FluidGrids vs Microsoft Power Automate
Automation for organisations that already run on Microsoft 365. See how FluidGrids compares on builder, embedding, versioning, recovery, and pricing.
What Microsoft Power Automate is
Power Automate is Microsoft’s automation layer across Power Platform and Microsoft 365, combining cloud flows, desktop RPA, Copilot generation, and process mining. Its gravity comes from M365 integration and licensing bundles — and that same gravity is its constraint: Microsoft identity and branding are unavoidable, so it cannot be white-labelled into your product.
Founded: 2016 · Redmond, WA · www.microsoft.com/power-platform/products/power-automate
Strengths
- 1,400+ connectors and the deepest Microsoft 365 / Azure integration
- Copilot generates and self-heals flows from natural language
- Attended and unattended desktop RPA alongside cloud flows
- Process mining and AI Builder included on Premium
- Native iOS, Android and Windows apps
- Entra SSO, Purview audit, DLP and the full Microsoft compliance suite
Weaknesses
- Largely linear designer; complex branching is awkward
- No white-label — Microsoft branding and identity are mandatory
- Licensing is complex: per user, per bot, per flow, plus add-ons
- Immature cloud-flow versioning compared with recipe/Git models
- Cloud-only; documented throttling limits and no durable-execution model
- Real value depends on being inside the Microsoft ecosystem
Feature comparison
Head-to-head across the dimensions that matter for visual workflow automation.
| Dimension | FluidGrids | Competitor |
|---|---|---|
Builder paradigm FluidGrids | Free-form React Flow canvas — branching, loops, parallel paths, drop-on-edge insert, inline quick-config, sticky notes | Sequential cloud-flow designer with branching; separate desktop RPA designer |
Connector catalog Competitor | 30 store nodes live in the builder (21 third-party connectors) plus 21 built-in flow-control nodes, and growing | 1,400+ connectors (600+ premium) |
Triggers Competitor | Manual/API, webhook, cron schedule, hosted form, and error triggers (a run can start when another workflow fails) | Automated, instant, scheduled and desktop/UI triggers |
Workflow versioning FluidGrids | Immutable version on every save; runs pin to their exact version; restore any version into a fresh draft | Solution-based ALM; cloud-flow version history is limited |
Run recovery FluidGrids | Cancel, pause, resume, terminate — plus retry a single failed node with its original inputs | Resubmit a failed run; configure retry policies per action |
Observability & logs | Live per-node state plus a streaming run log, including whatever your own Code nodes print | Run history per flow plus Power Platform analytics and Purview audit |
Dashboard ETL Competitor | A single data sink node streams any workflow’s output into a live BigConsole dashboard feed | Dataverse, Microsoft Fabric and Power BI integration |
Embeddable builder FluidGrids | React SDK at three integration depths — no iframe, no FluidGrids branding — plus a public read-only embed viewer | Flow widgets can be embedded, but Microsoft branding and a Microsoft identity are required — no white-label |
AI agents & LLM nodes | AI Agent node with chat-model, memory and tool sub-nodes; any workflow can be bound as an agent tool | AI Builder models and Copilot Studio agents, licensed separately |
AI-assisted generation Competitor | Describe a workflow in the assistant and get a builder-ready draft; a second mode builds a whole connector node from a prompt | Copilot builds and repairs flows from a prompt |
Multi-tenancy | Workspace-native isolation with gateway-enforced RBAC, audit and metering inherited from the Burdenoff platform | Environments and Entra RBAC within one Microsoft tenant |
Deployment | Fully managed cloud; no self-hosted edition | Microsoft cloud only; on-premises data gateway for local sources |
Enterprise compliance Competitor | Encrypted credentials, RBAC, audit trail, SSO; formal SOC 2 / HIPAA attestations not yet in hand | ISO, SOC, GDPR, HIPAA and FedRAMP via the Microsoft compliance suite |
Pricing model FluidGrids | Usage-based runs; features ungated across tiers | Per user, per bot and per flow licences, plus AI and process-mining add-ons |
Pricing comparison
How FluidGrids' run-based model stacks up against Microsoft Power Automate's billing.
| Plan | FluidGrids | Microsoft Power Automate |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1,000 runs/mo (indicative) | Limited flows bundled with some Microsoft 365 licences |
| Entry paid | ~$19/mo · 10,000 runs | Premium ~$15/user/month (annual) |
| Mid tier | ~$49/mo · unlimited runs | Per-flow ~$500/month for 5 flows |
| Enterprise | Custom | RPA from ~$150/bot/month; hosted bots ~$215/bot/month |
Power Automate licensing stacks: per-user Premium unlocks premium connectors and AI Builder credits, unattended RPA is licensed per bot, org-wide flows use the per-flow plan, and Copilot Studio agents are licensed separately. FluidGrids meters per run with features ungated across tiers. FluidGrids pricing is indicative and unpublished until launch.
Why FluidGrids wins
Specific advantages for teams comparing Microsoft Power Automate and FluidGrids.
Automation you can ship under your own brand (shipped)
Power Automate cannot be white-labelled — embedding it exposes Microsoft branding and requires your users to hold Microsoft identities. FluidGrids embeds as unbranded React components under your router, theme, and sign-in, so your customers never learn whose engine they are using.
One meter instead of a licence matrix
Power Automate charges per user, per bot, and per flow, with separate add-ons for AI Builder, process mining, and Copilot Studio agents. FluidGrids meters per run and leaves features ungated across tiers. (Run metering is built; public pricing is set at launch.)
Version safety + surgical recovery (shipped)
Cloud-flow versioning is the weakest part of the Power Platform story. Every FluidGrids save mints an immutable version, runs pin to it, and a failed node can be retried on its own with its original inputs.
No Microsoft ecosystem required (shipped)
Power Automate’s value is proportional to how much of your stack is already Microsoft. FluidGrids is ecosystem-neutral: a manifest-driven connector catalog, a GraphQL API, and a builder that drops into any React app.
Automation that is not tied to one vendor’s ecosystem
Start free on FluidGrids for visual workflow automation you can embed under your own brand, metered per run instead of per licence.