Encodian - WordEncodian - PDFEncodian - ConvertMigrating from Encodian Flowr to VerseDocs
Encodian Flowr is a good product with a pricing model that punishes success: every action is a credit, credits are monthly, and the tier you need is decided by your busiest month rather than your average one. The documents are also rendered in Encodian's cloud, which is a conversation with security every time a new region or a new data class is involved.
VerseDocs covers the document-generation core of Flowr (populate Word, Excel and PowerPoint, convert to PDF, merge, split, watermark, secure, sign, form fill) as Dataverse plug-ins in your own environment, for one flat price per tenant. This page is the honest map: what converts one-for-one, what takes two steps, and what you should keep Encodian (or something else) for.
Where the credits cross $2,400
Take the most common Flowr pattern: Word - Populate followed by Convert - Word to PDF, then email. Two actions, two credits per document. On the public Standard plan ($499 a year, 500 credits a month) that is 250 documents a month before flows start failing until the reset. The next public tier that clears 1,000 documents a month on that pattern is Large ($3,499 a year, 5,000 credits a month), which is $1,099 a year more than VerseDocs for the whole tenant.
Add a watermark or a merge to the pattern and the credit count per document goes to three or four, halving those volumes again. VerseDocs has no credit to count: the plug-in runs on the Dataverse compute your licence already includes, so the two-thousandth document costs what the first did.
Where Encodian stays cheaper: under roughly 250 documents a month on a two-credit pattern, with no requirement that documents stay in the tenant. If that is you, and it stays you, Standard is the better deal. The compare page carries the dated, linked prices.
21 of 22 Encodian actions have a VerseDocs equivalent
Encodian action names read from the connector reference on Microsoft Learn on 16 September 2026. VerseDocs names are the Custom API names you search for in the Dataverse connector’s Perform an unbound action step.
| Encodian | VerseDocs | Fit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word - Populate | vdocs_TemplateDocx (Populate a Word Template with Data) | one for one | Or bind the template to the record and use vdocs_TemplateFromRow / vdocs_GenerateAndAttach: no JSON assembly in the flow, related rows resolved by FetchXML. Add outputFormat: "pdf" to get the PDF in the same call. |
| Convert - Word | vdocs_ConvertToPdf (Convert a Document to PDF) | one for one | Word to PDF in one call, inside the sandbox. PDF/A via pdfConformance on a licensed environment. |
| Convert - Excel / Convert - PowerPoint | vdocs_TemplateXlsx / vdocs_TemplatePptx with outputFormat: "pdf" | one for one | Conversion is offered as an option on the templating actions; a workbook or deck with no tokens passes through unchanged and comes back as PDF. |
| Convert - HTML to PDF | vdocs_HtmlToDocx then vdocs_ConvertToPdf | two steps | Two steps. Fidelity for complex CSS is lower than a browser-based renderer; fine for generated HTML, not for arbitrary web pages. |
| Convert - PDF to PDFA | pdfConformance option on any PDF-producing action | two steps | Set at generation time rather than as a second pass. Converting an existing PDF to PDF/A is not offered. |
| Word - Merge Files | vdocs_DocxMerge (Merge Multiple Word Documents into One) | one for one | |
| PDF - Merge Files / Merge Specific Files | vdocs_PdfMerge (Merge PDFs into One File) | one for one | |
| PDF - Split / Split by Text | vdocs_PdfSplit (Split a PDF into Multiple Files) | one for one | Split by page ranges. Split by text or barcode is not offered. |
| PDF - Delete Pages / Extract Pages / Rotate Pages | vdocs_PdfPages (Rotate, Delete, Extract, or Reorder PDF Pages) | one for one | One action covers all four operations. |
| PDF - Add Text Watermark / Add Image Watermark | vdocs_PdfWatermark (Add a Text or Image Watermark to a PDF) | one for one | Nine anchor positions, opacity, rotation, {date} {page} {pages} tokens. |
| Word - Add Text Watermark | vdocs_DocxWatermark (Add a Text Watermark to a Word Document) | one for one | Text only; image watermarks on Word are not offered. |
| PDF - Secure / Set Privileges | vdocs_PdfSecure (Password-Protect a PDF) | one for one | Owner and user passwords, AES-256, print/copy/modify permissions. |
| PDF - Unlock / Check Password Protection | vdocs_PdfUnlock (Remove a PDF's Password Protection) | one for one | |
| PDF - Fill Form / Extract Form Data / Flatten | vdocs_PdfFormFill, vdocs_PdfFormExtract, vdocs_PdfFlatten | one for one | |
| PDF - Sign | vdocs_PdfSign (Digitally Sign a PDF) | one for one | Certificate-based signature from a PFX you supply from Key Vault at run time. |
