Difference Between Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps (With Table)

There are different types of services available for all our works. It can be anything related to our work, and choosing the perfect one for us is important. In this, services from Microsoft are available, and the first is using Microsoft Flow, and the other is Logic Apps. People can use this for their flow and their apps related items.

Microsoft Flow vs Logic Apps

The main difference between Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps is that in Microsoft Flow, people will be able to do many tasks using different applications. Logic apps will help people to work on cloud-based platforms, and they can build apps, services, data, and systems. The service used in Microsoft Flow is office 365. In contrast, the service used in Logic Apps is Microsoft Azure. 

Microsoft Flow is used by people who are in the business where they need the proper flow. You can stick to the free plan if your runs are very less and you don’t want them to check every minute. But if you want more runs, then you should subscribe to one of their plans which will give you more runs, and will check them frequently. 

Logic apps are useful for people to run apps and other services that are available in the cloud. Once you sign in to the Azure portal, you can find lots of options to get started with and will be able to find triggering options as well. But the drawback once you have created the name of the logic app, you cannot rename it. You can only use a clone with that existing name. 

Comparison Table Between Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps

Parameters of Comparison

Microsoft Flow

Logic Apps

Definition

It is used by people where they concentrate on workflow

It is used by people to run their apps on cloud-based platforms

Designer

Browser-based

Browser-based and visual studio based

Service

Office 365

Microsoft Azure

Use

It will help workers to perform tasks using multiple applications

It will help you to create and run your apps, services, and data

Evolution

October 2016

2014

What is Microsoft Flow?

Microsoft flow will help you to connect and work with different applications together. These applications can even be used on the cloud as well. This is available in Office 365. You need a license to use that. Also, you need to pay some amount on a monthly basis to use them. People who are very keen on doing a business need Microsoft flow so that they can work with it. 

They have some free plans as well, and they will let you create unlimited flows. But the drawback is you can do only 750 runs per month. If you want to do more than that, then you should stick to one of their plans. In their monthly plan, they will allow you to run 4500 runs, and the checking will happen every 3 minutes. Also, they will give you some premium connectors with that, such as Mailchimp and Salesforce. This is also available in Dynamic 365, and you can find it in some other power apps as well.

This is very useful where you mainly concentrate only on the workflow. To get access to this, you need to have a Microsoft account. Creating a Microsoft account is very simple, and it is the same as how you create an email account. Once you have created the account, you can start using them by exploring the apps available. If you don’t like any of the available templates, then you can create one on your own from scratch.  

What is Logic Apps?

Logic Apps is one of the cloud-based platforms where you can run your apps, services, data, and systems. It is one of the products of Microsoft Azure. It will provide you with serverless workflows. Logic Apps will work based on how you plan and construct them. It is free only when you do a preview. You can run logic apps on Kubernetes clusters and in other cloud services as well.

Logic apps use coding languages such as js and typescript, python, Powershell, and java. They will give you a designer first experience by giving visual workflow with access to the portal. The logic app can run for 120 seconds. This is the default running time limit. Since it has many features, it is considered to be very expensive. Before you start working, check on the other services like these and calculate the cost and then proceed to buy them.

For triggering purposes, you can sign in to the logic app portal. Then create a blank logic app. Once you have done that, the logic app window will open. In that, you will find a search box. In that search box, enter the HTTP request. Then triggers list will appear. You can select the one you want. In logic apps, you can also have multiple triggers at the same time. You can have up to 10 of them at a single time. 

Main Differences Between Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps

  1. Microsoft flow is used by business people to concentrate on their workflow. On the other hand, Logic Apps is used by people to run their apps and other services.
  2. Microsoft flow is a browser-based design. On the other hand, logic apps are browser-based and visual studio-based.
  3. The service used in Microsoft Flow is office 365. But the service used in logic apps is Microsoft Azure.
  4. Microsoft flow will help people to do tasks using multiple applications. On the other hand, logic apps will help you to create apps, data, systems, and services.
  5. Microsoft flow was first launched in October 2016. On the other hand, logic apps were launched in 2014.

Conclusion

Both these are used by many people in their business. But the thing here is they have some free edition. But you cannot get everything in their free edition. If you use their paid services and pay them monthly, then you will get access to their resources and some other additional resources as well. Depending on your work, you can select the one for you.

But remember before you start buying them you should compare and check them with some other services and calculate the amount so that you can arrive at a conclusion and find the perfect one for you. Without doing the research, you might end up buying the expensive one. 

References

  1. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1247203
  2. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8400279/