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
AI App Builders Comparison
Microsoft Power Apps vs. OutSystems
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for enterprise IT teams that want AI-generated applications inside a governed low-code platform with its own architecture guard rails.
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Microsoft Power Apps | OutSystems |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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 Personal Edition; OutSystems Developer Cloud quoted by the vendor ODC is metered on three things: application complexity in Application Objects, which is the sum of screens, database tables and API methods, with a typical medium app around 150 AOs; the number of internal and external end users; and advanced add-ons. A base subscription starts with one medium production application and 100 internal users. |
| Free trial | Free Power Apps Developer Plan for non-production use; separately a 30-day trial of the per-user plan, extendable twice to 90 days | Free Personal Edition, no credit card required, for up to 100 internal users |
| Output | Canvas and model-driven business apps that run in a browser and in the Power Apps mobile app on phone and tablet | Full-stack enterprise web and mobile applications with data model, server-side logic and UI screens |
| API | Yes, Dataverse and Power Platform developer APIs, plus prebuilt and custom connectors | Yes, API-first with CI/CD APIs and APIs for uploading external libraries |
| Hosting | Microsoft cloud, managed per environment from the Power Platform admin center | OutSystems Cloud on AWS; self-hosting is available as an advanced add-on |
| What it generates | 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 | Full-stack enterprise applications: Mentor generates the data model, server-side logic and UI screens from a natural language prompt or an uploaded requirements document, shows a visual blueprint before building, and then evolves the app through conversation inside the IDE with human sign-off on each implementation plan |
| Stack and frameworks | 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 | .NET Core on Linux containers, each application isolated in its own container, orchestrated with Kubernetes on AWS; developers extend apps with custom .NET code uploaded as high-code external libraries, whose methods are exposed to the visual editor as server actions |
| Auth and database | 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 | Amazon Aurora Serverless with PostgreSQL compatibility as the managed database; ISO 27001 compliance is included and SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS are advanced add-ons |
| Hosting and 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 | OutSystems Cloud with development, testing and production runtimes and a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee, upgradeable to 99.95 percent; extra runtimes and a self-hosted option are advanced add-ons. Built-in CI/CD pipelines with monitoring, tracing and logging |
| Payments | 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 | No checkout of its own; payment providers are integrated through components from the OutSystems Forge, including Stripe connectors for both ODC and OutSystems 11 that handle charges, customers and refunds, and a payments plugin covering Apple Pay, Google Pay and Stripe |
| Access to the code | 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 | Applications are built visually rather than in a repository of hand-written source; custom C# and .NET logic enters as external libraries uploaded through the SDK and APIs, decorated so their methods surface as server actions |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Not stated | Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | more entries Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Integrations | Microsoft Dataverse, SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Stripe, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate | Not stated |
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 Microsoft Power Apps Free Developer Plan; Power Apps Premium from $22 / user / month OutSystems Free Personal Edition; OutSystems Developer Cloud quoted by the vendor
- Free trial 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 OutSystems Free Personal Edition, no credit card required, for up to 100 internal users
- Deployment Microsoft Power Apps Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based OutSystems Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Company size Microsoft Power Apps Small and mid-sized, Enterprise OutSystems Enterprise
- Hosting Microsoft Power Apps Microsoft cloud, managed per environment from the Power Platform admin center OutSystems OutSystems Cloud on AWS; self-hosting is available as an advanced add-on
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
OutSystems
Strengths
- Mentor generates a complete application, data model and server logic included, from a requirements document rather than only from a chat prompt
- Shows a visual blueprint and asks for sign-off before applying changes, instead of building unseen
- Runs on containerised .NET Core with Kubernetes, managed Aurora PostgreSQL and built-in CI/CD, monitoring and tracing
- Free Personal Edition for up to 100 internal users needs no credit card
- Self-hosting is available, unlike most tools in this category
Limitations
- No published prices at all, so every evaluation starts with a sales conversation
- Pricing is metered on Application Objects and user counts, which makes cost hard to predict as an app grows
- The Personal Edition is a development runtime only and cannot run production apps
- Self-hosting, 24x7 support, higher uptime and SOC 2 or PCI DSS compliance are all paid add-ons rather than part of the base subscription
- Base support is 8x5 business hours
Plans
Pricing
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.
OutSystems
- OutSystems Personal Edition $0 Free, no credit card required. Development runtime only, up to 100 internal users, hosted on OutSystems Cloud. For test applications, not production, and with no uptime guarantee or compliance options.
- OutSystems Developer Cloud Custom Quoted by the vendor, priced on application complexity in Application Objects, end user counts and add-ons. Includes development, testing and production runtimes, professional support 8x5, OutSystems Cloud hosting, a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee and ISO 27001. Starts with 100 internal users and one medium-sized application.
- Advanced add-ons Custom 24x7 professional support, additional non-production and production runtimes, a self-hosted option, a 99.95 percent uptime upgrade, SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS compliance, and additional users or larger applications.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
OutSystems
- 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
Microsoft Power Apps https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-apps · no check date recorded yet
OutSystems https://www.outsystems.com · 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.