The office manager's question is rarely "which platform", it is "do I need anyone to build anything". Often not. A Microsoft List with its own form and views handles a register that five people keep. Microsoft Forms plus a flow handles anything outsiders or occasional people submit. A Power App is for when the screens need shaping to the process, and it still costs nothing in licences while the data stays in Lists. All three are already in Microsoft 365 Business; the only thing that ever costs a licence is Dataverse or a premium connector.
Three tools, one decision
| Tool | Use it when | Its limit | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Lists | A register the same few people keep: assets, jobs, leave, visitors, snags. Its built-in form, views, rules and alerts are enough | The form is generic, the phone experience is a shrunken grid, and past 5,000 items views need indexed columns | $0, in Microsoft 365 |
| Microsoft Forms + Power Automate | Someone who does not own the data submits it: a customer enquiry, a site induction, a staff survey, a request | One-way. The person cannot see or edit what they sent; the flow has to put it somewhere | $0 on standard connectors |
| Power Apps on a List | Screens shaped to the process: a phone form usable on site, my-jobs-only views, one step that writes to two lists, validation the List cannot do | Somebody builds and owns it; the data is still a List, so relationships and row security are limited | $0 in licences; $4,000 to $8,000 to build |
| Power Apps on Dataverse | Money on the records, several related tables, who-changed-what, row security | NZ$32.40 per user per month, and the build | Licence plus $8,000 to $18,000 |
Start with the List and see what breaks
Make the List. Typed columns, a couple of views, the built-in form, an alert rule. Run it for a month. Three things happen. Nothing breaks, and you are done for nothing. Or people stop filling it in because the form is fiddly on a phone, or the process needs two lists touched at once, or someone needs to see only their own rows. Each of those is the exact spec for a Power App, written by the month you spent, and the app costs less to build because the List already has the columns. The failure mode to avoid is the fourth: the List grows to 30 columns and three tabs of views and becomes the spreadsheet that became the business, only in SharePoint.
Forms is for outsiders and occasions
The tell for Forms is that the person typing does not own the record. A customer booking, a subcontractor's induction, a candidate's details, a one-off staff survey. Forms is fast to build, works for anyone with the link, and the flow behind it writes the response into a List (or Dataverse) as a proper row. Where firms misuse it is for the daily register: five staff filling in a Form every day for something they need to look up and edit later, with nowhere to look. That is a List with a form, or an app. Forms itself caps out at 200 questions and, on a Microsoft 365 plan, 5,000,000 responses, covered in Microsoft Forms limits.
What a Power App adds, and what it does not
It adds the screen. A form with big buttons that works one-handed in the rain. A gallery of my jobs, sorted by due date, with a status button. A step that creates the job and the first task in one press. Validation that the List cannot express. It does not add relationships, row security or audit history; those come from moving the data to Dataverse, which is a separate decision with a per-user price attached, worked through in SharePoint or Dataverse: how to choose. Most small-firm apps I build stay on Lists for years. If the alternative you're actually weighing is a paid tool rather than a bigger Power App, Power Apps vs Airtable, Notion and monday.com prices that comparison instead.
Three real shapes
- Visitor and contractor sign-in. Forms on a tablet at reception, flow to a List, alert to the host. No app.
- Vehicle and plant register. A List with a WOF-due view and a monthly reminder rule. No app, until the mechanic needs to log a check from the yard on a phone; then a two-screen app.
- Job register with quotes and invoices. Starts as a List, becomes an app within a quarter, and the day invoices need reconciling it moves to Dataverse. The path is in the migration hub; the licence maths in what a custom Power App costs.
Common questions
What is the difference between Microsoft Lists and Power Apps?
Microsoft Lists is the data: a table in SharePoint with typed columns, views, rules and a built-in form, included in Microsoft 365. Power Apps is a custom screen on top of data, which can be a List. If the List's own form and views do the job, you do not need Power Apps. You build the app when the screens need to be shaped to the process: a one-handed phone form on site, a screen that shows only my jobs, a step that talks to two lists at once.
When should I use Microsoft Forms instead of a List?
When the person entering the data is not the person who owns it: a customer, a candidate, a staff member filling in a one-off. Forms is anonymous-friendly and quick; a Power Automate flow drops each response into a List or Dataverse as a row. If the same five people enter and edit the same records all week, skip Forms and give them the List or an app.
Does a Microsoft List cost anything?
No. Lists, Forms and Power Automate with standard connectors are inside Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium. A Power App on a List is also included. The first thing that costs money is Dataverse or a premium connector, at NZ$32.40 per user per month for Power Apps Premium.
When does a Power App earn its build cost?
When the List's form is losing you time or data: staff on phones with gloves on, a process that touches two or three lists in one step, rules the List cannot enforce, or a screen per role. At that point a focused app is $4,000 to $8,000, still with no licence cost if the data stays in Lists.
A shared List is exactly what a real estate or architecture practice needs to stop an enquiry going cold: how to follow up automatically without it turning into spam.
Where to start
Tell me who enters the data, who edits it, and whether money sits on it. One free 30-minute call and you get List, Form or app, and if it is a List you can build it yourself that afternoon.