Here's a comparison of Microsoft Power BI Desktop, Power BI Pro, Power BI Premium per user, and Power BI Embedded, so you can pick the right solution for your business.
In the highly competitive world of business, time is money. You need to think on your feet, develop ideas and solutions by the minute, and analyze and visualize data to optimize your business. Business intelligence (BI) is the practice of combining data visualization, data analytics, data tools, and infrastructure with business analytics to make efficient business decisions. With an ever-growing ocean of data, it is essential to have the right business intelligence solution. This is where Microsoft Power BI comes in.
What is Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI is a suite of business intelligence services that enables data analysis, modeling, and reporting. Depending on the software version you choose, it helps you create interactive dashboards and reports to explore and analyze data visually. This facilitates easier understanding and identification of trends and patterns. Power BI's visuals are great for presentations and sharing with colleagues. There are also numerous benefits of Power BI for your small or mid-sized business.
Here are the standalone versions of Power BI available:
Power BI Desktop (free)
Power BI Pro
Power BI Premium Per User
Power BI Embedded
You can also access Power BI if you have a subscription to Microsoft Fabric.
This article provides a breakdown of each option to help you choose between the standalone and embedded versions of Power BI.
⚙️ Power BI Desktop (Free)
This is the free version of Power BI. It’s a self-service business analytics application available in all Office 365 plans. You can simply install this version on your local computer and create your own reports, connect with up to 70+ data sources, conduct your analysis, and much more.
No subscription is required to use this version. You can download it for free directly from Microsoft to your local system to start creating Power BI reports. If you install it from the Microsoft Store, you’ll get automatic updates whenever new upgrades or patches are released.
Power BI Desktop Features
The free version of Power BI is one of the best business analytic tools for small business owners or individual professionals. Here are some of the functionalities you can take advantage of with the free desktop version:
Data can be imported from more than 70 on-premises and cloud-based sources
It includes all visualizations and filters available in Power BI Pro
The auto-detect feature looks for and creates data relationships
Reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, CSV, and PDF
Python support included
You can publish your reports on the web
Comes with 10GB cloud storage limit per user
Users may share PBIX files outside of the Power BI cloud service and consume them using Power BI Desktop without requiring any Power BI license
While Power BI's free desktop version allows you to access the program’s basic functionalities, if you need to share your created reports with colleagues and other users, you need the Pro version. The free version also doesn’t have app workspaces, API embedding, email subscriptions, or peer-to-peer sharing. Also, you can’t analyze in Excel using Power BI Desktop.
Power BI Desktop Pricing
Microsoft's Power BI desktop version is free of charge and does not require licensing. You can easily download free Power BI app and tools here to get started.
Power BI Desktop (Free) is ideal for:
Start-ups and individuals
Businesses without a budget for intelligence tools
⚙️Power BI Pro
This is the complete version of Power BI and is an individual per-user license. It equips you with the full ability to create reports and dashboards. It also includes unlimited sharing, viewing, and consumption of created reports.
The biggest advantage of the Pro version over the free desktop version is the ability to share reports, dashboards, and data with other users who also have a Power BI Pro license or if a Power BI premium capacity hosts that content. It allows you to create an app-based workspace, but the storage limit per user remains 10GB. It is available in Office 365 E5 and Microsoft 365 E5.
Power BI Pro Features
Power BI Pro is required for sharing or consuming content within the Power BI cloud service and grants unlimited creation, viewing, sharing, and consumption of reports and dashboards. Here are some of the additional Pro level functionalities you can access with this version:
It allows embedding Power BI visuals into apps like PowerApps, SharePoint, Teams, etc
It also allows native integration with Microsoft solutions like Azure Data Services
Allows creation of app workspaces and peer-to-peer sharing
On-premise gateways to connect with data that is not on the cloud
More data refreshes so that you always have the latest version of data
Power BI Pro involves individual licensing. So, if a company has 30 users, they’ll require 30 licenses to utilize the full version for creating reports and dashboards. This option is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses.
Power BI Pro Pricing
The Power BI Pro plan is available at $10 USD per month per user. You can get the 60-day free trial before purchasing to explore the benefits for yourself. It allows you to collaborate and govern data, build dashboards with a 360 degree view, and publish reports anywhere.
Power BI Pro is ideal for:
Small to mid-sized businesses
Multi-site businesses
⚙️Power BI Premium Per User
Power BI Premium Per User provides organizations with the flexibility to license premium features on a per-user basis. It includes all the features you’ll find in Power BI Pro, along with more advanced capabilities. However, it does not include capacity entitlements (or the ability to consume content without requiring a per-user license). Premium Per User is available as an add-on for users with Power BI Pro or Microsoft/Office 365 E5 licenses.
Power BI Premium Per User Features
The Premium Per User version can host up to 50GB of datasets and offers 100TB of cloud storage. It also enables collaboration among hundreds of users in real time. Organizations with a Premium license have separate resources and super-powered servers. They don't have to share processing environments, thus ensuring fast operations. Here are some of the features included at the Premium level:
Provides more capabilities such as advanced AI, self-service prep for big data, and advanced datasmarts
Increased performance and data capacity
One API surface access
It allows embedding Power BI visuals into apps like PowerApps, SharePoint, Teams, etc.
