Best for
Best for quickly validating an idea with a working full-stack prototype.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
AI App Builders Comparison
Bolt.new vs. Microsoft Power Apps
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for organisations already inside a Microsoft 365 tenant that want governed business apps built on their existing data.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Bolt.new | Microsoft Power Apps |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free tier; paid credits above The free limits are reached quickly. | Free Developer Plan; Power Apps Premium from $22 / user / month Annual billing. Premium falls to $14 per user per month with a 2,000 seat minimum. Extra Dataverse database capacity is $40 per GB per month, and Copilot Studio is bought separately as pre-purchased credit units. |
| Free trial | Free tier | Free Power Apps Developer Plan for non-production use; separately a 30-day trial of the per-user plan, extendable twice to 90 days |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not stated |
| Output | Full-stack app in the browser, with automatic hosting | Canvas and model-driven business apps that run in a browser and in the Power Apps mobile app on phone and tablet |
| API | Not stated | Yes, Dataverse and Power Platform developer APIs, plus prebuilt and custom connectors |
| Hosting | Not stated | Microsoft cloud, managed per environment from the Power Platform admin center |
| What it generates | Full-stack app, built and run in the browser through StackBlitz WebContainers | Canvas and model-driven business apps plus Power Pages sites; Copilot generates the Dataverse tables and relationships from a description, and Plans turns a use case in natural language, with images such as process flows, into a solution blueprint |
| Stack and frameworks | Multi-framework | No hand-written framework code: canvas apps are laid out in Power Apps Studio, model-driven apps are generated from the data model. Developers extend them with JavaScript on the client, Azure functions and plug-ins on the server, custom connectors and virtual tables |
| Auth and database | Not out of the box, needs external services | Microsoft Dataverse as the built-in database, or connectors to SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server and on-premises sources; identity, environments, data loss prevention policies and auditing are administered centrally in the Power Platform admin center |
| Hosting and deploy | Yes, automatic hosting, prompt to deploy | Runs on Microsoft's cloud only, organised into environments; a US Government cloud meets FedRAMP High and DoD DISA IL2, and there is no self-hosted option |
| Payments | Yes, Stripe for one-time payments and subscriptions, via Supabase or Bolt Database | No checkout of its own; a Stripe connector is available in the connector library to work with customers, orders and invoices, and Power Pages has a separate payments integration |
| Access to the code | Yes, download the project as a zip or push it to GitHub | Apps live in the platform rather than as an exportable codebase; they move between environments as solutions, and code enters through JavaScript, plug-ins and custom connectors rather than by exporting what was generated |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Onboarding | Not stated | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Not stated | Microsoft Dataverse, SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Stripe, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Bolt.new Free tier; paid credits above Microsoft Power Apps Free Developer Plan; Power Apps Premium from $22 / user / month
- Free trial Bolt.new Free tier Microsoft Power Apps Free Power Apps Developer Plan for non-production use; separately a 30-day trial of the per-user plan, extendable twice to 90 days
- Company size Bolt.new Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Microsoft Power Apps Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Output Bolt.new Full-stack app in the browser, with automatic hosting Microsoft Power Apps Canvas and model-driven business apps that run in a browser and in the Power Apps mobile app on phone and tablet
- What it generates Bolt.new Full-stack app, built and run in the browser through StackBlitz WebContainers Microsoft Power Apps Canvas and model-driven business apps plus Power Pages sites; Copilot generates the Dataverse tables and relationships from a description, and Plans turns a use case in natural language, with images such as process flows, into a solution blueprint
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Bolt.new
Strengths
- No setup, seamless prompt to deploy
- Multi-framework flexibility
- Great for quick idea validation
Limitations
- Database and auth are not out of the box, they need external services
- Costs rise with larger codebases
- Free limits are reached quickly
Microsoft Power Apps
Strengths
- Copilot builds the Dataverse data model, not just the screens, and keeps editing it conversationally
- Connects to SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and SQL Server through prebuilt connectors, so existing data stays where it is
- Central governance for environments, data loss prevention, access and auditing across the whole tenant
- Free Developer Plan with Dataverse for learning and non-production work
Limitations
- Microsoft cloud only, with no self-hosted option
- What gets built is not an exportable codebase, so leaving the platform means rebuilding
- Copilot app generation depends on Dataverse access and is limited by region availability
- Priced per user per month, so cost tracks how many colleagues run the app rather than how many apps exist
Plans
Pricing
Bolt.new
- Free $0 Limits are reached quickly.
- Credits Not stated
Microsoft Power Apps
- Power Apps Developer Plan $0 Three developer environments, prebuilt and custom connectors, 2 GB Dataverse database and 750 flows a month. For building and testing, not for production.
- Power Apps Premium $22 Per user per month on annual billing. Unlimited Power Apps and Power Pages for the assigned user, prebuilt and custom connectors, 250 MB database and 2 GB file capacity, agentic features in model-driven apps and Microsoft 365 Copilot chat.
- Power Apps Premium, 2,000+ seats $14 Per user per month on annual billing at volume, with a 2,000 seat minimum. Same features as standard Premium.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Bolt.new
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Microsoft Power Apps
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Bolt.new https://bolt.new · no check date recorded yet
Microsoft Power Apps https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-apps · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.