Microsoft Power BI commands one of the largest market shares of 13.87% – as per Enlyft.

Its influence largely extends across both the United States and the United Kingdom, solidifying its position as a powerful BI tool in the modern business landscape.

With business leaders spoilt for BI tools choices, there are manifold reasons why Power BI is winning in the eyes of modern decision-makers.

It comes with-

  • User-friendly interface, which means a shallow learning curve
  • Seamless integration with other Microsoft products for a cohesive ecosystem which means higher productivity and efficiency
  • Flexibility and scalability for changing business needs which means adaptive resource utilization.
  • Variety of Power BI cost versions which means cost-effective growth

Does this encourage you to consider Power BI as your business intelligence tool?

You’re well on your way to witness a strategic business intelligence experience.

But since it comes with multiple versions, which Microsoft Power BI version is better for your business intelligence needs? – yet another riddle!

Sit back and relax! Today, we are going to walk you through a granular comparison on varied PowerBI versions, based on the features, benefits and costs. Let the exploration begin!

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How Many Versions of Power BI are Available? What is the Power BI Cost Structure of Each Version?

Well, there are 5 major Power BI price versions depending on your data visualization and analytics requirements.

From choosing the free version to purchasing the premium version, you have multiple Power BI cost options like:

  • Power BI Desktop (free)
  • Power BI Pro ($9.99)
  • PowerBI Premium ($4,995 per dedicated cloud computing and storage)
  • Power BI Report Server (on premium, possibly free)
  • Power BI Embedded (varies)

Let’s zoom into each version for a detailed Power BI cost analysis.

1.Power BI Desktop/ Power BI Free Version

It is a great choice if you are stepping into the dynamic landscape of Power BI for the first time or have specific, limited requirements.

Business leaders, such as you, are leveraging this free of cost Power BI version to –

  • Create charts and graphs
  • Build Data Models
  • Create Intuitive dashboards
  • Create & transform distinct datasets
  • And share reports using different Power BI services.

This personal-use tool seamlessly transforms your data into engaging visuals while connecting to on-premises and over 70 cloud data sources.

Suitable for individuals and early-age start-ups, the Power BI free version is great to start and assess whether the tool is the right fit for your business intelligence needs.

Once you are well-versed with the key functionalities and aspects of Power BI, you can upgrade to the Microsoft Power BI paid versions, and even share your reports/data with the stakeholders within and outside your organization.

2. Power BI Pro

Suitable for startups and mid-size organizations, Power BI Pro empowers businesses to transform raw data into a big picture, for effective decision-making.

How does it differ from the basic Power BI desktop version, you may ask?

Microsoft Power BI Pro provides you with the complete capabilities of a Power BI desktop with additional features such as

  • Ability to embed Power BI visuals in Microsoft apps, improved data refreshes for on-premises data, etc.
  • Access to AI visualizations like Q&A, key influencers’ visuals, and the decomposition tree
  • Unrestricted viewing, and sharing of reports, dashboards, and content
  • Access to Power BI assets on the phone using the Power BI mobile app
  • Create dashboards and reports with Power BI Desktop
  • Connect to over 100 data sources
  • A data model size limit of 1 GB

If you are wondering about the pricing of Power BI pro license cost, this version of Power BI costs only $9.99 per user/month.

If you are tussling between Power BI vs Power BI Pro, here is a straightforward answer –

  • Opt for the Microsoft Power BI Free version if your business intelligence needs are basic.
  • Opt for the Microsoft Power BI Pro if you frequently require sharing and collaborative functionalities and a robust set of features for an enhanced analytics experience.

This brings us to the next advanced version of Power BI – Power BI Premium.

3. PowerBI Premium

Ideal for mid-size businesses and enterprise-level organizations, the version of Power BI is everything you need to enjoy high productivity, seamless collaboration, and advanced analytics.

Unlike Power BI Pro and the Desktop version, the premium version brings you the advantage of customizable user capacity.

It ensures that your company can optimize resources according to emerging demands, offering an efficient analytics experience.

It also brings you unique features such as –

  • 100TB of storage
  • Advanced AI features
  • 100GB model size limit
  • Multi-Geo Architecture
  • Access to one API surface
  • Analyse data stored in Azure Data Lake Storage and more.

One of the disadvantages of PowerBI Premium is, that it works in tandem with the Power BI Pro license. This means users who wish to generate reports must have their Power BI Pro license purchased separately.

Primarily, Power BI Premium offers two pricing options based on per user and per capacity.

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1. PowerBI Premium Pricing – Per User

This version of Power BI costs $20/month per user and includes all the features available in Power BI Pro, plus a few additional features such as

  • Ability to create paginated reports
  • Store 100 TB compared to 10 GB offered in Power BI Pro
  • Get a model size limit of 100 GB compared to 1 GB for Power BI Pro
  • Refresh datasets 48 times per day compared to 8 for Power BI Pro users
  • Use more technical features like Dataflows, Advanced AI, and XMLA endpoint read/write connectivity.

The Power BI Premium per-user license holders are also entitled to use the governance and admin capabilities of Power BI Pro while accessing the application lifecycle management feature of Power BI.

It also offers on-premises reporting and additional governance and admin capabilities.

2. Power BI Premium Per Capacity

This version of Power BI costs $4995 and includes all features of Power BI per user.

It comes with a dedicated bunch of dedicated resources allocated for the exclusive use of your team. This is your best bet if you are looking for dependable, consistent performance for your reports and dashboards.

Moreover, it is imperative to Power BI Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) account to publish content within the platform.

4. Power BI Report Server

It is an on-premises physical server used to create and view reports on Power BI Desktop or Power BI Pro. It empowers you to view multiple reports on your email, web browser, and even mobile devices.

It is an ideal choice if you wish to view and access different reports if you have restrictions on the cloud.

You can integrate the Power BI report server by purchasing:

  • Power BI Premium P SKU P1-P5
  • SQL Server Enterprise with Software Assurance agreement

Remember that each version comes with different prices.

The first option of Power BI costs you up to $5K/month, and the second option costs you $15K at the least.

5. Power BI Embedded

The Power BI Embedded is a Power BI Premium feature that enables you to seamlessly embed Power BI content such as dashboards and reports into your application.

It empowers your team of Power BI developers to make desired changes and create a solid ecosystem for better business results.

The overall cost of Power BI Embedded relies on the type and number of nodes chosen and deployed. The nodes are differentiated based on the number of RAM and v-cores.

Power BI cost for this version can be incurred on a monthly/hourly basis across multiple regions.

Read More - How Much Does Implementing Power BI Cost in 2024?