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Automation Integration · head to head

Microsoft Power Automate vs Orkes

Microsoft Power Automate logo

Microsoft Power Automate

Automation Integration

Automate tasks across cloud and on-premises apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Orkes logo

Orkes

Automation Integration

Commercial Conductor, now the maintainer of the workflow engine Netflix archived

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Power Automate free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans; Orkes netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.
  • They diverge on capability: Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows, Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Power Automate and Orkes actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Power Automate and Orkes differ
AttributeMicrosoft Power AutomateOrkes
Pricing modelUnknownquote
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, DesktopLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud
Founded2016Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Automation Integration).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Microsoft Power Automate

  • Automated flows
  • Instant flows
  • Scheduled flows
  • Desktop automation
  • Process mining
  • Business process flows
  • Approval workflows
  • 500+ connectors

Only in Orkes

  • JSON workflow definitions
  • Polyglot workers
  • Visual workflow builder
  • AI and LLM tasks
  • Human tasks
  • Event handlers
  • RBAC and secrets
  • Hosted or self-hosted

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Microsoft Power Automate

  • Workflow Automationnot Orkes
  • Data Integrationnot Orkes
  • Process Automationnot Orkes
  • App Integrationnot Orkes
  • API Connectivitynot Orkes

Orkes

  • A microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared SDKnot Microsoft Power Automate
  • A team already running Conductor OSS that wants a supported distribution now that Netflix has stopped maintaining itnot Microsoft Power Automate
  • An AI platform composing agent steps, model calls and vector lookups as versioned workflow definitionsnot Microsoft Power Automate
  • A business process needing human approval steps interleaved with automated service callsnot Microsoft Power Automate

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Microsoft Power Automate

  • Free plan limited to 750 flow runs/month and standard connectors only; premium connectors require paid plans
  • Not suitable for long-running workflows; can fail unexpectedly without warning
  • Limited to simple linear logic; fails with complex workflows involving multiple stakeholders
  • Tasks cannot automate at scale when requiring more than approximately 60 users

Orkes

  • Netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.
  • Enterprise pricing is entirely unpublished, and the only free option is explicitly a prototyping sandbox whose limits can change at any time, so there is no supported low-cost entry point.
  • Self-hosting Conductor OSS in production means operating the engine plus its persistence and indexing dependencies, typically Postgres or Cassandra with Elasticsearch, which is a substantial platform commitment.
  • JSON workflow definitions are language agnostic but verbose and awkward to test, and teams accustomed to defining workflows in code find them a step backwards in developer experience.
  • Orkes is a small company whose commercial future is tied to a single open source project it also maintains, which concentrates both vendor and project risk in the same place.

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Power Automate

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 750 flow runs/month
    • Standard connectors only
    • Basic cloud flows
  • Premium$15/user/month
    • Cloud flows (DPA)
    • Attended RPA
    • 250 MB Dataverse database
  • Process$150/bot/month
    • Unattended automation
    • Cloud and desktop flows
    • 50 MB Dataverse database
  • Hosted Process$215/bot/month
    • Microsoft-managed virtual machine
    • Unattended automation
    • Same Dataverse entitlements as Process plan

Orkes

Free
  • Developer EditionFree
    • All Conductor OSS features plus enterprise capabilities
    • Sandbox for prototyping only
    • Rate limits and resources may change without notice
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Availability SLA up to 99.99%
    • Orkes-hosted or customer-hosted deployment
    • Dedicated technical account manager

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Power Automate if

  • You need automated flows.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Desktop.
  • You also want instant flows.
Microsoft Power Automate review

Choose Orkes if

  • You need json workflow definitions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want polyglot workers.
Orkes review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Power Automate or Orkes better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Power Automate starts at Free and Orkes at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Power Automate or Orkes?
Microsoft Power Automate starts at Free and Orkes at Free.
Does Microsoft Power Automate or Orkes run on more platforms?
Microsoft Power Automate runs on Web, Cloud, Desktop. Orkes runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Microsoft Power Automate for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Microsoft Power Automate best used for?
Microsoft Power Automate is most often used for workflow automation, data integration, process automation, app integration. Of those, workflow automation and data integration are not what Orkes is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Power Automate do that Orkes cannot?
Microsoft Power Automate covers Automated flows, Instant flows, Scheduled flows, Desktop automation. Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions, Polyglot workers, Visual workflow builder, AI and LLM tasks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Power Automate: Is Power Automate included with Microsoft 365?

Yes. If you have an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, you can use Power Automate at no extra cost for flows relying only on standard connectors (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams). Premium connectors (Salesforce, SAP, Oracle) require paid plans.

Source
Orkes: Does Netflix still maintain Conductor?

No. Netflix archived its repository in December 2023. The open source project continues at conductor-oss under Apache 2.0, maintained by Orkes.

Microsoft Power Automate: How many flow runs are allowed on the free plan?

Power Automate's free tier (included with Microsoft 365) is limited to 750 flow runs per month and standard connectors only. Out of 900+ total connectors, the free plan only includes Microsoft ecosystem apps and limited third-party apps.

Source
Orkes: Is there a free production tier?

No. The Developer Edition is a sandbox that the vendor states is unsuitable for production. Self-hosting Conductor OSS is the free production route.

Microsoft Power Automate: What's the difference between Premium and Process plans?

Premium ($15/user/month) provides attended automation with cloud flows and standard RPA. Process plan ($150/bot/month) enables unattended automation where bots run without human intervention on virtual machines for high-volume, repetitive tasks.

Source
Orkes: What does Enterprise cost?

Nothing is published; it is quoted by deployment and support requirements.

Microsoft Power Automate: Does Power Automate support long-running workflows?

No. Power Automate is not suitable for long-lasting workflows because they can run without warning and fail unexpectedly. The platform is built for linear, branching logic (if-then) rather than complex, multi-step business processes involving multiple stakeholders.

Source
Orkes: How does it compare with Temporal?

Conductor uses declarative JSON workflow definitions and external workers; Temporal defines workflows in code. Temporal has the larger community.

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