Power Automate costs a small NZ business nothing until a flow touches a premium connector, and then it costs NZ$24.30 per user per month for each person who owns or triggers that flow, or NZ$242.70 a month to licence one flow on its own so anyone can run it. Most flows a 5 to 20 person firm wants (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Forms, approvals) stay free. The ones that surprise people are SQL Server, Xero, the HTTP action and anything on your own server.
The licence line for each migration home is worked through on the Power Platform migration hub.
What does Microsoft 365 already include?
Every Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard or Premium seat comes with Power Automate for what Microsoft calls personal productivity. In practice that is a lot: automated, scheduled and button flows; every standard connector; and 6,000 actions a day per user. Standard connectors cover the Microsoft 365 services you already use (SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, Forms, Planner, Excel Online, To Do, Approvals) plus a long list of common third-party services that Microsoft has left in the standard tier. For a firm whose data lives in SharePoint lists and whose people live in Outlook and Teams, that is enough to automate most of the office.
What makes a flow need a paid licence?
One premium step anywhere in a flow makes the whole flow premium, and then the licence question is who owns it (for automated and scheduled flows) or who pressed the button (for instant flows). The premium triggers that matter to small firms:
| Step | Tier | Why a small firm hits it |
|---|---|---|
| SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Forms, Planner, Excel Online, Approvals | Standard | Included. The bulk of office automation. |
| SQL Server, Azure SQL | Premium | The job database on the server in the cupboard |
| On-premises data gateway | Premium | Anything on your own network: SQL, a file share, an old app |
| HTTP action, custom connectors | Premium | Calling any web API that has no ready-made connector |
| Xero (third-party connector) | Premium | Invoices out of the job system into Xero |
| Dataverse | Premium, unless the flow runs from a licensed Power App | Any app built on Dataverse |
| Desktop flows (RPA) | Premium, and unattended needs Process | Driving an old Windows program that has no API |
The full list is in premium connectors, explained. The pattern is not 'Microsoft is standard, outside is premium'. Microsoft's own Dataverse, SQL Server, Azure Blob Storage and Business Central connectors are premium, while Dropbox, Google Drive, Gmail and Trello are standard. Check the tier of each connector on Microsoft's list before you design around it.
What are the NZ licence prices?
| Licence | NZD, paid yearly | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Included with Microsoft 365 | $0 | Standard connectors, 6,000 actions a day per user |
| Power Automate Premium | NZ$24.30 per user per month | Premium and custom connectors, gateway, one attended desktop bot, 40,000 actions a day, 250 MB Dataverse database capacity |
| Power Automate Process | NZ$242.70 per bot per month | One flow or one machine licensed on its own, no named user, 250,000 actions a day, unattended desktop automation |
| Pay-as-you-go | USD 0.60 per premium cloud flow run (Azure billing) | Flows that run rarely for many people; standard-only runs are free |
| Power Apps Premium | NZ$32.40 per user per month | Also covers flows that support that user's Power App (linked to the app and using its data), so you rarely need both. A flow that has nothing to do with the app still needs Power Automate Premium. |
Source: Microsoft's NZ pricing page for Power Automate, checked September 2026. Pay-as-you-go is billed in USD through Azure. The Process licence is the one people mis-buy. It is not a licence for a person. You allocate it to an environment, assign it to one flow, and then anyone can run that flow with its own 250,000 requests a day. A nightly schedule does not need one, because a scheduled flow only needs a licensed owner. At NZ$242.70 a month it only makes sense when the alternative is licensing about ten or more people at NZ$24.30 each, when the flow needs more than 40,000 requests a day, or when you run unattended desktop automation.
How much do three different firm sizes pay?
