| title | description | ms.topic | ms.date | ms.custom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Integration and automation platform options in Azure |
Compare Microsoft cloud services that are optimized for integration tasks: Power Automate, Logic Apps, Functions, and WebJobs. |
overview |
04/09/2018 |
mvc |
This article compares the following Microsoft cloud services:
- Microsoft Power Automate (was Microsoft Flow)
- Azure Logic Apps
- Azure Functions
- Azure App Service WebJobs
All of these services can solve integration problems and automate business processes. They can all define input, actions, conditions, and output. You can run each of them on a schedule or trigger. Each service has unique advantages, and this article explains the differences.
If you're looking for a more general comparison between Azure Functions and other Azure compute options, see Criteria for choosing an Azure compute service and Choosing an Azure compute option for microservices.
Power Automate and Logic Apps are both designer-first integration services that can create workflows. Both services integrate with various SaaS and enterprise applications.
Power Automate is built on top of Logic Apps. They share the same workflow designer and the same connectors.
Power Automate empowers any office worker to perform simple integrations (for example, an approval process on a SharePoint Document Library) without going through developers or IT. Logic Apps can also enable advanced integrations (for example, B2B processes) where enterprise-level Azure DevOps and security practices are required. It's typical for a business workflow to grow in complexity over time. Accordingly, you can start with a flow at first, and then convert it to a logic app as needed.
The following table helps you determine whether Power Automate or Logic Apps is best for a particular integration:
| Power Automate | Logic Apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Users | Office workers, business users, SharePoint administrators | Pro integrators and developers, IT pros |
| Scenarios | Self-service | Advanced integrations |
| Design tool | In-browser and mobile app, UI only | In-browser and Visual Studio, Code view available |
| Application lifecycle management (ALM) | Design and test in non-production environments, promote to production when ready | Azure DevOps: source control, testing, support, automation, and manageability in Azure Resource Manager |
| Admin experience | Manage Power Automate environments and data loss prevention (DLP) policies, track licensing: Admin center | Manage resource groups, connections, access management, and logging: Azure portal |
| Security | Office 365 Security and Compliance audit logs, DLP, encryption at rest for sensitive data | Security assurance of Azure: Azure security, Azure Security Center, audit logs |
Functions and Logic Apps are Azure services that enable serverless workloads. Azure Functions is a serverless compute service, whereas Azure Logic Apps provides serverless workflows. Both can create complex orchestrations. An orchestration is a collection of functions or steps, called actions in Logic Apps, that are executed to accomplish a complex task. For example, to process a batch of orders, you might execute many instances of a function in parallel, wait for all instances to finish, and then execute a function that computes a result on the aggregate.
For Azure Functions, you develop orchestrations by writing code and using the Durable Functions extension. For Logic Apps, you create orchestrations by using a GUI or editing configuration files.
You can mix and match services when you build an orchestration, calling functions from logic apps and calling logic apps from functions. Choose how to build each orchestration based on the services' capabilities or your personal preference. The following table lists some of the key differences between these:
| Durable Functions | Logic Apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Development | Code-first (imperative) | Designer-first (declarative) |
| Connectivity | About a dozen built-in binding types, write code for custom bindings | Large collection of connectors, Enterprise Integration Pack for B2B scenarios, build custom connectors |
| Actions | Each activity is an Azure function; write code for activity functions | Large collection of ready-made actions |
| Monitoring | Azure Application Insights | Azure portal, Azure Monitor logs |
| Management | REST API, Visual Studio | Azure portal, REST API, PowerShell, Visual Studio |
| Execution context | Can run locally or in the cloud | Runs only in the cloud |
Like Azure Functions, Azure App Service WebJobs with the WebJobs SDK is a code-first integration service that is designed for developers. Both are built on Azure App Service and support features such as source control integration, authentication, and monitoring with Application Insights integration.
You can use the WebJobs feature of App Service to run a script or code in the context of an App Service web app. The WebJobs SDK is a framework designed for WebJobs that simplifies the code you write to respond to events in Azure services. For example, you might respond to the creation of an image blob in Azure Storage by creating a thumbnail image. The WebJobs SDK runs as a .NET console application, which you can deploy to a WebJob.
WebJobs and the WebJobs SDK work best together, but you can use WebJobs without the WebJobs SDK and vice versa. A WebJob can run any program or script that runs in the App Service sandbox. A WebJobs SDK console application can run anywhere console applications run, such as on-premises servers.
Azure Functions is built on the WebJobs SDK, so it shares many of the same event triggers and connections to other Azure services. Here are some factors to consider when you're choosing between Azure Functions and WebJobs with the WebJobs SDK:
| Functions | WebJobs with WebJobs SDK | |
|---|---|---|
| Serverless app model with automatic scaling | ✔ | |
| Develop and test in browser | ✔ | |
| Pay-per-use pricing | ✔ | |
| Integration with Logic Apps | ✔ | |
| Trigger events | Timer Azure Storage queues and blobs Azure Service Bus queues and topics Azure Cosmos DB Azure Event Hubs HTTP/WebHook (GitHub, Slack) Azure Event Grid |
Timer Azure Storage queues and blobs Azure Service Bus queues and topics Azure Cosmos DB Azure Event Hubs File system |
| Supported languages | C# F# JavaScript Java Python PowerShell |
C#1 |
| Package managers | NPM and NuGet | NuGet2 |
1 WebJobs (without the WebJobs SDK) supports C#, Java, JavaScript, Bash, .cmd, .bat, PowerShell, PHP, TypeScript, Python, and more. This is not a comprehensive list. A WebJob can run any program or script that can run in the App Service sandbox.
2 WebJobs (without the WebJobs SDK) supports NPM and NuGet.
Azure Functions offers more developer productivity than Azure App Service WebJobs does. It also offers more options for programming languages, development environments, Azure service integration, and pricing. For most scenarios, it's the best choice.
Here are two scenarios for which WebJobs may be the best choice:
- You need more control over the code that listens for events, the
JobHostobject. Functions offers a limited number of ways to customizeJobHostbehavior in the host.json file. Sometimes you need to do things that can't be specified by a string in a JSON file. For example, only the WebJobs SDK lets you configure a custom retry policy for Azure Storage. - You have an App Service app for which you want to run code snippets, and you want to manage them together in the same Azure DevOps environment.
For other scenarios where you want to run code snippets for integrating Azure or third-party services, choose Azure Functions over WebJobs with the WebJobs SDK.
You don't have to choose just one of these services. They integrate with each other as well as they do with external services.
A flow can call a logic app. A logic app can call a function, and a function can call a logic app. See, for example, Create a function that integrates with Azure Logic Apps.
The integration between Power Automate, Logic Apps, and Functions continues to improve over time. You can build something in one service and use it in the other services.
You can get more information on integration services by using the following links:
- Leveraging Azure Functions & Azure App Service for integration scenarios by Christopher Anderson
- Integrations Made Simple by Charles Lamanna
- Logic Apps Live webcast
- Power Automate frequently asked questions
Get started by creating your first flow, logic app, or function app. Select any of the following links: