Power BI licenses: the overview
Microsoft offers Power BI in several license tiers. The right choice depends on your team size, data needs, and budget:
| License | Price | Publish & share | Max dataset | Refresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop (free) | €0 | No (local only) | Unlimited locally | Manual |
| Free (Service) | €0 | My Workspace only | 1 GB | 8x/day |
| Pro | €9.40/user/mo | Yes, with other Pro users | 1 GB | 8x/day |
| Premium Per User (PPU) | €18.70/user/mo | Yes, with other PPU users | 100 GB | 48x/day |
| Fabric Capacity | From ~€250/mo | Yes, unlimited viewers | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Note: Prices are based on the official Microsoft price list as of March 2026 and may change.
Power BI Free — what can you do for free?
Power BI Desktop is a full-featured free Windows application. You can connect to hundreds of data sources, transform data with Power Query, build data models with DAX, and create interactive reports.
Power BI Service (Free tier) gives you a personal "My Workspace" in the cloud. You can publish reports, but only you can view them — you cannot share with others.
When is free enough? If you only build reports for yourself and don't need to share, the free option works great. Once you want to collaborate, you'll need at least Pro.
Power BI Pro — the team standard
Power BI Pro costs €9.40 per user per month and is the most widely used license. Key features:
- Share and collaborate — Publish reports to shared workspaces, create apps, and build dashboards together.
- Automatic refresh — Schedule up to 8 data refreshes per day.
- Row-Level Security (RLS) — Restrict what users see based on their role.
- Dataflows — Reusable cloud-based ETL processes.
- Email subscriptions — Receive automatic report snapshots in your inbox.
Important: Both the sender and recipient need a Pro license to view shared content. This is the most common licensing pitfall.
Tip: Power BI Pro is included in Microsoft 365 E5. If your organization already has E5 licenses, you don't need to pay for Pro separately.
Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)
PPU costs €18.70 per user per month. What do you get on top of Pro?
- Larger datasets — Up to 100 GB per dataset (vs. 1 GB with Pro).
- More frequent refresh — Up to 48 refreshes per day (every 30 minutes).
- XMLA endpoint — Connect external tools (Excel, SSMS, Tabular Editor) directly to your datasets.
- Deployment pipelines — Professional dev/test/prod workflow for reports.
- AI features — AutoML, cognitive services, and text analytics within Power BI.
- Paginated reports — Pixel-perfect reports for printing and export.
Downside: All users viewing PPU content also need a PPU license. You cannot share PPU content with Pro users.
Microsoft Fabric — the complete data platform
Microsoft Fabric is the successor to Power BI Premium (capacity-based). It's not just a BI license but a complete data platform that includes Power BI plus Lakehouse, Data Engineering, Data Science, Real-Time Analytics, and Data Activator.
Fabric licenses are capacity-based: you purchase compute units (CUs) shared by all users. The big advantage: unlimited viewers. Anyone with a free Microsoft account can view reports without a Pro license.
| SKU | CUs | Price/month (indicative) | Suited for |
|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | 2 | ~€250 | Small teams, evaluation |
| F4 | 4 | ~€500 | Departmental BI |
| F8 | 8 | ~€1,000 | Multiple departments |
| F16 | 16 | ~€2,000 | Mid-size organization |
| F32 | 32 | ~€4,000 | Large organization |
| F64 | 64 | ~€8,000 | Enterprise |
| F128+ | 128+ | ~€16,000+ | Large enterprise |
Which license do I need?
Follow this decision guide:
- Just for yourself? → Power BI Desktop (free).
- Sharing with a small team (< 10)? → Power BI Pro. Everyone who creates and views content needs Pro.
- Large datasets (> 1 GB) or more frequent refresh? → PPU. But all viewers need PPU too.
- Many viewers without individual licenses? → Fabric Capacity. From F2 (~€250/mo), unlimited viewers with just a free Microsoft account.
- Full data platform (lakehouse, engineering, ML)? → Fabric F8+.
Rule of thumb: With more than ~25 viewers, a Fabric F2 capacity (€250/mo) is usually cheaper than 25+ Pro licenses (25 × €9.40 = €235/mo).
Tips to save costs
Strategies to reduce Power BI licensing costs:
- Check your Microsoft 365 licenses — Pro is included in M365 E5. Many organizations don't realize this and pay double.
- Use the free trial — Pro offers a 60-day free trial. Fabric has a free trial capacity available.
- Fabric pay-as-you-go — Pay per hour instead of a monthly commitment. Great for teams that only use Fabric on weekdays.
- Pause Fabric capacity — Pause when not in use (evenings, weekends, holidays). This can save 60-70%.
- Calculate the break-even point — Compare Pro license costs for all viewers vs. Fabric capacity. The tipping point is typically around 25-30 viewers.
Example: An organization with 5 report builders and 50 viewers pays with Pro: 55 × €9.40 = €517/mo. With Fabric F2: 5 × Pro (€47) + F2 (€250) = €297/mo. Savings: €2,640/year.