Teams building on Microsoft's Power Platform usually reach the same fork in the road. A business need arrives, and someone has to decide how to deliver it: as a canvas app, a model-driven app, or a SharePoint Framework (SPFx) solution. Each fits a different class of problem, and picking the wrong one tends to surface later as slow performance, awkward maintenance, or a rebuild.
The three approaches sit on a spectrum. Canvas apps favor design freedom, model-driven apps favor structured data and process, and SPFx favors full developer control inside Microsoft 365. Knowing where each is strong, and where it strains, turns the choice into a deliberate decision rather than a gamble. What follows breaks down the three options, along with the shared foundation they draw on, so you can match the tool to the job.
The Foundation: Dataverse and Connectors
Before comparing app types, it helps to understand what sits beneath them.
Dataverse is Microsoft's cloud data platform: a managed relational database with built-in security, relationships, audit history, and a native API that every Power Platform product can use. Model-driven apps require it. Canvas apps can use it but don't have to.
