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Async Plugins vs. Power Automate Flows

Async Plugins vs. Power Automate Flows

Choosing Your Automation Tool

Choosing the right tool for automation and business logic in the Power Platform and Dynamics 365 is crucial for building scalable, maintainable, and performant solutions. Both asynchronous plugins and Power Automate flows can execute logic in the background, but they are designed for different scenarios and user profiles. This interactive guide provides a comparative overview to help you determine the most suitable option for your specific requirements.

At-a-Glance Comparison

This chart provides a visual summary of the relative strengths of each tool across key decision factors. Hover over the points for more details.

Interactive Criterion Explorer

Select a criterion to see a direct, side-by-side comparison. This helps in focusing on the factors that matter most to you.

Asynchronous Plugins

Power Automate Flows

Full Decision Matrix

For a comprehensive overview, you can view the complete comparison table.

Summary & Recommendations

When to use Async Plugins

Plugins are the preferred choice for performance-critical, complex business logic that operates exclusively within Dataverse and must be part of the platform's transactional pipeline. They are a powerful tool for professional developers extending the core functionality of the platform.

When to use Power Automate

Flows excel in scenarios that involve integrations with other applications and services, scheduled automations, and empowering non-developers to create their own automations. Their strength lies in versatility and ease of use for tasks that span beyond Dataverse.

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