Power BI Embedded Analytics
Embed interactive analytics in your applications, portals, and SaaS products. No per-user licensing for external users.
Enterprise Guide to Power BI Embedded Analytics
Quick Answer: Power BI Embedded allows you to integrate interactive analytics into custom applications without requiring end users to have Power BI licenses. Two patterns: App Owns Data (service principal auth, no user licenses, best for external portals and ISV products) and User Owns Data (user auth, requires Pro/PPU licenses, best for internal apps). Pricing uses Fabric capacity SKUs — F64 at ~$4,096/month serves unlimited external users. EPC Group implements embedded analytics with row-level security, multi-tenancy, and HIPAA-compliant configurations.
Embedded analytics transforms Power BI from an internal BI tool into a customer-facing product feature. Instead of exporting PDFs or building custom charting libraries, embed production-grade Power BI visualizations directly in your application — with row-level security ensuring each user sees only their data.
EPC Group has implemented Power BI Embedded for ISV products, customer portals, healthcare applications, and financial dashboards. This guide covers architecture patterns, pricing optimization, and implementation best practices.
Embedded Analytics Use Cases
Customer-Facing Portal
Embed analytics in a customer portal so clients can view their own data — usage analytics, performance metrics, billing dashboards. Clients do not need Power BI licenses.
Pattern: App Owns Data
Security: Dynamic RLS by customer/tenant ID
Pricing: F-SKU capacity (no per-user cost)
ISV SaaS Product
Embed Power BI analytics as a feature of your SaaS product. Each customer organization sees only their data. White-labeled with your branding.
Pattern: App Owns Data
Security: Multi-tenant RLS with TenantID filter
Pricing: F-SKU capacity, scales with customer count
Internal Business Application
Embed dashboards in internal line-of-business applications (HR portal, sales CRM, operations dashboard). Users authenticate with corporate Entra ID.
Pattern: User Owns Data
Security: Static RLS by user/group identity
Pricing: Power BI Pro or Premium Per User licenses
Healthcare Patient Portal
HIPAA-compliant embedded analytics showing patient health metrics, appointment history, and care plan progress. PHI protection via sensitivity labels and RLS.
Pattern: App Owns Data
Security: Dynamic RLS by patient/provider ID with HIPAA controls
Pricing: F-SKU capacity + compliance configuration
Power BI Embedded Pricing (Fabric SKUs)
| SKU | Capacity Units | Monthly Cost (Reserved) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | 2 CUs | ~$262 | Development and testing |
| F4 | 4 CUs | ~$524 | Small-scale dev/test |
| F8 | 8 CUs | ~$1,048 | Small production workloads |
| F16 | 16 CUs | ~$2,097 | Medium production |
| F32 | 32 CUs | ~$2,048 | Medium-large production |
| F64 | 64 CUs | ~$4,096 | Enterprise production (recommended) |
| F128 | 128 CUs | ~$8,192 | High-volume enterprise |
| F256 | 256 CUs | ~$16,384 | Large-scale ISV / SaaS |
Power BI Embedded Implementation Steps
Architecture Design
Choose App Owns Data vs User Owns Data pattern. Design multi-tenant data isolation strategy. Plan capacity SKU based on concurrent user estimates.
Development
Implement embed token generation on your server. Integrate Power BI JavaScript SDK into your frontend. Configure row-level security for data isolation per tenant.
Security & Testing
Validate RLS with test accounts across multiple tenants. Load test concurrent embedded views. Verify token refresh and error handling.
Deploy & Monitor
Deploy to production with Azure Monitor integration. Set up capacity usage alerting. Monitor embed token generation performance and error rates.
App Owns Data vs User Owns Data
| Factor | App Owns Data | User Owns Data |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | Service principal — users don't need Power BI accounts | Each user authenticates with Entra ID |
| User Licensing | No per-user Power BI license needed | Each user needs Power BI Pro or PPU license |
| Best For | External-facing: customer portals, ISV products, public dashboards | Internal: employee-facing apps where users already have M365 |
| Data Security | Dynamic RLS via embed token with effective identity | Standard RLS based on user's Entra ID identity |
| Scalability | Scales to millions of external users on capacity | Limited by Power BI license count |
| Cost Model | Fabric capacity (F-SKU) — fixed monthly cost regardless of user count | Per-user licensing — cost scales linearly with users |
| EPC Recommendation | 80% of embedded scenarios — default choice | Only when users already have M365 E3/E5 licenses |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Power BI Embedded?
Power BI Embedded is a Microsoft service that allows developers to embed interactive Power BI reports, dashboards, and visuals directly into custom web applications, portals, and SaaS products. Unlike standard Power BI Service (where users navigate to powerbi.com), embedded analytics brings Power BI content into your own application UI — users interact with analytics without leaving your application and without needing individual Power BI licenses.
What is the difference between App Owns Data and User Owns Data?
App Owns Data (service principal authentication): your application authenticates with a service principal — end users do NOT need Power BI licenses. Best for external-facing applications, ISV products, and customer portals. User Owns Data (interactive authentication): each user authenticates with their own Entra ID credentials and needs a Power BI Pro or Premium license. Best for internal applications where users already have M365 licenses. EPC Group recommends App Owns Data for 80% of embedded analytics scenarios.
How much does Power BI Embedded cost?
Power BI Embedded pricing uses capacity-based SKUs: F2 (2 CUs): ~$262/month — development/testing. F8 (8 CUs): ~$1,048/month — small production workloads. F64 (64 CUs): ~$4,096/month (reserved) — enterprise production. F128 (128 CUs): ~$8,192/month — high-volume production. Legacy A-SKU (Azure-based): A1 ~$750/month to A6 ~$24,000/month. F-SKUs (Fabric) are recommended for new deployments. No per-user licensing for App Owns Data — the capacity serves unlimited external users.
How do you handle row-level security in embedded analytics?
Row-level security (RLS) in embedded analytics ensures each user only sees their data. Implementation: 1) Define RLS roles and DAX filters in the Power BI data model, 2) When generating embed tokens via the API, pass the effective identity (username + roles), 3) Power BI applies the DAX filter at query time, 4) Each user sees only their authorized data. For multi-tenant ISV applications, use dynamic RLS with a TenantID filter — each customer sees only their organization data. EPC Group implements RLS patterns that scale to millions of users across thousands of tenants.
Can I embed Power BI in a React or Angular application?
Yes. Microsoft provides the Power BI JavaScript SDK and React wrapper (powerbi-client-react) for embedding. The React component handles token management, configuration, and event handling. Angular, Vue, and vanilla JavaScript applications use the core powerbi-client SDK. EPC Group has embedded Power BI in React/Next.js, Angular, ASP.NET, and custom SaaS platforms. The embedding process involves: generating embed tokens via the REST API (server-side), passing tokens to the client-side SDK, and configuring the embedded report with filters, page navigation, and event handlers.
What is the Power BI Embedded playground?
The Power BI Embedded playground (playground.powerbi.com) is an interactive tool for testing embedded configurations before implementing in your application. You can experiment with: report embedding with different filter configurations, dashboard and tile embedding, Q&A embedding for natural language queries, paginated report embedding, and custom visual interactions. EPC Group uses the playground during design sessions with clients to prototype embedded experiences before development begins.
Embed Analytics in Your Application
Schedule a free embedded analytics consultation. We will evaluate your application architecture and design an embedded Power BI solution with proper security, multi-tenancy, and performance optimization.