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. Quickbase
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for operations teams whose departmental processes have outgrown spreadsheets and whose IT department wants governance around whatever replaces them.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Microsoft Power Apps | Quickbase |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value 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. | From $35 / user / month Team is $35 and Business $55 per user per month, priced annually. Neither figure includes the platform minimum, a base charge on top of the per-user price. All users in an account must be on the same plan. Enterprise is quoted by Quickbase. |
| 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 | 30-day free trial with the Business plan features |
| Output | Canvas and model-driven business apps that run in a browser and in the Power Apps mobile app on phone and tablet | Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation |
| API | Yes, Dataverse and Power Platform developer APIs, plus prebuilt and custom connectors | Yes, JSON REST APIs; the platform analytics API and solutions API are Enterprise only |
| Hosting | Microsoft cloud, managed per environment from the Power Platform admin center | Not stated |
| 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 | Custom operational applications: tables and forms for the data, more than 13 report types and personalised dashboards, roles and permissions, and pipelines for workflow automation. Pave, the AI builder, takes a description of how the work happens today and constructs the application, including data structures with linked records, user roles and permissions, automation and hosting |
| 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 | There is no framework or language to choose. An application is assembled in Quickbase's own builder and runs on Quickbase's platform, and it is widened rather than swapped: more than 40 pre-built Pipelines integration channels connect it to other systems, and Quickbase Extensions, a paid package, adds document generation, e-signatures, SMS, email notifications and mapping to the same app |
| 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 | Quickbase's own tables and linked records, with role-based permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification. Single sign-on and SCIM provisioning arrive with the Business plan; restricting user creation to realm admins and managing token permissions is Enterprise |
| 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 | Hosted by Quickbase, with the application ready to use once built. On-premise connectivity and data warehouse integrations are Enterprise features |
| 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 payment collection or checkout of its own, and none is documented for the apps built on it: these are internal operational applications rather than customer-facing products. Money stays in the systems Quickbase connects to, through the financial software category among the 40+ pre-built Pipelines channels or through the JSON REST APIs |
| 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 | Code pages let a builder add custom HTML, CSS or JavaScript to an app and surface it through a button, a hyperlink, a formula URL field or an iframe; JSON REST APIs cover programmatic access |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Not stated | Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries Microsoft Dataverse, SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Stripe, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate | Salesforce, Jira, ServiceNow, Procore |
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 Quickbase From $35 / user / month
- 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 Quickbase 30-day free trial with the Business plan features
- Output 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 Quickbase Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation
- API Microsoft Power Apps Yes, Dataverse and Power Platform developer APIs, plus prebuilt and custom connectors Quickbase Yes, JSON REST APIs; the platform analytics API and solutions API are Enterprise only
- What it generates 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 Quickbase Custom operational applications: tables and forms for the data, more than 13 report types and personalised dashboards, roles and permissions, and pipelines for workflow automation. Pave, the AI builder, takes a description of how the work happens today and constructs the application, including data structures with linked records, user roles and permissions, automation and hosting
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
Quickbase
Strengths
- Pave builds a working app, data model and permissions included, from a description of the existing process
- Governance is part of the platform: roles and permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification
- No-code connectors to Salesforce, Jira and ServiceNow, plus JSON REST APIs
- Code pages allow custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript where the no-code builder stops
- Quickbase states that customer data is not used to train the AI
Limitations
- The published per-user price excludes a platform minimum that is not published, so the real cost needs a quote
- AI capability beyond Pave, namely the AI agent, Data Analyzer and AI Actions, is a paid Intelligence Package add-on
- Single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance require the Business plan
- All users in an account must be on the same plan, so one requirement can lift the whole account a tier
- Platform analytics and solutions APIs are restricted to Enterprise
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.
Quickbase
- Free trial $0 30 days with the Business plan features.
- Team $35 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Personalised dashboards, 13+ report types, workflow automation, user and data security, encryption and audit logs. The AI Intelligence Package is an optional add-on.
- Business $55 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Everything in Team plus single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, Gantt charts, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance. Quickbase Extensions and the AI Intelligence Package are optional add-ons.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by Quickbase. Everything in Team and Business plus advanced performance tools, advanced encryption, on-premise connectivity, data warehouse integrations, the platform analytics and solutions APIs, and the extensions and AI add-ons.
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.
Quickbase
- 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
Quickbase https://www.quickbase.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.