Yes, Power Automate is included in Microsoft 365, for anything that uses the standard connectors. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium all include it, and so do the bigger enterprise plans. Standard connectors cover the Microsoft 365 apps a small business actually runs on (Outlook, SharePoint, Excel Online, Teams, OneDrive, Forms, Planner) plus a good list of third-party ones such as Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack, Dropbox and Trello. What you don't get without paying extra is the premium connectors (things like SQL Server, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Stripe and Dataverse), the HTTP action for calling other systems' APIs, and running desktop automations from the cloud. For those you need Power Automate Premium, which Microsoft UK lists at £11.50 per user per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT.
So if your question is "can we automate things without buying anything new", the answer for most Microsoft 365 businesses is yes, quite a lot.
What can you build with the Microsoft 365 licence alone?
More than you'd expect, because the things a small business wants to automate tend to live in Microsoft 365 already.
A flow can watch an Outlook inbox and save attachments into a SharePoint folder with a sensible name. It can send an email when a new file lands in a SharePoint library, or when a row in an Excel table changes. It can take a Microsoft Forms submission (a holiday request, a site report, an enquiry form) and put it into a SharePoint list, then post a message in a Teams channel so the right person sees it. It can run every morning at 7, read a list or a spreadsheet, and send each person a summary of what's on today. The daily business summary email goes through how that kind of email is put together.
None of that needs a premium licence, as long as everything it touches is a standard connector. And it's not just Microsoft apps. Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Slack, Trello, Dropbox, plain FTP and SFTP are all standard too, so a business with a foot in both camps isn't stuck.
One caveat worth knowing: Microsoft describes the Microsoft 365 rights as being for extending Microsoft 365 and personal productivity, and recommends Premium for bigger business-wide processes. In practice, the line you'll actually bump into is the standard versus premium one below.
What's the difference between standard and premium connectors?
A connector is the bit of Power Automate that knows how to talk to a particular app. Microsoft sorts them into two tiers, and the tier decides whether your Microsoft 365 licence covers it.
Standard connectors are included with Microsoft 365. That's the Microsoft 365 apps themselves, plus many third-party apps whose makers have built a connector in the standard tier.
Premium connectors need a paid Power Automate licence. That includes databases (SQL Server, Azure storage), Microsoft's own Dataverse, business systems like Salesforce and Dynamics 365 Business Central, marketing and payment tools like Mailchimp and Stripe, and custom connectors you build yourself. The HTTP action, which lets a flow call any system with a web API, is premium as well, and so is the on-premises data gateway, which is how a flow reaches a server in your own office.
If you're on Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage, it's worth knowing that Power Automate has no Microsoft-built connector for any of them. Xero has third-party connectors, both premium and both still in preview; QuickBooks Online and Sage Accounting would mean using the HTTP action, which is also premium. Before going near any of that, remember all three send overdue invoice reminders on their own, so if chasing is the job, switch that on first. And if accounting automation is the main thing you want, the Power Automate vs Zapier vs Make comparison is worth a read, because the other two have stronger accounting connectors.
The easiest way to check a specific app: when you add a step in Power Automate, premium connectors carry a small "Premium" label. If you can build the whole flow without seeing one, your Microsoft 365 licence covers it.
What needs Power Automate Premium, and what does it cost?
Here's the table I'd use to answer it quickly. Prices are Microsoft's published UK prices, paid yearly, excluding VAT.
| What you want to do | Included in Microsoft 365? | Licence needed |
|---|---|---|
| Save Outlook attachments to SharePoint or OneDrive | Yes | None extra |
| Email someone when a file lands in SharePoint | Yes | None extra |
| Add or update rows in an Excel table stored in OneDrive or SharePoint | Yes | None extra |
| Turn a Microsoft Forms response into a SharePoint list item and a Teams message | Yes | None extra |
| Send a 7am summary email from a SharePoint list or Excel file | Yes | None extra |
| Copy rows between Google Sheets and Excel, or post to Slack | Yes | None extra |
| Read or write a SQL Server database | No | Power Automate Premium, plus a gateway if the server is in your office |
| Call another system's web API with the HTTP action | No | Power Automate Premium |
| Create invoices or contacts in Xero | No | Power Automate Premium, plus the third-party connector's own licence where it has one |
| Use Dataverse, Salesforce, Mailchimp or Stripe | No | Power Automate Premium |
| Record and replay clicks in an old Windows app, while you watch | Not needed: it comes with Windows | Power Automate for desktop, free on Windows 10 and 11 |
| Start that desktop automation from a cloud flow | No | Power Automate Premium (£11.50 per user per month) |
| Run a desktop automation unattended overnight | No | Power Automate Process (£115.30 per bot per month) |
| Let the whole team use one premium flow without licensing each person | No | Power Automate Process, assigned to that flow |
Power Automate Premium is the per-person licence: £11.50 per user per month, paid yearly. Whoever owns a scheduled or automated flow that uses premium connectors needs it, and so does anyone who runs a premium flow manually. It also includes the ability to run desktop automations from the cloud on your own registered PC while you're logged in, and some AI Builder credits.
Power Automate Process is the per-automation licence: £115.30 a month, paid yearly. You assign it to a single flow, and then anyone in the organisation can use that flow regardless of their own licence. It's also what you need to run desktop automations unattended. For a small business it usually only makes sense when one premium flow serves a lot of people, because otherwise one or two Premium licences are far cheaper.
There's also a Hosted Process licence at £165.30 a month, where Microsoft provides the machine the desktop automation runs on. Most small businesses won't need it.
Are there limits on how much you can run?
Yes, but they're generous for small business use. Power Automate counts actions rather than charging per run, and each person gets a daily allowance based on their licence.
On a Microsoft 365 licence it's 6,000 actions per person per 24 hours. With Power Automate Premium it's 40,000. A Process licence gives the flow it's assigned to 250,000. An action is any step a flow takes, including the small built-in ones, and failed steps and retries count too. Microsoft is currently applying slightly looser limits per flow while it finishes rolling out usage reporting, but it's sensible to plan around the official numbers.
To put 6,000 into perspective: a morning summary flow that reads a list, loops through 20 people and sends each an email might use 60 or 70 actions a day. A flow that saves attachments might use five or six actions per email. You'd have to be doing something quite heavy, like looping through thousands of spreadsheet rows every hour, to come anywhere near it. If you do, the fix is usually a better-built flow before it's a bigger licence.
Unused actions don't roll over to the next day, and scheduled or automated flows use the allowance of whoever owns them, which is worth knowing if one person owns every flow in the business.
Is Power Automate for desktop free?
Yes, on Windows. Power Automate for desktop comes preinstalled on Windows 11, and Windows 10 users can download it. It records and replays what you do with the mouse and keyboard, which is how you automate old software that has no connector and no API: the accounts package from 2009, the supplier portal that only works in a browser, the spreadsheet that has to be copied into another program line by line.
The free version runs on your own machine while you start it and watch. That's still useful, because "click this button and wait five minutes" beats "spend an hour retyping". What costs money is starting desktop automations from a cloud flow (Premium) and running them unattended, overnight, with nobody logged in (Process).
So do you need to buy anything?
For most small businesses on Microsoft 365, not to start. Pick one boring job that only touches Outlook, SharePoint, Excel, Teams or Forms, build it with what you have, and see it working. The first time you hit a premium label, ask whether that one connector is worth £11.50 a month for the person who owns the flow. Often it is. Sometimes there's a standard route that does the same job.
If you want the wider view of Microsoft's tools and how they fit together, the Power Platform tools guide covers Power Automate alongside Power BI and Power Apps, and the automation cost guide covers what a build costs on top of the licences. And if you'd rather someone else worked out which of your jobs fit inside what you already pay for, my automation check is a 90-minute call that ends with a written list of up to three automations worth building, each with a fixed price, for £295, credited in full against a build.
Common questions
Is Power Automate free?
Partly. If you have Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard or Business Premium, you can build and run flows using standard connectors at no extra cost. Power Automate for desktop is free on Windows 10 and 11 for automations you start yourself. Premium connectors, the HTTP action and running desktop automations from the cloud need a paid licence.
How much does Power Automate Premium cost in the UK?
Microsoft UK lists Power Automate Premium at £11.50 per user per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT. The Process licence, which covers a single automation for everyone in the organisation, is £115.30 per bot per month, paid yearly. Hosted Process, where Microsoft provides the machine, is £165.30 per month.
Which Microsoft 365 plans include Power Automate?
Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium all include Power Automate for standard connectors, as do Office 365 E1, E3 and E5 and Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. The rights are the same across them: standard connectors, with a daily allowance of 6,000 actions per person.
Is the SharePoint connector premium?
No. SharePoint, Outlook, Excel Online (Business), Teams, OneDrive for Business, Forms and Planner are all standard connectors, so they're included with Microsoft 365. Premium examples include SQL Server, Dataverse, Salesforce, Mailchimp and Stripe, plus the HTTP action.
Do I need Power Automate Premium for every user?
No. Only the people who own or run flows that use premium features need it. Someone who just receives an email from a flow, or whose flows only use standard connectors, doesn't. For one premium flow used by lots of people, a single Process licence assigned to that flow can work out cheaper than licensing everyone.
What happens if a flow goes over the daily action limit?
Microsoft can slow it down rather than stop it outright. For most small business flows the limit is never close, because 6,000 actions a day on a Microsoft 365 licence is a lot of emails and rows. If one flow does hit it, the first fix is usually making the flow do less work per run, and the second is giving that flow a Process licence.