Allows extended deployments due to larger storage.
Offers more data refreshes, geo-distribution, pin-to-memory, isolation, and read-only replicas.
Power BI Premium Per User Pricing
The Power BI Premium Per User pricing is based on per user licenses at $20 USD per month. It is ideal for larger organizations with additional storage and security needs.
Existing Microsoft/Office 365 E5 and Power BI Pro customers can purchase the Premium Per User add-on for $10 USD user/month.
Power BI Premium Per User is ideal for:
Small and mid-sized organizations that need access to enterprise-scale features, without requiring capacity
Large organizations that want to reduce capacity management
Large organizations that have departments where unlimited distribution is not a requirement
⚙️ Power BI Premium Per Capacity (No Longer Available for New Customers)
Power BI Premium also used to be available on a per-capacity license but with the introduction of Microsoft Fabric, it is no longer available for purchase after 1 July 2024. Existing customers can continue using their existing Power BI Premium capacity until the time of their next renewal when they can transition to a suitable Microsoft Fabric capacity and pricing plan.
⚙️ Power BI Embedded
Power BI Embedded provides developers with Power BI capacity through Azure so they can embed Power BI content in their custom solutions. It allows them to brand Power BI content as their own and automate monitoring and management without needing to build it from scratch.
Power BI Embedded Features
Embedded interactive reports and data visualizations
Pre-built connectors so you can connect to hundreds of data sources
Software development kits that let you customize the embedding environment
Built-in Azure security and compliance
Power BI Embedded Pricing
For pricing, contact a Microsoft sales specialist directly or a Microsoft BI partner.
Power BI Premium Per User is ideal for:
ISVs and developers who want to white-label Power BI capabilities in their own applications
⚙️ Introducing Microsoft Fabric
Microsoft Fabric is a SaaS analytics platform that unifies a company’s data and analytic workloads under one platform. It consists of the following workloads:
Microsoft Power BI
Data Warehouse
Data Science
Data Factory
Real-time Intelligence
Data Engineering
It comes with in-built AI capabilities with Copilot and uses a unified data foundation, OneLake, a single unified data lake for your entire organization across all your analytical tools. As you can see, Power BI is one of the workloads available when you purchase Microsoft Fabric.
Microsoft Fabric Features:
Unified data platform means eliminating data silos and reducing the cost of data integration, governance, and security
AI-powered insights and machine learning capabilities that let users automate, generate insights, and forecast more accurately.
Host of analytic tools that help users uncover insights and create visuals embedded in Microsoft 365 apps.
Microsoft Fabric Pricing
Microsoft Fabric pricing is determined by the following two variables:
Compute: A shared pool of capacity that powers all capabilities in Microsoft Fabric. There is a Pay-as-you-go and 1-year Reservation option.
Storage: How much storage you use. There is a Pay-as-you-go option ($ per GB/month)
You can explore pricing options here to get an idea and then reach out to a Microsoft Partner for a more exact quote. You can also take advantage of the free trial to get a first-hand understanding of the capabilities available.
Microsoft Fabric is ideal for:
SMB businesses looking for inbuilt AI-powered analytic capabilities at cost
Larger organizations with complex data repositories
Companies looking for more than just business intelligence capabilities
🔎 Why Do I Need a License if Power BI Desktop is Free?
You might wonder why there is a need for paid versions of Power BI if the Power BI Desktop is free to install and use. The main reason here is while you can create the same reports using the free version, you will not be able to share or consume them – which adds difficulties in reporting in an organization. Here are some other limitations:
Power BI Desktop can’t be installed on all devices, limiting end-users to be able to consume reports on the go or on their phones
It’s difficult to track and monitor the usage of the reports
While you can get others in your organization to download Power BI desktop and give them the PBIX file to view your report, this tends to cause numerous versions of files, creating confusion and inefficiencies
🔎 Power BI Free vs. Pro vs. Premium: Which One To Pick?
As a leading business intelligence software out there, Microsoft Power BI has a lot of benefits. Choosing the version or license that is right for you depends on your business needs, internal expertise, and data analysis requirements. If you require a self-service business analytics tool, you can choose between the Desktop and Pro versions.
While Power BI Free has all the basic features and is quite functional, it does have limits on data refreshes, storage, and sharing capabilities – making it more suitable for a single user or learning scenario. Power BI Pro allows sharing reports with other users and is a cost-effective upgrade for a small or mid-sized business.
Your data reporting and consumption needs determine the choice between Pro and Premium Per User licensing. For enterprise organizations or organizations who want a unified platform that goes beyond business intelligence, Microsoft Fabric would be a better fit.
Get Started with a Microsoft Power BI Partner
If you need help getting started with Power BI, the Kwixand team can help. Kwixand Solutions is a certified Microsoft Power BI Partner based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Our specialists can help you select, implement, and help you set up and customize your Power BI solution. To learn more, book a free consultation today.
