How To choose between Canvas Apps and Model-driven Apps – The main differences

Scenario

In this post we will see the main differences that allow us to establish the type of app to use when we want to create an app in PowerApps.

Solution

By reading the following features, you can easily determine which direction to take before you start developing your app.

FEATURE	CANVAS APP	MODEL-DRIVEN APP
Business Scenario	More simple (e.g. Leave Request, Avaibility, Survey, Rating, etc…)	More complex (e.g. Lead management, Order processing, etc…)
Layout	Complete control (e.g. Buttons, Photo, Audio, Icons, etc…)	Dynamics 365 Unified Interface (e.g. Views, Forms, etc…)
Data Source	CDS + Other Connectors (complete list)	CDS
Data Validation	CDS entity scoped business rules + Expressions/Formulas	CDS entity scoped business rules + Client script API
BPF Support	No	Yes
Security	Role-driven apps	Role-driven components
Configuration	More Complex	More Simple (Dynamics 365 Framework)
Extensibility	Plugin and Workflow developed for the CDS	Plugin e Workflow developed for the CDS + Client script API
Embedding other Apps	Sharepoint and Teams Apps	Canvas Apps
Offline Support	Yes	No
Responsive Support	Yes	Yes

Hope it helps and happy 365Power’ing!