What Does Power Automate Really Cost? Calculation Examples for 10/30/100 Employees

Depending on usage, Power Automate costs between 0 euros and several hundred euros per month: anyone who only uses standard connectors such as Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, or Teams pays nothing extra, because these functions are already included in many Microsoft 365 licenses. As soon as you want to use premium connectors such as SQL Server, Salesforce, or Dataverse, the Power Automate Premium plan comes into play, currently 13.00 euros per user and month with annual billing; unattended bots additionally cost 130.00 euros per bot and month, according to the official Microsoft pricing page. How this actually adds up for 10, 30, or 100 employees depends mainly on the share of premium users and bots, and is calculated below using three examples. As of: July 2026.

The pricing building blocks of Power Automate at a glance

Before you can calculate, you need the current building blocks. These values come from the official Microsoft pricing page for Power Automate and from the licensing overview on Microsoft Learn, both accessed in July 2026. Prices tend to change regularly, so always check them again directly with Microsoft before a purchase.

• Free with Microsoft 365: Standard connectors are already usable for M365 license holders, with a daily quota of currently 6,000 Power Platform requests according to Microsoft Learn.
• Power Automate Premium: currently 13.00 euros per user and month with annual billing. Includes cloud flows with premium connectors, attended desktop flows, and storage for process and task mining.
• Power Automate Process: currently 130.00 euros per bot and month for unattended desktop flows, meaning automations that run in the background without a signed-in person.
• Power Automate Hosted Process: currently 186.30 euros per bot and month, if Microsoft provides the virtual machine for the bot directly in Azure and you do not need to reserve your own Windows machine for it.
• Process Mining Add-on: currently 4,332.40 euros per tenant and month for 100 GB of storage, bookable only together with the Premium plan and rather a niche topic for most small and medium-sized businesses.

Calculation example for 10 employees: small team, low premium share

In a 10-person team, usually only a few people use automations with premium connectors, for example to connect an inventory management system or an external CRM. Let's assume 3 of 10 employees need a premium plan, while the remaining 7 work with standard connectors already included in their M365 license.

• 3 × Power Automate Premium: 3 × 13.00 euros = 39.00 euros per month
• 7 employees with standard connectors: 0 euros extra, since already included in Microsoft 365
• Total monthly costs: around 39 euros

Calculation example for 30 employees: mixed usage

With 30 employees, the need for unattended automations typically also grows, for example for nightly invoice processing. Let's assume 10 of 30 people, roughly a third, need premium connectors, plus an unattended bot for a recurring batch process.

• 10 × Power Automate Premium: 10 × 13.00 euros = 130.00 euros per month
• 1 × Power Automate Process: 130.00 euros per month
• Total monthly costs: around 260 euros

Calculation example for 100 employees: scaling with bots

From 100 employees onward, the ratio often shifts toward bots instead of individual licenses, because centralized, unattended automations become worthwhile for several departments at once. A realistic scenario: 25 premium users, i.e. a quarter of the workforce, plus two unattended bots for recurring standard processes and one hosted bot for a continuously running workflow without its own virtual machine.

• 25 × Power Automate Premium: 25 × 13.00 euros = 325.00 euros per month
• 2 × Power Automate Process: 2 × 130.00 euros = 260.00 euros per month
• 1 × Power Automate Hosted Process: 186.30 euros per month
• Total monthly costs: around 771 euros

These three examples show one thing above all: it is not the number of employees alone that determines the costs, but the share of premium connectors and unattended bots. Anyone who clarifies in advance which flows really need premium functions and which can manage with standard connectors often saves several hundred euros per month. NordFlux supports this assessment as part of its Power Automate licensing consulting with a user-specific needs analysis, and anyone who wants to roughly estimate the costs of a planned automation relative to the time saved will find in the ROI calculator an initial point of reference.

Frequently asked questions about Power Automate costs

Is Power Automate really free with Microsoft 365?

Partly. Cloud flows with standard connectors such as Outlook, SharePoint, or Teams are already included in many Microsoft 365 licenses and cost nothing extra, subject to a daily quota of Power Platform requests. As soon as a flow uses a premium connector such as SQL Server, Salesforce, or a custom API, you need a paid plan.

What does an unattended bot cost in Power Automate?

Currently 130.00 euros per bot and month with annual billing for the Power Automate Process plan, or 186.30 euros if Microsoft also hosts the virtual machine for it. A bot can process several flows one after another, as long as they do not need to run at the same time.

Is annual or monthly billing worth it?

The amounts listed on the Microsoft pricing page apply to annual billing; monthly contracts are usually more expensive. For teams that first want to test whether an automation pays off long term, the free trial can make more sense than an immediate annual contract.

How do I find out how many premium licenses my company really needs?

Most reliably by listing in advance which systems are to be automated and whether the connectors needed for them are classified as standard or premium. Only then can you reliably say whether 3, 10, or 25 premium licenses are needed, and whether an unattended bot is more worthwhile for individual processes than many individual licenses.