User Interface and Experience
Ease of Use
Since 2020, AppSheet is owned and operated by Google. It enables the creation of web and mobile apps directly from Google Sheets, Excel files, Airtable bases, and external databases, including commonly applied MySQL and PostgreSQL.
AppSheet is built to ensure ease of use. The platform allows users to create apps quickly with a no-code approach.
However, for users accustomed to modern solutions, the interface may feel rather outdated. Therefore, it can be challenging for them to navigate, particularly in database management.
In this Power Apps vs AppSheet comparison, it’s interesting to highlight that while AppSheet is now operated by Google, the Power Apps platform belongs to another tech behemoth Microsoft.
It is included in Microsoft's ecosystem and allows users to create custom web and mobile apps through a graphical interface.
The platform supports a low-code approach to app development. It may have a steeper learning curve for beginners. However, it offers extensive documentation and resources to support users who are just getting started.
Customization
AppSheet provides quite rich opportunities for customization in such aspects as features, security, UX, and branding.
Even users without significant tech background can easily introduce custom workflows, designs, and applications. It is very convenient when it comes to specific business use cases. All this is done rather easily.
For example, when a user needs to customize the visual part of an app, all the necessary tools can be found in the UX section of the editor.
It is possible to change the theme, accent colors, and fonts based on the brand’s requirements, as well as localize apps.
Power Apps also allows users to customize their applications.
For example, the platform offers tools for customizing the user interface, introducing custom connectors, and implementing security features based on users’ needs.
There are some branding options as well. But it is not the aspect the platform focuses that much on.
That’s why if custom branding is highly important for your company when making your Google AppSheet vs Microsoft Power Apps choice, you definitely should opt for the first variant.
Templates and Components
The platform offers users entirely no-code experiences. That’s why while creating their custom apps, users get access to the canvas of components that they can apply to create interfaces of their solutions.
Apart from this, AppSheet has a rich library of common app templates. They can be copied and customized based on the specific needs of each particular project.
For example, the platform provides such templates as an app structure for creating surveys or forms, a workstation booking template, a personalized onboarding tool, a template for tracking marketing campaigns, and many others.
Power Apps can boast a rich collection of components and templates designed to address various business needs.
Moreover, user can create their own components that will be stored in their own libraries and further reused in other products.
Templates can be also created by users themselves or just chosen from the available collection and further customized if needed.
The available templates cover the majority of standard business cases, including dashboards, onboarding tools, CRM systems, inventory management apps, etc.
Short Recap
Ease of use: Thanks to the introduced no-code approach, even users with zero technical skills can rely on AppSheet to build their apps.
Customization: In this Google AppSheet vs PowerApps, AppSheet definitely wins when it comes to customization and custom branding.
Templates and components: The platform offers a large library of components and templates that can be greatly customized in accordance with your custom branding requirements.
Main strength: Great customization is one of the key benefits of this platform.
Main weakness: Some users may find the platform’s interface rather old-fashioned and not very simple to navigate.
Ease of use: Power Apps is known as a user-friendly low-code platform. However, the learning curve can be rather steep.
Customization: This platform is a good choice for creating apps with basic functionality (especially if your business works within the Microsoft ecosystem). However, customization options are limited.
Templates and components: Power Apps provides a rich collection of components and templates that are helpful in the majority of common business use cases.
Main strength: It’s fast and easy to create your own custom components that can be further used in a row of your future projects.
Main weakness: If you are interested in serious customization of your future app and want to introduce your custom branding, you may face serious limitations.
Features and Functionality
Core Features
Users of AppSheet can leverage a wide range of features for building powerful apps of different types.
To create an app users can start with a Blank app, a template, Gemini assistant, or existing data.
All these approaches don’t require coding and provide different levels of flexibility.
For instance, if you opt for the Gemini AI collaborator, you can just describe the idea for your future solution using natural language.
The majority of such features can be easily used by citizen developers, which greatly democratizes the process of app creation.
Power Apps offers access to a comprehensive suite of applications, services, connectors, and a data platform intended for rapid app development.
It enables its users to create custom business apps that can be seamlessly connected with their data sources.
