Power Apps or custom software?

The question usually arrives as two quotes. One proposes a Power App built in a few weeks; the other proposes a web application with its own database, hosting and support agreement. Both can solve the problem. What separates them is not the build price but what you are signing up to run for the next five years, and who can change it when the process moves.

How they compare

Two rows need a sentence the table can't hold. Lock-in exists both ways. A Power App ties you to Microsoft, but most 50–500 person businesses are already tied to Microsoft for email, files and sign-in. Custom software ties you to a codebase, and if the one developer who understands it moves on, changes get slow and expensive. Ask either supplier what happens if they disappear.

"No" on public users is not absolute. You can share a Power App with invited guest accounts from a partner organisation, and Microsoft sells Power Pages for external websites. Neither is the right tool for an app your customers download from an app store.

Where a Power App is the right call

The best candidates share four traits: the users are your own staff, they already sign in to Microsoft 365, the data is a register or a workflow, and the process will change. Plant and equipment bookings, site inspections, variation approvals, leave and training requests, client intake for a for-purpose service. These are forms, lists and approvals, which is exactly what the platform is built for.

The real advantage shows up in year two. When the inspection form needs a new field or an extra approver, an internal admin can make the change in an afternoon, in a tool your organisation already licenses and secures. With custom software the same change is a ticket, a quote and a release. Our Power Apps service covers how those builds are scoped, and if the data is relational or needs row-level security, read Dataverse or SharePoint lists before you choose.

Where custom software earns its cost

Commission custom software when one of these is a genuine requirement, not a preference:

• Outside users at scale. Customers, the public or hundreds of external subcontractors logging in. Licensing and sign-in for guests get awkward quickly.
• The interface is the product. Drag-and-drop scheduling across hundreds of crews, interactive drawings, or a pixel-precise design. Power Apps can be pushed a long way, but every workaround is something you then maintain.
• Heavy volume or tight performance. Very large data sets, many simultaneous users or real-time integrations push against platform limits and request allowances.
• It is your competitive edge. If the software is what you sell, or what makes you different, it deserves its own codebase and a product roadmap.
• The licence sum flips. Hundreds of occasional users on premium licences can cost more over five years than a custom build. Count users, not staff; Power Apps licensing explained shows how.

Settle it in four questions

Work down in order. The first genuine "yes" usually decides it.

For the five-year sum, put both options on one line each: build cost, plus five years of licences, hosting, support and an allowance for changes. Use the quotes in front of you and Microsoft's current pricing; don't compare one option's build price with the other's lifetime cost. Whichever way it lands, ask that the code or solution, the data and the admin access sit in accounts your business controls.

What to do next

List who would use the app, inside and outside the business, and which of them need premium features. Then run the four questions with whoever owns the process. If the answer is still unclear, a short paper prototype of the main screen will usually show whether you need a form or a product.