Yeah, you can still use Solutions even if your data is in SharePoint, but the experience isn’t exactly the same as with Dataverse.
Things like environment variables, packaging apps and flows, and moving them across environments will still work. So from a deployment and configuration perspective, you’re not losing that. That part is pretty consistent.
Where the difference comes in is more on the platform capabilities. Dataverse is built for apps, so you get better data relationships, more control over security, and tighter integration with solutions. With SharePoint, it works, but it’s more of a workaround for app data rather than a true application data layer. For simpler scenarios it’s fine, but as things grow, you’ll start noticing the limitations.
On the cost side, using Dataverse isn’t about storage in most cases. Even if you’re only using a small amount of data, users will still need premium licensing if your app is using Dataverse. That’s where the actual cost comes in. There can also be additional costs if you start hitting API limits or need extra capacity later, but licensing is usually the main factor.
With SharePoint, there’s no separate cost for using it inside solutions. If your users already have Microsoft 365 licenses, you’re generally covered. So from a budget perspective, SharePoint is definitely lighter.
The note you saw about permissions and Git is more relevant to Dataverse because it supports more advanced ALM scenarios. You can still do ALM with SharePoint-based apps, but it’s not as tightly integrated or as powerful.
In practice, a lot of people start with SharePoint for cost reasons and simpler use cases, and then move to Dataverse when they need more structure, control, or scalability.
