What is a premium connector in Power Automate?
By Emil Björk · Microsoft business apps consultant, Gothenburg
A connector Microsoft classifies as premium — including every Dataverse and Dynamics 365 connector, SQL Server, HTTP action, on-premises data gateway, and most third-party paid services. Using one requires a per-user or per-flow Power Automate premium licence on top of the Microsoft 365 seeded plan. Standard connectors (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive) are included with M365; premium is a separate purchase.
This is where 'Power Automate is free' collapses. A flow that reads a SharePoint list and sends a Teams message runs on the seeded M365 licence. Add a step that talks to Dataverse or a SQL database and the run needs a premium licence. Microsoft's connector reference marks each one — check it before you design.
The pricing choice is between per-user (one person can run any number of premium flows) and per-flow (one flow can be run by any number of people). Per-flow gets cheaper once a shared flow serves more than a handful of users; per-user gets cheaper for a developer who owns dozens of flows.
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