One of the key features of Power Apps is functions. These are pre-built blocks of code that can execute specific tasks.
If there aren’t ready blocks for your tasks, developers can add code manually written in JavaScript.
Moreover, you can also rely on Copilot AI which will build apps based on your description.
Advanced Features
Gemini AI can not only facilitate and streamline the process of building apps. It also enhances the capabilities of the created applications.
It allows users to seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence into their organizations’ workflows.
This can help businesses successfully automate repetitive tasks, get access to deeper data insights, and provide improved user experiences.
Apart from this, Google is continuously deepening the integration of its platform with Google Workspace, which provides users with new possibilities for working with their data.
Power Apps is user-friendly for non-technical users. However, professional developers can also leverage their coding expertise to build and customize apps.
Developers can enhance standard Power Apps offers by:
- Creating and managing data and metadata;
- Implementing server-side logic using Azure Functions, plugins, and workflow extensions;
- Applying client-side logic with JavaScript;
- Integrating external data through virtual entities and webhooks.
- Building custom connectors for seamless data exchange.
Moreover, Power Apps enables developers to embed apps into websites. This can greatly enhance user experience with more integrated and interactive pages.
Automation and Workflow
With AppSheet, you can enable automated actions within your apps based on predefined conditions or events.
For instance, you can configure a rule to instantly send push notifications to managers when field staff reports a high-priority issue.
Users can easily create bots for their apps to automate various functions. To do it, it will be enough just to select the relevant option and then add the bot’s job description.
Bots can send notifications, emails, and SMS messages, update data, as well as generate and modify reports.
Workflow automation is one of the most highly demanded features provided to users of Power Apps.
The platform enables its users to automate labor-intensive and time-consuming processes and tasks based on their unique needs.
All this is available via Power Automation. For performing some standard tasks like sending notifications, it is possible to apply pre-designed templates for workflows.
Apart from this, the platform supports cross-platform automation. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to sync operations across the Microsoft ecosystem and third-party services.
Short Recap
Core features: AppSheet is a powerful no-code platform that allows users to build business apps of different types without the necessity of writing any code lines manually.
Advanced features: The platform enables users to rely on AI not only for creating apps but also for powering them with advanced functionality.
Automation and workflows: With AppSheet bots, users can seamlessly automate various repetitive tasks based on the chosen triggers and certain conditions.
Main strength: The platform provides wide opportunities for workflow automation based on specific business needs.
Main weakness: When it comes to more complex processes for automation, AppSheet users may face serious limitations.
Core features: The platform provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating custom business applications that users can integrate with their own data sources.
Advanced features: Apart from basic tools, the platform also provides developers the possibility to extend the functionality of their apps by introducing extra tools and JavaScript code.
Automation and workflows: The platform allows users to automate their business workflows via Power Automation.
Main strength: Professional developers have a range of advanced features to build unique apps based on specific requirements.
Main weakness: Citizen developers mainly can work with basic features only.
Integrations
Third-party Integrations
AppSheet is known for its strong integration capabilities. It supports connections to a variety of data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, cloud services, and APIs.
The platform seamlessly integrates with Google Sheets, Excel, MySQL, Salesforce, and other widely used data sources.
Beyond built-in integrations, AppSheet supports third-party tool connections through webhooks.
Being a Google product, it provides native connectors to key services like Google Drive and Calendar.
In our PowerApps vs AppSheet analysis, we should highlight that AppSheet’s connector library isn’t as extensive as the one offered by Power Apps. However, its webhook functionality compensates for this disadvantage.
Users can seamlessly connect Power Apps to a variety of Microsoft data sources, including but not limited to Excel, SharePoint, and SQL Server, as well as business applications like Dynamics 365 for ERP and CRM solutions.
Power Apps also integrates with Power Automate to streamline workflows and Power BI for advanced data visualization.
Apart from this, the platform offers connectors to numerous other services and data sources.
The use of standard connectors doesn’t require special licensing, which is very convenient, especially if you need to integrate your app with more than one service.
A list of the Power Apps connectors is provided on the Microsoft Learn website.
Ease of Connection
Users can connect various supported data sources just with a couple of clicks.
