Review: what can you do with Power Pages & does Microsoft offer an alternative to Drupal and WordPress?

Microsoft Power Pages

Microsoft Power Pages is part of the Power Platform. A powerful set of software tools that enables data analysis and business process digitization. In addition to Power Pages, Power Automate, Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents and Power Bi are also part of this collection of "low code" apps.

The main target market for Power Pages is organizations that already use products from Microsoft's ecosystem. In particular, Dynamics 365 customers.

How does Power Pages work?

Once registered via the website the building of your website can begin. In three steps you will be guided through this:

• Step 1: Choose your template (or start from an empty template)
• Step 2: Choose the name of your website
• Step 3: Website setup

Once you have access to Power Pages' "design studio," you can edit, add or delete pages. With this website editor, you can clearly see the typical look and feel of the Power Platform - as we already saw with Power Bi.

Power of the Power Platform

Admittedly, as a marketer, I was not immediately excited about Power Pages. Until I realized the possibilities for organizations already using one or more Power Platform or Dynamics 365 products.

Perhaps for these types of customers, having easy access to data from their ERP or CRM system is more important than options in terms of look and feel. Read: without 'hassle' with APIs or other connectors. Moreover, you can rest easy regarding your precious data: everything is neatly stored in the Microsoft Azure data centers.

Alternative to WordPress?

To this, the answer as far as I'm concerned is "No. You are going to find few, if any, marketers willing to replace their trusty WordPress or Drupal with PowerPages.

For Microsoft developers, it does offer possibilities! For me, PowerPages is therefore a further development of PowerApps and will in practice be used mainly to build 'portals'. For example: a customer or supplier portal, reservation tool (rooms or other resources) etc.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Below I am happy to answer some more frequently asked questions about Power Pages:

1. What does a license for Power Pages cost?

Licenses for Power Pages are classified according to the number of "user sessions" required:

• Website with login: basic license contains 100 unique user sessions (valid 24h per unique visitor)
• Website without login: basic license includes 500 unique visitors per bundle
• Pay-per-use: you simply pay a price per unique visitor. Possible for both logged in and anonymous visitors.

2. Can I link my domain name?

Yes you can! When creating a new website, the url will default to 'name.powerpages.com', but in 'settings' you can link your own domain name.

3. Can I have limited visibility of my site?

Yes you can! Through the settings you can determine whether your website is 'Public' or 'Private'. If you choose 'Private' you can - as you can see below - choose who has access: