Workflows - Power Automate Cloud flows or Copilot Studio Agent flows?

If you’re trying to build a workflow and find yourself asking “Should I use Power Automate or Copilot Studio for this?”, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common questions people have right now.

Power Automate cloud flows have been the standard for years. Then Copilot Studio introduced Agent Flows, and suddenly we have two workflow tools that look almost identical but behave a little differently under the hood.

So, in this post, I am going to help you break down the confusion. To put simply, they are 98% the same but the key difference are:

• Licensing - Credits vs direct license

• Human in the loop features

• Express Mode

Below I will break down all of the details about Power Automate vs Copilot Studio flows for you. But if you are more interested in seeing and details about Agent flows vs Cloud flows then check out the video: Real World - Cloud Flows vs Agent Flows

What are Power Automate Cloud Flows?

Power Automate cloud flows are Microsoft’s original workflow engine in the Power Platform.

A cloud flow is built around a trigger and one or more actions. Something happens, the flow wakes up, and automation takes over.

Triggers can include emails, SharePoint changes, Power Apps buttons, scheduled jobs, or external system events. Once triggered, cloud flows can connect to hundreds of services using thousands of connectors.

Cloud flows are extremely flexible and are used to automate everything from simple notifications to complex, multi-system business processes. This is the workflow tool most organizations are already using today.

What is Copilot Studio Agent Flows?

Copilot Studio Agent Flows are workflows built inside Copilot Studio.

At first glance, they look exactly like Power Automate cloud flows. That’s because they’re based on the same underlying flow engine and designer.

The easiest way to think about Agent Flows is this: Microsoft forked cloud flows and started adding new AI-focused capabilities specifically for agents.

About 98% of what you can do in a cloud flow can also be done in an agent flow. The real difference is not basic automation, but where Microsoft is investing in AI-driven workflow features.

Want to learn how to build Agent flows? Check out our Copilot Studio training course.

What are the key differences?

Human in the loop actions

Agent Flows introduce new human-in-the-loop actions that don’t exist in traditional Power Automate cloud flows.

One example is Request for Information, which allows a flow to pause, send an email, collect structured responses directly from that email, and then continue execution.

Agent Flows also support multi-stage approvals with AI stages. These AI stages can reason over data instead of blindly following a predefined approval chain.

This enables scenarios like auto-approving low-risk requests, escalating exceptions, or analyzing content before deciding what happens next.

Express Mode

Agent Flows also introduce Express Mode, which is designed to speed up workflow execution.

This matters most when flows are triggered by Copilot Studio agents, since those calls have a two-minute execution limit. Express Mode helps AI-heavy or compute-intensive flows complete more reliably within that window.

While still evolving, Express Mode is another signal that Agent Flows are being optimized for AI-first scenarios.

Licensing

Licensing is the biggest practical difference between Power Automate cloud flows and Copilot Studio Agent Flows.

Cloud flows are licensed through user plans, per-flow plans, or process licenses depending on how they’re built and shared.

Agent Flows are licensed entirely through Copilot credit consumption. There are no user licenses tied to the flow itself. If it’s an agent flow, it consumes Copilot credits.

One important detail: you can convert a cloud flow into an agent flow, but that change is permanent. There is no way to convert an agent flow back into a cloud flow.

Final thoughts

Power Automate cloud flows and Copilot Studio Agent Flows solve many of the same problems using the same building blocks.

For most scenarios, either tool will work. The decision comes down to whether you need agent-specific AI features, whether Copilot credit-based licensing makes more sense, and whether the workflow is part of a broader agent strategy.

You don’t need to change everything today. But understanding the difference now will help you design smarter, more future-proof solutions as AI becomes a bigger part of how workflows operate.

If we can help you with this decision or you need someone to build it for you let us know, we are experts at this stuff and happy to help. Just click the Contact Us button and lets get your workflows working!