AppSheet can be seamlessly connected with a number of third-party services that are often used in business apps.
A step-by-step guide on how to do it is available on Google’s official website.
Power Apps prioritizes ease of use by offering intuitive tools for seamless integrations.
As a result, the possibility to connect external services to their apps is available even to non-technical users.
Nevertheless, without proper tech skills, it will be impossible to deal with complex configurations.
Short Recap
Third-party integrations: AppSheet connects to third-party tools via webhooks and offers native integration with Google services like Drive and Calendar.
Ease of connection: Users can connect supported data sources in just a few clicks. Even citizen developers won’t need a lot of time to understand how it works.
Main strength: AppSheet provides integration options with Google services. Moreover, users can connect their apps with many commonly used external data sources.
Main weakness: AppSheet’s library of components isn’t as rich as the one available to users of Power Apps.
Third-party integrations: Power Apps easily connects to Microsoft data sources like Excel, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Dynamics 365 for ERP/CRM.
Ease of connection: The majority of nontech tasks can be performed by citizen developers. However, for more complex configurations, tech skills will be required
Main strength: The platform offers great possibilities for connected apps with various Microsoft tools. This makes it a good choice for teams that already actively work within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Main weakness: Complex configurations are not available to citizen developers.
Performance and Scalability
Speed and Efficiency
AppSheet typically delivers strong app stability and performance, especially on Android devices.
While it should function well across most platforms, thorough performance testing is still recommended.
AppSheet has a compressed data size limit of 5MB or 10MB, which can be restrictive for apps handling large datasets. This limitation can be particularly challenging for apps that rely heavily on images or documents.
Power Apps generally deliver consistent performance across a range of devices, though some glitches are sometimes reported by owners of Android devices and some iPad models.
For those who want to introduce offline functionality, additional configuration is necessary to enable local data storage.
While this method provides detailed control over how the app behaves offline, it demands coding expertise and extra time and effort to implement.
Scalability
If your app loads large amounts of data, its performance will degrade. This leads to the increasing the likelihood of "out of memory" errors.
However, AppSheet offers efficient scaling, at least to a particular category of apps dubbed partitionable. Such applications may contain a large number of data rows, but each user only accesses a smaller subset. For example, an employee timesheet app where users interact only with their own records is an example of such a solution.
These apps can be scaled either with security filters or using data partitioning.
AppSheet is less effective for non-partitionable apps, where all users get access to the full dataset. In such cases, all data must be fetched and processed at every step. This results in significant performance issues as the dataset grows, potentially making the app unusably slow.
Power Apps can ensure smooth scalability even for businesses with enterprise-grade needs, especially those that have already invested in Microsoft products.
A key advantage of Power Apps is its capability to manage data at scale.
With Microsoft Dataverse, enterprises can build solutions that handle large datasets while maintaining data integrity and compliance with industry regulations.
By leveraging Microsoft Dataverse with Power Apps, businesses can efficiently centralize data storage and management from multiple systems, seamlessly integrate their apps with external platforms such as Dynamics 365, Office 365, and Azure, and handle high-volume data and complex relationships to support large-scale operations.
Short Recap
Speed and efficiency: AppSheet apps run on the client side. It means large datasets must be fetched and processed locally, which can slow performance.
Scalability: AppSheet is scalable for many business applications, particularly when data partitioning is applied.
Main strength: AppSheet generally provides reliable stability and performance, particularly on Android devices.
Main weakness: When it comes to scaling, AppSheet is less effective for non-partitionable applications. This can lead to significant performance issues.
Speed and efficiency: Tools built with Power Apps typically demonstrate reliable performance across various devices, especially when they interact with Microsoft services and data sources.
Scalability: Power Apps can scale well for enterprise-level applications, but performance depends heavily on the choice of data sources and proper load management.
Main strength: The platform demonstrates excellent scalability for enterprises that have invested in Microsoft tools.
Main weakness: Businesses that rely mainly on non-Microsoft systems may face issues with the performance and scalability of their apps.
Security and Compliance
Data Security
The platform is designed with security in mind.
Data on AppSheet apps is protected with built-in encryption and can be securely accessed from any device. All data is encrypted via HTTPS using TLS.
