Power Pages: A Governed Platform for Hosting

Hopefully Not the End of Lists and Forms

As I’ve discussed in a previous blog post, I really hope Microsoft continues to enhance the Lists and Forms features of Power Pages. With hundreds of millions of active users every month using the existing platform, I couldn’t imagine Microsoft telling all of those customers to find a new home for their sites.

Could an AI agent be used to convert a Power Pages site to a regular web application? Probably. But you’d still need somewhere to host it, and someone to manage that hosting. And that’s where I think Power Pages has capabilities that may fly a bit under the radar.

Consistent Investment in Admin and Governance

If you look at the 2026 release wave 1 plans, you’ll see a section devoted to administration and governance. This has been the case ever since Microsoft renamed the product to Power Pages back in 2022, demonstrating a consistent investment from Microsoft in these areas.

While sold as a no/low-code tool for citizen developers, often overlooked is that in order for that to make sense, the ongoing hosting also needs to be accessible for people who don’t do that for a living. So in a world were AI is increasingly used to develop the code for the site, Power Pages can be a great option for securely and reliably hosting those sites.

Delegating the Responsibilities

Is hosting yourself with Azure cheaper? Of course. For some customers with experience in creating and managing Azure resources, that will probably be the best option. But for others without that expertise, it may make sense to delegate those responsibilities to Microsoft.

What type of responsibilities am I talking about? Even if you take away the no/low-code maker features of Power Pages such as Lists and Forms that could be replaced with AI, Power Pages still provides:

• Management of web application servers that scale
• Easy set up of Web Application Firewall and Content Delivery Network
• Authentication, Web API, and server logic that enforces permissions
• Security agents responsible for keeping an eye on your site
• Governance around authentication, site visibility, and anonymous access
• Scans, logging, and monitoring

As Always, It Comes Down to Licensing

It should be no surprise that the decision about whether to use Power Pages or not often comes down to licensing. There have been huge improvements over the years when it comes to licensing. But I think for this to be a viable path for customers, I think another adjustment will be necessary.

In my opinion, the licensing model would need to be adjusted to not solely focus on authenticated users. Not all authenticated users are the same – on a site where users are logging in multiple times per week and performing complex operations, you can justify the costs. But it is a harder sell for sites where users log in once or twice per month, and only has to fill out a simple form.

I would love to see a licensing model that is more tied to the Azure capacity being used. Then I think Power Pages would truly be considered an alternative to hosting your AI-built site in Azure.