Exotool vs Power Apps
Power Apps is Microsoft's low-code builder for business apps: canvas and model-driven apps on Dataverse, inside the Microsoft 365 world, licensed per user. Exotool is a builder for apps you give to anyone, customers included: you design the app as a diagram, Exotool generates the whole stack as source you own, and you run it on a host of your choice, with no licence per person who uses it.
Side by side
| Microsoft Power Apps | Exotool | |
|---|---|---|
| Who the app is for | Licensed users inside your Microsoft tenant; each needs a Power Apps licence (or a Microsoft 365 entitlement for standard connectors). | Anyone: customers, members, the public. No licence per user of the app. |
| What describes the app | Screens and formulas (Power Fx) in the Power Apps studio, data in Dataverse. | One diagram: the screens, how they connect, and the activities behind them. |
| How the app is made | Interpreted by the Power Apps runtime in the Microsoft cloud. | A patented engine generates the device side, the server side and the APIs between them. |
| Where it runs | In Microsoft's cloud, on Dataverse and Azure. | In Exotool's sandbox while you build; then on any web-capable hosting platform you choose. |
| The source code | No exportable source; the app exists inside Power Platform. | Yours. Exotool gives you the generated code; deploy it where you want. |
| Your data | In Dataverse (capacity add-on $40 per GB a month, paid yearly) or through connectors. | In your own database, with the app. |
| Leaving | The app stays in Power Platform. | Take the code and the database with you. No lock-in. |
| AI | Copilot in the studio and in model-driven apps. | Claude builds and changes the app through the Exotool connector; you see every change in the diagram. |
| Phones and tablets | Canvas apps run in the Power Apps mobile app on iOS and Android; model-driven apps in the browser. | A progressive web app that runs on iOS and Android alike, installed from the browser; no app-store build. Native iOS apps: in beta. |
| Pricing (published October 2026) | Developer plan free (development only); Premium $20 per user a month, paid yearly ($12 at 2,000 seats and more). Every person who uses the app is a licensed user. | Free (one app); Basic $19 a month (three apps); Pro $49 a month (unlimited): per builder, not per user of the app. |
Microsoft Power Apps's facts and prices are as published on its own site on October 17, 2026, and may have changed since; check there before deciding. Power Apps is a trademark of its owner. Exotool is not affiliated with it.
Where Power Apps is the better choice
- Your users all live in Microsoft 365 and you want the app inside Teams, SharePoint and Dataverse with Microsoft's governance.
- You need the hundreds of enterprise connectors and the Power Automate flows that come with the platform.
- You have Power Apps licences already, through Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365.
Where Exotool is the better choice
- The app is for customers, members or the public, where a per-user licence makes no sense.
- You want to own the code and the data, and to run the app anywhere, not only in Microsoft's cloud.
- You want Claude to build and change the app, and to see exactly what changed, in one diagram.
Try it
Exotool is free to start: one app, the editor, the preview, and the Claude connector. Sign up on the pricing section of the home page, or read how to build an app with Claude: connect it, describe the app you have in mind, and Claude builds a first version you can open on your phone within minutes.
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