Users can fully manage access to their apps. It is possible to define roles and teams that can work with particular data.
Moreover, businesses have the possibility to track the usage of their applications. AppSheet enables them to view who has opened the app, what functionality has been used, etc.
Microsoft itself is committed to the highest standards of trust, transparency, and regulatory compliance. That’s why it comes as no surprise that Power Apps, which is included in its suite of cloud products, is designed to address the rigorous security and privacy demands of businesses across many industries.
The platform provides vast possibilities for managing access to apps and data. Organizations can restrict access to some information for a very limited group of users.
Data loss prevention (DLP) policies help to control data movement and restrict sensitive data from being shared with unauthorized apps or services.
Compliance
Being a part of the Google Cloud product family, AppSheet is compliant with such data privacy regulation initiatives as GDPR and CCPA.
It supports app compliance with HIPAA. It offers users a HIPAA Implementation Guide, which can help them adjust the data they send to AppSheet.
The platform also follows the ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018 standards for information security management.
Apart from this, AppSheet undergoes SOC2 Type 2 audits. The platform’s customers can get access to SOC reports upon request.
Power Apps inherently supports compliance with global standards like GDPR, ISO 27001, and HIPAA.
Thanks to this, the platform can be commonly used across industries with strict regulatory demands.
Close integration with Microsoft Dataverse ensures secure data storage and supports compliance with diverse industry standards.
Moreover, Power Automate offers tools to monitor and enforce compliance with your company’s data governance policies. This helps to prevent inadvertent non-compliance in automated workflows.
Short Recap
Data security: The platform is now a part of the Google Cloud family. This ensures all the benefits of Google’s enterprise-grade security, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with industry standards.
Compliance: The platform complies with major standards like ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA.
Main strength: The platform allows role-based access and permissions. This helps businesses control who and when use their apps
Main weakness: Some compliance configurations (such as HIPAA) require additional setup and are not automatically enforced.
Data security: Granular permissions introduced by the Power Apps platform ensure that only authorized users can access or modify sensitive data.
Compliance: The platform provides advanced compliance, risk management, and data governance tools to help organizations monitor and enforce regulatory policies.
Main strength: Strong integration with the Microsoft security framework ensures enhanced security and compliance.
Main weakness: DLP enforcement works well within the Microsoft ecosystem but may have limitations when integrating with third-party services.
Pricing
Plans Overview
Starter
- Cost: $5 per user/month
- What it includes: The plan includes all basic app and automation features. It also allows users to connect their apps to spreadsheets and cloud file storage providers. Apart from this, they can also work with the AppSheet database.
- Suitable for: Small teams and users who are exploring the functionality of the platform and do not have complex tasks to solve.
Core
- This plan is usually included in the majority of Google Workspace tiers.
- Cost: $10 per user/month
- What it includes: In addition to everything that is available in the Starter pack, this plan also includes advanced application and automation features, as well as app security controls.
- Suitable for: Growing teams with specific needs.
Enterprise Plus
- Cost: $20 per user/month
- What it includes: This is the most comprehensive plan. It provides access to enterprise data services, enhanced application security, collaboration tools, and ML modeling, among other features.
- Suitable for: Big teams interested in building more complex solutions.
Power Apps Developer Plan
- Cost: Free
- What it includes: The plan opens access to three developer environments, pre-built, custom, and on-premises connectors, and Microsoft Dataverse entitlement of 2 GB database. It also includes up to 750 automation flows per month
- Suitable for: Developers who have never used this platform before.
Power Apps Premium
- Cost: $20 per user/month
- What it includes: This plan provides unlimited Power Apps and Power Pages for assigned users and 500 AI Builder credits. It also ensures access to pre-built, custom, and on-premises connectors, as well as Dataverse entitlements of 250 MB database and 2 GB file.
- Suitable for: Individual users, small and mid-sized teams.
Power Apps Premium (with 2,000-seat minimum)
- Cost: $12 per user/month
- What it includes: The plan includes the same set of features and possibilities as the previous one.
- Suitable for: Big teams that need at least 2,000 seats.
