If you’re still relying on SharePoint Alerts to keep your teams informed about list changes and calendar events, you need to start planning your migration now. Microsoft has officially announced that SharePoint Alerts will be retired on July 1, 2026—and this deadline applies to all SharePoint Online tenants worldwide.
Important: As of January 2026, creating new SharePoint Alerts is already blocked for existing tenants. The feature is in sunset mode—you can extend existing alerts, but you can’t create new ones. This isn’t a future problem; it’s affecting your operations today.
This isn’t a drill. Unlike previous deprecations that lingered for years, this one has a hard cutoff date. After July 1, 2026, SharePoint Alerts simply won’t work. No warnings, no fallback options, no grace period. If your organization relies on alerts for critical workflows, compliance notifications, or team coordination, this retirement will directly impact your operations.
The question isn’t whether you need to migrate—it’s how and when. And more importantly, which solution makes sense for your organization’s budget and complexity tolerance.
Why Microsoft Is Retiring SharePoint Alerts
SharePoint Alerts have been around since the early days of SharePoint, and they’ve served their purpose well. But they’re built on legacy architecture that doesn’t scale well with modern Microsoft 365 workloads. Microsoft’s strategic direction is clear: move everything toward Power Automate and the broader automation platform.
However, this creates a real problem for organizations that have thousands of alerts configured across dozens of sites. SharePoint Alerts are simple, lightweight, and require no technical expertise to set up. Power Automate, by contrast, is a powerful orchestration platform designed for complex workflows—not simple notifications.
The result? Organizations are caught between two options: migrate to a tool that’s overkill for their needs, or find a specialized replacement that bridges the gap.
The Real Cost of Migration: More Than Just Software
Before we compare solutions, let’s talk about the hidden costs of migration that most organizations overlook.
Audit and Inventory: First, you need to know what you’re migrating. How many alerts exist across your SharePoint environment? Which ones are critical? Which ones can be consolidated or eliminated? This audit alone can take weeks for large organizations.
User Training: Whatever solution you choose, your users will need training. Power Automate requires IT expertise. Specialized alert solutions are easier, but still require onboarding.
Testing and Validation: You can’t just flip a switch. You need to test your migrated alerts in a pilot environment, validate that notifications are being sent correctly, and ensure that no critical business processes are disrupted.
Ongoing Management: Some solutions require more maintenance than others. This ongoing overhead adds up over time.
When you factor in all these costs, the software licensing fee is often the smallest part of the total migration expense.
Your Options: A Realistic Comparison
Let’s look at the four main approaches organizations are considering for replacing SharePoint Alerts.
Option 1: Power Automate Premium (Per-User Licensing)
The Promise: Microsoft’s official recommendation is to use Power Automate. It’s powerful, flexible, and integrates deeply with Microsoft 365.
The Reality: Power Automate requires a Premium license for most use cases. While there’s a free tier, it has significant limitations (8 runs per day, no scheduled triggers, limited connectors).
Pricing:
- Power Automate Premium: $15 per user per month ($180 per user per year)
- For an organization with 500 users where 100 need to create or manage flows: $18,000/year
- For an organization where 300 users need flow access: $54,000/year
The Catch: You’re paying per user, not per alert. Even if a user only creates one simple alert flow, they need a full Premium license. This model scales poorly when you have many users who need basic notification capabilities.
Best For: Organizations with complex automation needs beyond simple notifications. If you need conditional logic, multi-step workflows, and integration with dozens of systems, Power Automate is worth the investment.
Worst For: Organizations with hundreds of simple, straightforward alerts. The per-user licensing model becomes prohibitively expensive.
Option 2: Power Automate Process (Per-Flow Licensing)
The Promise: A more affordable alternative to Premium, where you pay per cloud flow instead of per user.
The Reality: Process licensing is cheaper than Premium, but still requires careful planning. You need to consolidate multiple alerts into single flows to keep costs down.
Pricing:
- Power Automate Process: $100 per flow per month ($1,200 per flow per year)
- For an organization with 10 alert flows: $12,000/year
- For an organization with 50 alert flows: $60,000/year
The Catch: You’re incentivized to consolidate alerts into fewer flows, which makes them more complex and harder to manage. A flow that handles 20 different alerts is more fragile than 20 simple, focused flows.
Best For: Organizations with a moderate number of well-consolidated alert flows (under 20).
Worst For: Organizations with hundreds of distinct alert scenarios. The per-flow model forces you into architectural compromises.
Option 3: Third-Party Alert Solutions (Per-User or Per-Site Licensing)
The Promise: Specialized tools designed specifically for SharePoint alerts, often with per-user or per-site pricing.
The Reality: Solutions like Infowise Ultimate Forms, Crow Canyon NITRO Studio, and others offer alert functionality, but they’re typically part of larger platforms. You’re paying for features you might not need.
Pricing Examples:
- Infowise Ultimate Forms: $1.77–$8.40 per user per month (depending on tier)
- For an organization with 500 users: $10,620–$50,400/year
- Crow Canyon NITRO Studio: $399–$499 per year (flat fee, but limited to smaller organizations)
The Catch: Most third-party solutions are per-user or per-site, which means you’re paying for scale you might not use. They’re also often part of larger platforms, so you’re licensing features beyond just alerts.
Best For: Organizations that already use these platforms for other purposes and want to consolidate vendors.
Worst For: Organizations looking for a focused, affordable alert solution. The licensing model is inflexible.
Option 4: Virto Alerts (Per-Tenant Licensing with Alert Limits)
The Promise: A specialized alert solution designed specifically for SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365, with per-tenant licensing, no per-user fees, and enterprise-grade security.
The Reality: Virto Alerts is built from the ground up for notifications. It’s simple to use, requires no coding, and includes features native SharePoint Alerts never had—like Microsoft Teams integration (send alerts directly to Teams channels via webhooks) and HTML-templated emails with images, links, and rich formatting.
Security: Uses zero-data-access architecture. Your data stays in your Microsoft 365 tenant—Virto servers never store or access your content. Trusted by NATO, U.S. Treasury, NASA, and Fortune 500 organizations.
Pricing:
- Basic: $1,199/year (up to 30 alerts)
- Standard: $2,999/year (up to 100 alerts)
- Pro: $5,499/year (up to 250 alerts)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing (unlimited alerts)
Key Difference: You pay once per tenant, and all users in that tenant can receive alerts. There are no per-user fees. The only limit is the number of alerts you can create.
The Catch: If you need more than 250 alerts, you move to Enterprise pricing (which requires contacting sales). For most organizations, the Pro plan is sufficient.
Best For: Organizations with hundreds to thousands of alerts across their SharePoint environment. The per-tenant model means you pay once and scale to your needs.
Worst For: Organizations with very few alerts (under 30). In that case, the Basic plan is still $1,199/year, which might be overkill.
The Numbers: A Real-World Comparison
Let’s look at three realistic scenarios to see how these options compare.
Scenario 1: Small Organization (100 Users, 50 Alerts)
| Solution | Annual Cost | Cost Per Alert | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Automate Premium (10 users) | $1,800 | $36 | Assumes 10 users need Premium access |
| Power Automate Process (5 flows) | $6,000 | $120 | Assumes 5 consolidated flows |
| Virto Alerts (Standard) | $2,999 | $60 | Unlimited users, up to 100 alerts |
Winner: Virto Alerts Standard offers the best balance of cost and simplicity—no consolidation required, no per-user fees.
Scenario 2: Mid-Size Organization (500 Users, 200 Alerts)
| Solution | Annual Cost | Cost Per Alert | Notes |
| Power Automate Premium (50 users) | $9,000 | $45 | Assumes 50 users need Premium access |
| Power Automate Process (10 flows) | $12,000 | $60 | Assumes 10 consolidated flows |
| Infowise (500 users, mid-tier) | $30,000 | $150 | Per-user licensing |
| Virto Alerts (Pro) | $5,499 | $27 | Unlimited users, up to 250 alerts |
Winner: Virto Alerts by a significant margin. You’re saving $3,500–$24,500 per year compared to alternatives.
Scenario 3: Large Organization (2,000 Users, 500 Alerts)
| Solution | Annual Cost | Cost Per Alert | Notes |
| Power Automate Premium (200 users) | $36,000 | $72 | Assumes 200 users need Premium access |
| Power Automate Process (50 flows) | $60,000 | $120 | Assumes 50 consolidated flows |
| Infowise (2,000 users, mid-tier) | $120,000 | $240 | Per-user licensing |
| Virto Alerts (Enterprise) | Custom | TBD | Unlimited users and alerts |
Winner: Virto Alerts Enterprise (custom pricing). Contact sales for exact pricing, but expect significant savings compared to per-user or per-flow models.
Beyond Cost: The Operational Difference
Cost isn’t the only factor. Let’s talk about operational complexity.
Power Automate: Powerful, but requires technical expertise. Your IT team needs to understand cloud flows, triggers, actions, and error handling. A single misconfigured flow can cause notification storms or missed alerts. Maintenance and troubleshooting require specialized knowledge.
Virto Alerts: Designed for simplicity. Non-technical users can create alerts through a web interface. No coding required. If something breaks, it’s usually straightforward to diagnose and fix. Your IT team spends less time managing alerts and more time on strategic initiatives. Plus, you get features that native SharePoint Alerts never had—Teams integration, HTML templates, and advanced scheduling.
