an outside developer’s invoice.
- AI for field work. Voice and photo features are where field apps save the most effort. Check how they are licensed for your scenario; on the Power Platform, AI Builder runs on credits.
- Support. When a driver can’t submit a form at 6 a.m., who answers?
- Changes. Every process changes after go-live. A new field, a new approval step or a new report each needs someone to build it.
So the useful comparison isn’t “free versus paid.” It is the total cost of getting a working app in front of the field team, and keeping it working as the process changes.
What a Field App Needs That an Office App Doesn’t
Field staff work in conditions office software rarely has to think about. They are on the move, often wearing gloves, in the sun, with patchy signal. Many work in a language other than English, and most are not “computer people.” An app for them needs:
- Offline work. Forms, photos and signatures saved on the phone and synced when signal returns.
- Voice fill in their own language. A worker describes the job in Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu or another language, and AI fills in the form.
- Photo AI. The camera reads meters, labels and number plates, and rejects the wrong photo on the spot.
- Scanning. A barcode or QR code brings up the right asset, bin, part or vehicle.
- Proof built in. GPS location, date, time and the person’s name on every record, without them having to think about it.
All of this can be built on a general-purpose platform with enough time and skill. On a field-first platform, it is already there.
A Different Path: The Working App, Delivered
Fieldmaster.ai takes a different route to the same goal. We don’t hand over a tool. We build the customer’s app around their process and deliver it working.
- We build it. More than 95% of every app is the platform itself, already proven in production. A typical app takes 10 to 18 working days to build.
- Field AI is part of the platform. Voice fill and photo AI are built in, in many languages, and AI usage is included in the subscription.
- Unlimited users. Customers pay for the work the app handles, never per person, so the whole field team can use it.
- Changes in days. The people who built the app make the changes, usually in days, not quarters.
- Direct support. Support comes from the builders themselves, in Muscat, Ajman and Cochin.
We’ve built more than 20 apps this way, for safety, fleet, utilities, waste, procurement and property. Our Power Apps comparison sets the two approaches side by side.
When Power Apps Is the Right Call
We would rather you pick the right tool than pick us. Power Apps is often a better fit when:
- The app is mainly for office staff who already work in Microsoft 365.
- The data lives in SharePoint, Excel or other Microsoft 365 sources, and standard connectors are enough.
- You have makers in-house with time to build and maintain the app.
- The process is simple and unlikely to change much.
A field-first platform makes more sense when most users are in the field, when the process runs from the field through approvals, stock, invoices and reports, and when nobody in-house has months to spend building it.
You Don’t Have to Choose One
Fieldmaster doesn’t have to replace the systems you already run. It works as the field layer alongside them: the platform connects to ERPs and customer systems in both directions, and every chart exports to Excel. The office keeps working in the tools it knows. The field team gets an app built for the way they work.
If you’re weighing Power Apps against a delivered field app, see how the platform is put together, or book a call and we’ll show you your own process running on a phone.