Short Recap
Pricing: This platform is more cost-effective for small to medium businesses, especially those leveraging Google Workspace. There are no additional licensing costs for native Google integrations, but third-party service connections may require extra setup.
Suitable for: AppSheet is more budget-friendly for Google Workspace users and smaller teams, though it may lack some advanced enterprise capabilities.
Pricing: Power Apps offers cost-effective, flexible plans ideal for specific business needs. For big teams, the platform can offer the most advanced features at a lower cost.
Suitable for: Power Apps is cost-effective for Microsoft-centric businesses but may incur higher costs for advanced features. This platform is a perfect option for businesses that have already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Use Cases
Type of Work
This no-code platform can be used to build a wide variety of apps to meet both business and personal needs. Here are a couple of examples.
- Data management apps. Users can create applications to manage their databases, directories, inventories, and product catalogs.
- CRM solutions. Such apps are designed to continuously monitor interactions with customers and efficiently manage leads.
- Project management apps. With such tools, teams can track their progress, assign tasks, set deadlines, and manage all project-related processes.
- Inventory management apps. Such applications are often used for managing stocks, tracking equipment locations, verifying machinery statuses, and creating maintenance schedules.
If you want to learn more about how different organizations use AppSheet to address their needs, you can read the materials available on the official website of the platform.
Thanks to the provided flexibility and the possibility of integrating various data sources, Power Apps is a popular choice among companies from different industries.
- Patient management apps. Such solutions are widely used by hospitals and clinics to streamline patient charge management. They typically include features for appointment scheduling and efficient management of electronic health records.
- Attendance management apps. These applications are ideal for HR teams, educational institutions, and event organizers to ensure efficient attendance tracking and workforce management.
- Staff onboarding apps. Apps of this type streamline the hiring process and ensure a smooth transition for new employees. They can automate documentation, training, and compliance tracking. This helps to significantly reduce manual effort for HR teams.
On the official Microsoft website, you can find inspiring customer stories, which demonstrate the efficiency of this platform across various use cases.
Short Recap
Apps created on the AppSheet platform perform equally well on both desktop and mobile devices.
They support various business needs such as project management, operations, fieldwork, human resources, sales, and marketing. This makes the platform a suitable option for businesses working in different domains.
Power Apps is a flexible solution designed to meet diverse business needs.
Applications built on this platform help to solve a wide range of tasks across such domains as marketing, sales, logistics and transportation, finance and accounting, supply chain, event planning, and many others.
Reviews
User Feedback
G2:
When it comes to reviews and rankings, in this AppSheet vs PowerApps comparison, AppSheet is the winner. Based on almost 400 reviews, it has 4.8 out of 5 stars on G2.
Users praise AppSheet for its affordability, seamless with Google Workspace, wide array of built-in features, as well as general simplicity of the app creation process.
As for weaknesses, people mentioned that the platform’s analytics capabilities are not sufficient for complex data tasks.
G2:
On G2, Power Apps has 4.2 stars out of 5 based on more than 180 reviews.
Users like the platform’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface. According to the reviews, the platform’s functionality is accessible to both technical and non-technical users. Users also noted that Power Apps has robust customer support as well as excellent documentation and forums with a lot of active participants.
One of the main disadvantages mentioned in reviews is limited customization options.
Conclusion
Both AppSheet and Power Apps are powerful low-code/no-code platforms for building business applications. Even without extensive coding knowledge, users can create apps to address their specific business needs.
However, these platforms are quite different in their features, integration capabilities, and the most appropriate use cases.
AppSheet will be the best variant if you need a simple, quick-to-build app with Google ecosystem integration and basic functionality. This platform is often chosen by small teams and businesses that do not have any specific complex requirements for their tools.
Power Apps is for those who are looking for enterprise-grade apps with advanced functionality. Built solutions are able to scale and manage large datasets and complex business logic. Moreover, what makes this platform special is its deep integration into the Microsoft ecosystem.
Have already made up your mind or are still looking for the most appropriate solution? At Akveo, we have rich expertise in working with low-code/no-code technologies and we will always be ready to provide you with our consulting and development services. Do not hesitate to contact us to get more details.