These assume the common small-firm mix: a job or client register, quotes and invoices, a few approvals, and Xero. The only variable that matters is whether the data is in SharePoint or somewhere premium.
| Firm | Flows | Licences needed | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people, data in SharePoint lists, approvals in Teams, invoices typed into Xero by hand | All standard | None beyond Microsoft 365 | $0 |
| 5 people, same, plus one nightly flow that pushes invoices into Xero | One premium flow, one owner | 1 x Power Automate Premium | NZ$292 |
| 10 people, job system on SQL Server behind a gateway, three staff trigger flows against it | Premium, three triggering users | 3 x Power Automate Premium (or 3 x Power Apps Premium if they also use an app on it) | NZ$875 (or NZ$1,166) |
| 20 people, Dataverse app for everyone, flows run from the app, plus a Xero sync that is not part of the app | App-context flows covered by Power Apps Premium, one standalone premium flow | 20 x Power Apps Premium, plus 1 x Power Automate Premium for whoever owns the Xero sync | NZ$8,068 (NZ$7,776 + NZ$292) |
| 20 people, same, but the Xero sync runs under a service account with no licensed user | One premium flow with no licensed owner | 20 x Power Apps Premium, plus 1 x Process assigned to the flow | NZ$10,688 (NZ$7,776 + NZ$2,912) |
Two things fall out of that table. First, the Xero line: one NZ$24.30 licence for whoever owns the sync flow (plus the connector vendor's own subscription) is almost always the right answer, and a Process licence for it is a NZ$2,912.40 a year mistake unless the flow needs more than 40,000 requests a day or cannot sensibly have a licensed owner. Second, the moment the data moves to Dataverse or stays on SQL Server, the licence bill is driven by Power Apps Premium at NZ$32.40, not by Power Automate at all; which is why SharePoint or Dataverse is the decision that sets your automation cost for the next five years, and moving a SQL Server database into Microsoft 365 walks through it.
How do small firms overpay?
Paying for the wrong fix is one; the other side is a flow that gets switched off because nobody dealt with throttling, covered in the 14-day and 90-day rules that turn a flow off.
- Licensing everyone because one flow is premium. Only the owner of an automated flow needs the licence. Ten people can benefit from a flow one person owns.
- Using the HTTP action when a standard connector exists. One HTTP step makes the flow premium. Check the connector list first.
- Buying Process for a flow that could have a licensed owner. NZ$242.70 a month versus NZ$24.30. Give the flow to the office manager and name a second owner, so it survives someone leaving.
And one way they underpay and get caught: a flow built during a trial, running premium connectors, that keeps working for a while after the trial lapses and then stops on a Friday. If a flow matters, put a real licence on its owner. The comparison with Zapier and Make, if you are weighing those instead, is in Power Automate vs Zapier vs Make. The cheapest fix for one is not licensing it at all: a one-step sign-off often does not need a flow, see the Teams Approvals app versus Power Automate. Cost aside, every flow also carries its own action count and daily request ceiling, set out in the Power Automate limits post.
A licence lapse is one reason a flow quietly stops; the other causes are in why did my flow just stop running.
Common questions
Is Power Automate free with Microsoft 365?
Partly. Every Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium seat includes Power Automate with the standard connectors (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Forms, Excel Online, Planner) and 6,000 actions a day per user. It does not include premium connectors, the HTTP action, custom connectors, the on-premises gateway, or desktop automation. The moment a flow touches one of those, someone needs a paid licence.
How much is a Power Automate Premium license in NZ?
NZ$24.30 per user per month, paid yearly, on Microsoft's NZ price list. That user can build and run any number of flows with premium connectors and gets 40,000 actions a day. Power Automate Process licenses a single flow, or an unattended bot, on its own so no named user is needed: NZ$242.70 per bot per month, per environment.
Which connectors turn a free flow into a paid one?
SQL Server, Azure SQL, Dynamics 365, the HTTP action, any custom connector, the on-premises data gateway, and many third-party connectors, a Xero one among them. SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Forms, Planner and Excel Online stay standard. Dataverse is covered when the flow runs from a Power App the user is licensed for, otherwise it is premium too.
Can I pay per flow run instead of per user?
Yes, through pay-as-you-go linked to an Azure subscription: USD 0.60 per premium cloud flow run, and flows that only use standard connectors are not charged. It suits a flow that runs a few times a month for many people. A flow that runs daily for one person is cheaper on the NZ$24.30 Premium licence.
Want the number for your own flows?
List the systems a flow would touch and I will tell you in one free 30-minute call what it costs to licence properly, and whether a standard-only design gets you there for nothing.