As you move your Dynamics 365 automated process from workflow to Flow, you may be wondering if your users will need to have a Flow license to run the process.

First thing you need to know is that most Dynamics 365 licenses include Flow licenses–the main license type that does not include Flow license is team member.

So let’s say you have users who have Team Member licenses. Can you still use Flow to automate your Dynamics 365 processes?

The answer is “it depends”

Scenarios where no Flow license is needed by the user

If a user is triggering a system Flow, and the Flow is owned by a user who is licensed for Flow, the flow will run. Let’s say you build the notification Flow in tip 1272 and a user closes an opportunity, which triggers a text message to be sent from Twilio. In this example, the user is creating a data condition that triggers a Flow owned by a system administrator or service account that is licensed for Flow. Since a user who is licensed for Flow can create processes that work on create or update of any record in the system (to which their security role has access), organization Flows owned by a Flow licensed user can be triggered by non-Flow licensed users.

Scenarios where Flow license is required

If a user owns a Flow, that user must be licensed for Flow. This means that if George wants a user scope process that runs when a task is assigned to him, George would need a flow license.

If a user is running an instant Flow, such as selecting a record in Dynamics and clicking the Flow button, require the user to be licensed for Flow.

Team flows where the flow runs in context of the user–when a document is uploaded to SharePoint, updated something in Dynamics in the context of the same user–typically require the user to be licensed for Flow and whatever connections are in the flow.

Wrapping up

Most Flows that are system automated processes equivalent to system workflows and plugins running just within Dynamics 365/CDS can be owned by a system administrator or service account and do not require the end users to be licensed for Flow to trigger the process.

If the user runs the flow on demand or owns the Flow, they will need to be licensed for Flow. And remember, Flow is included in most “full” user license types.