Blog · · 1 min read
Code apps: React inside Power Platform. When it's worth it
Power Apps code apps are generally available. In practice: you write an app in React (or another web framework) in your own editor, with Git and tests, and publish it inside Power Platform. The app becomes a governed asset, with the platform’s sign-in, connections and policies.
Microsoft also shipped its own CLI, distributed through npm, as the main way to create code apps, connect data and publish them.
When I would pick a code app
- Interactions canvas apps handle poorly: drag and drop, Gantt charts, dense editable grids.
- A web development team that already works with Git, code review and automated tests.
- A UI that must follow a design system precisely.
When I would stay with a canvas app
- Forms, approvals, checklists and mobile field work.
- When the client’s team will maintain the app without developers.
- When the timeline is short and the problem fits the built-in controls.
What does not change
Licensing. Users of a code app that touches Dataverse or premium connectors still need a premium license, just as with a canvas app.
The right question is not “low-code or code?” It is “what does this problem need, and who will maintain it?”