Third-Party Solutions: Varies widely. Some are simple, others are complex. Most require vendor support for troubleshooting.
The Migration Timeline: When to Start
You have until July 1, 2026—but remember, you already can’t create new alerts. Here’s a realistic timeline:
Now (January 2026): Start your audit. Inventory all SharePoint alerts in your environment. Categorize them by criticality and complexity.
February–March 2026: Evaluate solutions. Run pilots with your top 2–3 options. Involve your end users in the evaluation—they know which alerts matter most.
April–May 2026: Make your decision and begin migration. Start with non-critical alerts to work out any issues.
June 2026: Final testing and validation. Ensure all critical alerts are migrated and working correctly.
July 1, 2026: SharePoint Alerts are retired. Your new solution is live and handling all notifications.
This timeline gives you 6 months to complete the migration without rushing. Don’t wait until June to start—you’ll regret it.
How to Audit Your Current Alerts
Before you can migrate, you need to know what you’re migrating. Here’s a PowerShell script using PnP PowerShell to get started:
# Prerequisites: Install PnP.PowerShell module
# Install-Module -Name PnP.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser
# Connect to SharePoint Online Admin Center
$adminUrl = "https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $adminUrl -Interactive
# Get all site collections
$sites = Get-PnPTenantSite -IncludeOneDriveSites:$false
# Create output array
$alertsReport = @()
# Loop through each site and export alerts
foreach ($site in $sites) {
Write-Host "Processing: $($site.Url)" -ForegroundColor Cyan
try {
# Connect to site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $site.Url -Interactive
# Get all lists
$lists = Get-PnPList
foreach ($list in $lists) {
# Get alerts for this list
$alerts = Get-PnPAlert -List $list -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
foreach ($alert in $alerts) {
$alertsReport += [PSCustomObject]@{
SiteUrl = $site.Url
ListTitle = $list.Title
AlertTitle = $alert.Title
User = $alert.User.LoginName
AlertType = $alert.AlertType
Frequency = $alert.AlertFrequency
}
}
}
}
catch {
Write-Warning "Could not process $($site.Url): $_"
}
}
# Export to CSV
$alertsReport | Export-Csv -Path "SharePointAlertsAudit.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Write-Host "Audit complete. Results saved to SharePointAlertsAudit.csv" -ForegroundColor GreenNote: For production environments with many sites, consider using app-only authentication instead of interactive login to avoid repeated authentication prompts. See PnP PowerShell documentation for details.
This script will give you a baseline inventory of all alerts in your environment. From there, you can categorize them and prioritize your migration.
Making Your Decision: A Checklist
Before you commit to a solution, ask yourself these questions:
- How many alerts do we have? (This determines whether per-alert or per-user pricing makes sense)
- How many users need to create/manage alerts? (This affects Power Automate Premium costs)
- Do we need complex workflows, or just simple notifications? (Power Automate vs. specialized solutions)
- What’s our IT team’s capacity for managing a new system? (Simpler solutions require less maintenance)
- Do we have a budget for a pilot? (Test before you commit)
- What’s our risk tolerance? (Migrating to a new vendor vs. using Microsoft’s official solution)
- Do we need Teams integration? (Native SharePoint Alerts never supported this)
- What are our security and compliance requirements? (Zero-data-access architecture matters for regulated industries)
The Bottom Line
SharePoint Alerts are retiring on July 1, 2026—and new alert creation is already blocked. You need a replacement. The good news? You have options, and the right choice depends on your organization’s specific needs.
If you have hundreds of simple alerts and want to minimize cost and complexity, Virto Alerts offers the best value with per-tenant pricing and no per-user fees. If you need complex automation and have the budget for it, Power Automate is a solid choice. If you’re already invested in a third-party platform, consolidating there might make sense.
The worst choice? Waiting until June 2026 to start your migration. Start your audit now, run pilots in February, and make your decision by March. That gives you time to migrate without panic.
Your teams depend on alerts to stay informed. Don’t let this retirement catch you off guard.
About Virto Software
Virto Software has been helping organizations optimize their Microsoft 365 environments for over 15 years. Our applications are Microsoft 365 Certified and have undergone independent security audits, including NATO penetration testing (March 2024).
Virto Alerts features:
- Zero-data-access architecture: Your data never leaves your Microsoft 365 tenant—Virto servers process logic but never store your content
- Microsoft Teams integration: Send alerts directly to Teams channels via webhooks
- HTML-templated emails: Rich formatting with images, links, and tables
- Flexible scheduling: From immediate notifications to custom recurrence patterns
- Enterprise self-deployment: Deploy in your own Azure subscription for full control
Trusted by: NATO, NASA, U.S. Treasury, SEC, Warner Bros, Disney, Sony, Baker McKenzie, Texas Instruments, and over 8,000 organizations worldwide.
