Exploring the different Power BI license types can help you make an informed decision about which option best suits your organization’s needs and budget.
Power BI, a suite of services, apps, and connectors, meets a wide array of business intelligence needs—from data integration and management to automated reporting.
Modern businesses love and use Power BI because it provides a streamlined way to extract and share data-driven insights across an entire organization at a lower cost compared to other BI tools.
Depending on your unique business needs, you may opt for one of the four available pricing plans or licenses in Power BI.
The different Power BI licenses give you access to different features or usage capacities which you will see in a later section of this blog.
So, to get the highest return on investment on Power BI, avoid unnecessary costs, and increase your productivity, you have to choose the right plan for your business.
This article aims to guide you in making that choice.
Let’s begin with a brief overview of all the license types available in Power BI:
| License Type | Licensed by User/ Capacity | Price |
| Power BI Free | – | – |
| Power BI Pro | User | $10 user/month |
| Power BI Premium | User | $20 user/month |
| Power BI Embedded | Capacity | $735+/month |
| Microsoft Fabric | Capacity | $160+/month |
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Now, let’s see in more detail what each license type gives you:
| Collaboration and Analytics | |||||
| Power BI Free | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium | Power BI Embedded | Microsoft Fabric | |
| Mobile app access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Publish reports to share and collaborate | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paginated reports | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Consume content without a per-user license | X | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| On-premises reporting with Power BI Report Server | X | X | X | X | ✓ |
| Data Preparation, shaping, modeling and visualization | |||||
| Power BI Free | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium | Power BI Embedded | Microsoft Fabric | |
| Model size limit | 1 GB | 1 GB | 100 GB | Varies | Varies |
| Storage | 10 GB | 10 GB/ User | 100 TB | Varies | 100 TB |
| Refresh rate | N/A | 8/day | 48/day | 48/day | 48/day |
| Connect to more than 200 data sources | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Create reports and visualizations with Power BI Desktop | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI visuals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Capability | |||||
| Power BI Free | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium | Power BI Embedded | Microsoft Fabric | |
| Advanced AI (text analytics, image detection, automated machine learning) | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| XMLA endpoint read/write connectivity | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced dataflows and datamarts | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analyze data stored in OneLake Storage | X | X | X | X | ✓ |
| Access to Fabric workloads and Copilot | X | X | X | X | ✓ |
| Governance and administration | |||||
| Capability | Power BI Free | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium | Power BI Embedded | Microsoft Fabric |
| Data security and encryption | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Metrics for content creation, consumption, and publishing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-geo deployment management | X | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maximum storage | 10 GB | 10 GB/user | 100 TB | Varies | 100 TB |
| Pros: | Cons: | Best For: |
| Free usage.Create reports and visuals.Connect to 200+ data sources. | You can’t share reports or schedule automatic refresh.Limited model and storage size.No advanced features such as AI, dataflows, etc. | Individuals, one-man businesses, hobbyists, and small teams with basic analytics needs and who don’t need to share reports. |
| Pros: | Cons: | Best For: |
| Everything in the free plan.Publish and share reports.Automatic refreshes (up to 8 times daily). | Limited model and storage size.No advanced features such as AI, dataflows, etc. | Small to Medium sized businesses or teams with basic analytics needs and who need to share reports. |
| Pros: | Cons: | Best For: |
| Everything in the pro plan.Higher model and storage size limits.Advanced AI, dataflows, and XMLA featuresHigher automatic data refresh limits (up to 48 times daily). | More expensive Individual licenses required for advanced features. | Large organizations with complex data and advanced analytics needs. |
| Pros: | Cons: | Best For: |
| Everything in the premium plan.Embed Power BI reports/ dashboards into custom applications.Users can consume content without a per-user license.Multi-geo deployment management functionality. | Technical expertise required. For application developers, not general users. Price is not fixed. | Businesses that want to embed analytics into their own applications or services. |
| Pros: | Cons: | Best For: |
| Everything in the embedded plan.Access to Fabric workloads and Copilot. OneLake integration. Offers Pay-As-You-Go and Pay-Per-Capacity plans for more flexibility. | May be too much for basic reporting needs. Price is not fixed. | Large enterprises with enterprise data and analytics and governance focus. |
Consider the following factors before settling on any Power BI license type:
If you are currently on the Power BI Free plan, you can upgrade to a Pro or Premium license type by purchasing a subscription here.
If you are currently on a Free plan, to upgrade to a Fabric or Embedded plan, you’ll have to contact the sales team at Microsoft to get your unique quote based on your needs.
If you are currently on a Power BI Pro plan, you can upgrade to Premium by simply purchasing the Premium Per User add on at $10 user/month.
In conclusion, Power BI offers several license types to suit your unique business intelligence requirements:
You have to choose the license that best fits your organization to ensure you get the highest returns on your Power BI investment.
If you’re still unsure which plan is right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to Vidi Corp for expert Power BI consultation.
Just like 600 other businesses have, let Vidi Corp help you maximize your Power BI investment.
