Power Apps or Fabrika?
Power Apps fits when your company lives in Microsoft 365 and IT runs Power Platform. Fabrika fits when you don't want a licence for every user, want the code in your own Git and the apps in your own cloud account, let outside people into the app, and want a person to read every change. Microsoft Entra sign-in stays.
Updated 28 September 2026
How do Power Apps and Fabrika differ?
| Question | Power Apps | Contember Fabrika |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds | Power Apps People in the company and developers, in the editor. Your IT runs the environments. | Contember Fabrika Your person with AI, developer or agency. The first app can be built with us. |
| What an app is made of | Power Apps Canvas or model-driven apps, data in Dataverse. Solutions can sync to Git, but run only in Power Platform. | Contember Fabrika Ordinary code (TypeScript, React) in your company's Git. |
| Where it runs | Power Apps Microsoft's cloud, in the region you pick. In the EU region, data stays in the EU and EFTA. | Contember Fabrika Your installation on Zerops (AWS on request), account in your company's name. |
| How you pay | Power Apps Per user: Premium USD 20 a month paid yearly (USD 12 from 2,000 seats), or USD 10 per active user per app. Extra Dataverse USD 40 per GB a month. | Contember Fabrika Setup and monthly operations by number of apps. Price in an offer after the first call; servers paid to the cloud provider. |
| Microsoft 365 licences | Power Apps Limited rights for apps on Microsoft 365 data with standard connectors. Dataverse and premium connectors need a standalone licence. | Contember Fabrika No Power Apps licences needed. |
| People outside the company | Power Apps As guests in Entra ID, with a licence. For outside-facing sites, Power Pages: USD 4 per signed-in user per site a month. | Contember Fabrika They sign in with a password. Part of an app can be public, a form for example. |
| Sign-in | Power Apps Microsoft Entra ID. | Contember Fabrika Company account over OIDC (Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta), MFA as your company sets it. No SAML. |
| Who reviews changes | Power Apps Your IT. Pipelines can require approval, but target environments must be managed and on premium licences. | Contember Fabrika A person from Contember, every change, before it goes live. |
| If you leave | Power Apps Export the solution (.zip) only into Power Platform. Dataverse data is exported separately. | Contember Fabrika Code, data, domains and account are yours, and the platform is open source. The next developer picks it up from Git. |
As of 28 September 2026, from Microsoft's pricing page and docs. Prices from Microsoft's US list in USD; your agreement may differ. Spotted something out of date? Write to sales@contember.com.
Sources, checked 28 September 2026
When is Power Apps the better fit?
- The apps mostly work with data from Microsoft 365, SharePoint or Dataverse.
- You have IT that runs Power Platform and deploys through pipelines.
- For a simple app, the Microsoft 365 licence you already pay for is enough.
- You use Dynamics 365, whose licences include Power Apps rights.
- Apps and data have to stay in Microsoft's cloud in the EU.
When does Fabrika make sense?
- You don't want to pay per user. Premium for 50 people costs USD 1,000 a month; on Fabrika you pay by the number of apps.
- Suppliers or clients use the app too, with no licence and no guest account.
- You want ordinary code in your own Git that any web developer can pick up.
- You don't have IT to run Power Platform and read every change.
- People already build with AI in Lovable, Cursor or Claude Code. See Already building with AI.
Can we use both?
Yes. Microsoft 365 and Entra ID sign-in stay, and apps your current licences cover can stay in Power Apps. Move to Fabrika the ones where licences would cost most, where outside people need access, or that need your own logic and reviewed changes.
How do you move from Power Apps to Fabrika?
We can't take the app over, it only runs in Power Platform. We build it again as code.
The app becomes the brief
Screens, forms, fields, roles and Power Automate flows make a precise brief for the new app.
Dataverse data is exported separately
A solution export has no data, and exporting a table to Excel has limits. We'll sort out your data, from SharePoint or Excel too, on the first call.
Sign-in stays
People keep signing in with Microsoft Entra; Fabrika connects it over OIDC.
No need to move everything at once
Power Apps keeps running until the new app takes over. Then renew licences only for people who still need them.
What does Power Apps have that Fabrika doesn't?
- A drag-and-drop editor
- You put screens and forms together with a mouse. On Fabrika you build with AI on code.
- The Microsoft world, connected
- Ready-made connectors to Microsoft 365, Dataverse, Dynamics 365 and systems in your network. On Fabrika every integration is built in code.
- Running on Azure
- Fabrika runs on Zerops, or AWS on request. Not on Azure.
- Management right in Entra ID
- Access can be bound to an Entra ID group. Fabrika has no SCIM, so when someone leaves, you also disable them in its sign-in service (IAM).
- Rolling back to a previous version
- Pipelines can redeploy a previous version. Fabrika doesn't have that as a ready-made feature.
- Starting on your own, for free
- The Developer plan is free for building and testing, no call needed; production needs paid licences. Fabrika starts with a call and an offer within days.
When isn't Fabrika for you?
- Your IT runs Power Platform and it's enough for your apps. A second platform doesn't make sense.
- Azure, your own servers, SAML or a certified supplier is a hard requirement.
- You don't want anything to do with code or Git.
What people ask about Power Apps and Fabrika
What's a Power Apps alternative for a mid-sized company?
If you live in Microsoft 365 and IT runs Power Platform, usually Power Apps itself. If you don't want to pay per seat and want the code and apps in your own accounts, Fabrika. More options in the comparison.
How much does Power Apps cost?
Premium is USD 20 per user a month paid yearly, USD 12 from 2,000 seats. Pay-as-you-go is USD 10 for each user who opens an app in a month, per app. Extra Dataverse costs USD 40 per GB a month. Since 2 January 2026, the per app licence isn't sold to new customers in some channels.
Do we have to leave Microsoft 365? Does Fabrika support Entra ID sign-in?
Microsoft 365 stays. People sign in with the same Entra account over OIDC (one identity provider per installation), with MFA as your company sets it. Anyone without a company account uses a password.
Power Apps has deployment approvals and Git. Why would we need you?
Power Platform gives you the process. Someone on your side still has to read each change and understand it. On Fabrika we read it, and the platform holds sign-in, access and keys whoever wrote it.
We only have Microsoft 365, not Power Apps Premium. Is that enough?
For apps on Microsoft 365 data with standard connectors, often yes. Premium connectors, model-driven apps and Dataverse need a Power Apps licence; the terms are in Microsoft's licensing guide.
Not sure whether Power Apps is enough?
Half an hour is enough. Tell us what you want to build, for how many people, and what you have in Microsoft 365. If Power Apps suits you better, we'll say so.