| PDF - Extract Text / Extract Images / Extract Metadata / Set Metadata | vdocs_ExtractText, vdocs_PdfExtractImages, vdocs_PdfMetadata | one for one | |
| PDF - Compress | Not offered as a dedicated action | not covered | VerseDocs output is already unbloated; there is no post-hoc compressor. Keep a compressor if you ingest large third-party PDFs. |
| Word - Replace Text / Replace Text With Image | vdocs_DocxFindReplace; images via {{image:}} in a template | one for one | |
| Word - Set Metadata | vdocs_DocxSetProperties | one for one | |
| Word - Compare | vdocs_CompareText (Compare Text Between Two PDFs or Word Documents) | two steps | Text-level comparison, not tracked-changes redlining. |
| Convert - Email | vdocs_EmailToPdf (.eml) / vdocs_EmlParse | one for one | |
| Convert - JSON to Excel | vdocs_CsvToXlsx after vdocs_JsonToCsv, or vdocs_TemplateXlsx with a rows range | two steps | The template route gives you formatting and formulas; the CSV route is quicker for a plain dump. |
Keep Encodian, or something else, for:
- OCR (PDF - Apply OCR) and PDF to Word / Excel / image conversion
- CAD, Visio and HEIC conversion
- PDF redaction (Word redaction by pattern is offered: vdocs_DocxRedactPattern)
- ZUGFeRD / e-invoice XML embedding
- Tracked-changes management in Word
- Post-hoc PDF compression, repair and linearisation
If a flow depends on one of these, convert the generation steps and leave that step on the connector; a smaller plan usually covers it.
The quote-to-PDF flow, before and after
Before · Encodian Flowr
Trigger: When a row is modified (Quote, status = Active) 1. List rows: Quote products (filter by quote) Dataverse 2. Select: shape line items for the template built in 3. Compose: build the JSON document built in 4. Word - Populate (template from SharePoint) Encodian, 1 credit 5. Convert - Word to PDF Encodian, 1 credit 6. Send an email (V2) with the PDF attached Outlook
After · VerseDocs
Trigger: When a row is modified (Quote, status = Active)
1. Perform an unbound action: vdocs_TemplateFromRow Dataverse connector
item/TemplateId = <quote template>
item/RowId = quoteid
item/Options = {"outputFormat":"pdf"}
2. Send an email (V2)
attachment = base64ToBinary(outputs('...')?['body/OutFileContent'])Steps 1 to 3 disappear because the template's binding manifest fetches the quote products itself. The two credits become zero. If you also want the PDF on the quote's timeline, use vdocs_GenerateAndAttach instead and read the note it created.
Five steps, one pattern at a time
Install VerseDocs next to the connector
AppSource → your dev or sandbox environment. Nothing changes for existing flows; the vdocs_ actions simply appear in the Dataverse connector's Perform an unbound action picker (search "vdocs").
Inventory the flows
Search your flows for the connector's actions (Power Automate's flow search, or the Export-PowerPlatformInventory script on this site). For each, note the actions used and the monthly run count. Most estates have five or six distinct patterns, not fifty.
Convert templates
Open each Word template, replace the connector's placeholders with {{tokens}} and load it in Template Studio, or bind it to the record so the flow no longer builds JSON at all. The starter templates show the token syntax on real Dynamics 365 tables.
Rebuild the pattern once, then repeat
Convert one flow of each pattern, run both side by side for a week, compare outputs, then convert the rest. The watermark on trial output makes side-by-side runs safe to leave in production.
Buy, then cancel
Buy the VerseDocs licence from the admin app when the last flow is converted, and let the connector subscription lapse at its renewal date. Do the sums on the renewal date rather than today; it is the one day the switch costs nothing.
- Do I have to rewrite my Word templates?
- You re-tag them. The layout, styles, headers and footers stay; each placeholder or content control becomes a {{token}}, and repeating rows become a table row with {{#each}} in the first cell and {{/each}} in the last. The template playground on this site validates the result before you upload it.
- Can both run at the same time?
- Yes. VerseDocs is a managed solution with its own actions; nothing about the Encodian connector or its flows changes when it is installed. Run the converted flow alongside the original and compare outputs.
- What about the Encodian file-size limits?
- VerseDocs is bounded by the Dataverse plug-in time budget rather than a file-size tier. Measured figures for large documents and long batches are on the Limits page.
- Is the Dataverse connector premium?
- It needs a Power Automate licence that Dynamics 365 and Power Apps users already hold. There is no third-party premium connector in the picture, and the Generate document button on a form needs no flow at all.