r/PowerBI Wiki

Why this page matters: Licensing questions are asked constantly. Eugene links to the same licensing resources 40+ times in his comment history. This is the #1 gap in the current wiki.

Power BI Licensing Overview

Power BI licensing can be confusing. Here's the quick summary:

License Type	Cost	Best For
Free	$0	Desktop development, personal use, Publish to Web
Pro	$10/user/month	Sharing with other Pro users, app workspaces
Premium Per User (PPU)	$20/user/month	Premium features without capacity commitment
Premium Capacity	~~$4,995+/month~~ DEPRECATED	Transitioning to Fabric F-SKUs
Fabric Capacity	Varies (F SKUs)	Full Microsoft Fabric platform

Free Options

Common question: "How do I use Power BI without a company account?"

Power BI Desktop

Always free. Download from Microsoft Store or powerbi.microsoft.com. You can build reports locally without any account.

Power BI Service (Free Tier)

With a free account you can:

Publish reports to your personal "My Workspace"
View reports shared with you (if sender has Pro/Premium)
Use Publish to Web for public reports

You cannot:

Share reports with specific people
Create or use app workspaces
Set up scheduled refresh

Publish to Web

Warning: Publish to Web is PUBLIC. Anyone with the link can view your report. There is no authentication. Do not use for sensitive data.

See: Security risks of Publish to Web (Nokod Security)

No Organization Email?

Power BI requires a work/school email for the service. Options:

Microsoft 365 Developer Program - Free dev tenant with work email
Power BI Desktop only - Build locally, share via email (.pbix files)
Publish to Web - Public sharing only

Pro vs Premium

Power BI Pro ($10/user/month)

Required for sharing in workspaces
Both creator AND viewer need Pro to share
Included with Microsoft 365 E5
Good for small teams where everyone creates/edits

Power BI Premium Per User - PPU ($20/user/month)

All Pro features plus:
Larger dataset sizes (up to 100GB)
Paginated reports
AI features
Deployment pipelines
Both creator AND viewer need PPU (same as Pro)

Power BI Premium Capacity (DEPRECATED)

Deprecation Notice: Power BI Premium P-SKUs are being retired. Sales and renewals have ended. Existing customers must transition to Microsoft Fabric SKUs.

Grace period: 30 days of free Fabric capacity after P-SKU ends, then throttling begins. Read the official announcement

Historical reference (for existing Premium customers):

Capacity-based (not per user)
Viewers are FREE - only creators need Pro
XMLA endpoint for external tools
Action required: Plan migration to Fabric F-SKUs

When to Upgrade?

Scenario	Recommendation
Personal use / learning	Free tier
Small team (everyone creates)	Pro for all
Many viewers, few creators	Fabric F-SKU (F64+ for free viewers)
Need advanced features, small team	PPU

Microsoft Fabric Licensing

Fabric uses capacity-based licensing (F SKUs). Power BI is included in Fabric.

Recommended resource: Fabric Licensing from Scratch (14x)

F SKU Basics

F2 - Entry level (~$262/month)
F4 - Small workloads
F8 - Minimum for Copilot
F64+ - Enterprise scale

See: Azure Fabric Pricing Calculator

Fabric Trial

Microsoft offers a free 60-day Fabric trial with F64 capacity. Great for testing before committing.

Power BI Report Server

On-premises option for organizations that can't use cloud.

Included with Power BI Premium
Also available with SQL Server Enterprise + SA
No per-user licensing for viewers

See: Report Server Licensing Guide

Common Questions

Do viewers need a license?

Pro/PPU: Yes, viewers need the same license. Premium Capacity: No, viewers are free.

Can I share reports for free?

Only via Publish to Web (public, no security) or by emailing .pbix files.

Is Power BI included in Microsoft 365?

E5: Yes, includes Power BI Pro. E3 and below: No, separate purchase needed.

What's the difference between Premium and Fabric?

Premium P-SKUs are deprecated. Fabric F-SKUs are the replacement. Fabric includes all Power BI Premium features plus data engineering, data science, and real-time analytics. Fabric F64 = P1 equivalent for Power BI.