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In today’s digital world, when you’re building automated workflows across cloud and on-prem systems, the last thing you want is to reinvent the wheel every time when two systems need to talk to each other. That’s exactly the problem Azure Logic Apps Connectors solve. As a powerful, serverless platform, Logic Apps helps you build automated workflows that integrate your systems, streamline processes, and simplify complex tasks.

So, what exactly is a connector? At its heart, Azure Logic Apps Connector is like a wrapper around an API of a particular service or system (like SharePoint, Outlook). It’s simply an adapter that allows your Logic App workflow to communicate with other applications and services without writing custom integration code from scratch. Connectors offer a wide range of operations, but for starters, you can use them as triggers or actions. Be it pulling in data, triggering workflows, or syncing two systems, connectors are like “unsung heroes” that make integration not just possible, but surprisingly easy. There are different types of connectors depending on what you’re trying to do and what kind of Logic App workflow you’re using. In this post, we’ll break down –

• The different types of Azure Logic Apps connectors
• How to choose and use the right connectors

Types of Azure Logic Apps Connectors

Azure Logic Apps categorizes these connectors into three main types –

• Built-in Connectors
• Managed Connectors
• Custom Connectors

Built-in Connectors

As the name suggests, these connectors are built-in directly to the Logic Apps runtime giving them superior performance and access to local environments. They are native to the Logic Apps engine and designed specifically for low-latency operations.

Managed Connectors

These are connectors that are hosted and maintained by Microsoft (or their trusted Partners). They help to connect your workflows with services like Office 365, Salesforce, Dropbox, etc., These are pre-built adapters for hundreds of popular services and APIs. As Microsoft hosts and maintains them, all the complexity of connection handling, authentication, and API communication is abstracted away for you. Simply sign-in, authorize yourself, and you’re good to go! There are over 1400 managed connectors available today.

Custom Connectors

At times, the service you need to connect to doesn’t have a pre-built (Built-in or Managed) connector. That’s when you can use custom connectors. Custom connectors in Azure Logic Apps allow you to bring your own APIs into the Logic Apps ecosystem. They allow you to define how your Logic App can interact with any REST or SOAP API and specify the authentication method to use. By doing this, you are essentially creating “your own” adapter which becomes like “just another connector” that’s available within your workflows.

How to build Custom Connectors in Azure Logic Apps?

Building and using custom connectors in Logic Apps depends on the workflow type – Consumption or Standard workflows:

Consumption Logic Apps (Multi-tenant)

You can create a custom connector for consumption workflows by performing these steps –

• Upload an OpenAPI (Swagger) or SOAP WSDL definition
• Define the connection parameters (keys, tokens, URLs)
• Configure triggers and actions
• Publish the connector and use it like any other managed connector in your Logic App

You can also share it within your Azure environment for your entire team or submit it for Microsoft Certification to make it as public.

Standard Logic Apps Workflows (Single tenant)

Standard Logic Apps lets you build custom built-in connectors using the Azure Functions extensibility model. These connectors are more tightly integrated and become a part of the Logic Apps runtime. They behave very similar to native built-in connectors (low latency and high control). This is great for complex scenarios or when you want full control over execution and performance.

The below image shows the general service provider infrastructure for single tenant Azure Logic Apps using the Azure Functions-based model:

The key features of this infrastructure are:

• Deep integration with the runtime
• Better performance and reliability
• Define custom triggers and actions using interfaces like IServiceOperationsProvider
• Create intelligent, reusable building blocks for your entire enterprise

The ability to use custom connectors exists in both types. But how you create, deploy, and run them is quite different. In short:

• Consumption – Plug-and-play OpenAPI-based connectors
• Standard – Deeper integration using custom code and runtime-level connectors

When to Use Each Connector Type?

Not sure which connector type fits your business scenario? Here’s a quick breakdown of when to use each connector for your use cases.

Connector Type	When to Use It	Common Use Cases
Built-in	For internal workflow logic and simple tasks that do not require external connections	HTTP calls, File Operations, Scheduling Tasks, Manipulating JSON and XML, all of these without having to step out of the Logic Apps engine.
Managed	When you’re integrating with SaaS-based apps or external systems	Sync emails from Outlook, push records to Salesforce, read/write to SharePoint or SQL
Custom	When the connector doesn’t exist out-of-the-box or doesn’t fit your specific API	Connect to a legacy HR system, payment gateway, interface with internal APIs

Quick Tip:

If you are not sure which one to choose, start with the Managed Connector if that exists for your use case.

For cases where you need to perform workflow actions (fast and lightweight), handle raw HTTP requests, or interact with Azure services, use a Built-in connector. If neither of these fits your specific API integration needs, and you prefer to have more control, the Custom Connector is your go-to option.

Benefits of Logic Apps Connectors

Connectors aren’t just a feature in Logic Apps. Beyond enabling integrations, they deliver advantages that directly impact operations such as:

Faster Speed to Market as you don’t have to write custom integrations from scratch. This means your automated workflows can go live much faster.

Enhanced Reliability with the use of Managed Connectors that handle retries, throttling, and authentication for you. This reduces the effort required for ongoing maintenance and frees up your team to focus on managing core business logic over connectivity issues.

With the right workflow type, connectors automatically scale to support high-volume operations without any additional infrastructure. This ensures your integration performs reliably under any load, optimizing your costs by only paying for what you use.

Unmatched flexibility when it comes to integrating legacy or proprietary systems by creating custom connectors that let you bring your own APIs directly into Logic Apps.

Wrapping Up

We’ve taken a journey through the world of Azure Logic Apps connectors, their types, when to use each type of connector and their use cases, and their benefits. From built-in efficiencies to the vast possibilities offered by managed and custom connectors, they transform disparate systems into a more cohesive one. With the right connector strategy, Azure Logic Apps gives you everything you need to integrate your world.

At VNB Consulting, our Integration Practice has been leading enterprise automation strategies using Azure Logic Apps since its inception. Our deep hands-on experience with Logic Apps in real-world deployments has shown us just how essential connectors are in bringing all the pieces together, seamlessly, reliably, and intelligently. We’ve seen firsthand how they empower businesses to unlock new efficiencies and achieve their digital transformation goals.