Complete 2025 pricing for Desktop, Pro, Premium, and Embedded
Understanding Power BI cost can be confusing with multiple licensing options ranging from free to enterprise-grade. This comprehensive guide breaks down every Power BI pricing tier, from the free Desktop to Premium capacity costing $80,000+/month, helping you choose the right option for your organization.
Free
Individual reporting
$10/user/mo
Collaboration & sharing
$20/user/mo
Advanced features
$4,995/mo+
Enterprise scale
Power BI Desktop is completely free and represents one of the best values in the business intelligence market. Microsoft offers this powerful data visualization tool at no cost to drive adoption of their broader Power BI ecosystem.
Power BI Desktop is ideal for individual analysts who create reports for personal use, export to static formats (PDF/PPT), or are learning Power BI before an organization-wide rollout. It is also perfect for building proof-of-concept reports before purchasing licenses.
Power BI Pro costs $10 per user per month and unlocks collaboration and sharing capabilities in the Power BI Service (cloud). This is the most common license type for organizations starting their BI journey.
Pro uses a per-seat licensing model, meaning everyone who creates OR views content needs a Pro license. This includes:
Many organizations underestimate Pro costs because they only count report creators. Remember: every viewer needs a Pro license too. If you have 10 creators but 500 viewers, you need 510 Pro licenses ($5,100/month), not 10 ($100/month).
If your organization has Microsoft 365 E5 licenses, Power BI Pro is included at no additional cost. This can represent significant savings for enterprise customers already on E5. M365 E3, E1, and lower tiers do not include Power BI Pro.
Power BI Premium Per User costs $20 per user per month and provides access to Premium features on a per-seat basis rather than capacity-based pricing. PPU launched in 2021 to make Premium features accessible to smaller teams.
The most significant limitation of PPU is that everyone accessing PPU content needs a PPU license. Unlike Premium capacity where free viewers can access content, PPU requires paid licenses for all consumers.
PPU at $20/user becomes more expensive than Premium P1 ($4,995/month) at around 250 users:
Power BI Premium capacity is designed for enterprise deployments with dedicated compute resources. Unlike per-user licensing, Premium provides a fixed monthly cost regardless of how many users access content (unlimited free viewers).
| SKU | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | v-Cores | Memory (GB) | Max Dataset (GB) | Storage (TB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | $4,995 | $59,940 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 100 |
| P2 | $9,995 | $119,940 | 16 | 50 | 6 | 200 |
| P3 | $19,995 | $239,940 | 32 | 100 | 12 | 400 |
| P4 | $39,995 | $479,940 | 64 | 200 | 25 | 800 |
| P5 | $79,995 | $959,940 | 128 | 400 | 50 | 1,600 |
Premium capacity is the only option for sharing Power BI content with external users who do not have licenses. If you need to share dashboards with customers, partners, or board members outside your organization, Premium capacity is required.
Power BI Embedded is designed for ISVs and developers who want to embed Power BI analytics into their own applications for external customers. It uses Azure A SKUs with pay-as-you-go pricing.
| SKU | Approx. Monthly Cost* | v-Cores | Memory (GB) | Equivalent P SKU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | $735 | 1 | 3 | EM1 |
| A2 | $1,470 | 2 | 5 | EM2 |
| A3 | $2,940 | 4 | 10 | EM3 |
| A4 | $5,880 | 8 | 25 | P1 |
| A5 | $11,760 | 16 | 50 | P2 |
| A6 | $23,520 | 32 | 100 | P3 |
*Estimated monthly cost if running 24/7. Actual cost varies by region and usage. A SKUs can be paused to reduce costs.
Microsoft Fabric is Microsoft's unified analytics platform that includes Power BI Premium capacity plus additional data workloads. Premium P SKUs are being transitioned to Fabric F SKUs.
| Fabric SKU | Approx. Monthly | CU (Capacity Units) | Equivalent To | Included Workloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | $263 | 2 | - | Limited Power BI |
| F64 | ~$5,000 | 64 | P1 | All Power BI Premium + Data Factory, Synapse |
| F128 | ~$10,000 | 128 | P2 | All Power BI Premium + Data Factory, Synapse |
| F256 | ~$20,000 | 256 | P3 | All Power BI Premium + Data Factory, Synapse |
If you only need Power BI, Premium capacity may be more cost-effective. If you need a complete data platform (data engineering, data science, real-time analytics), Fabric provides better value by bundling everything together.
License fees are just part of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Power BI. Enterprise deployments should budget for these additional costs:
| Scenario | Year 1 TCO | Annual TCO (Years 2+) |
|---|---|---|
| Small Team (25 Pro users) Basic implementation, minimal training | $15,000-$25,000 | $5,000-$8,000 |
| Mid-Size Org (200 Pro users) Full implementation, training, gateway | $100,000-$200,000 | $50,000-$80,000 |
| Enterprise (P1 + 500 viewers) Premium capacity, full training, dedicated admin | $200,000-$400,000 | $120,000-$200,000 |
| Feature | Desktop Free | Pro $10/user | PPU $20/user | Premium $4,995+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity & Limits | ||||
| Max dataset size | Local only | 1 GB | 100 GB | 400 GB |
| Scheduled refreshes/day | Manual | 8 | 48 | 48 |
| Storage | Local disk | 10 GB | 100 GB | 100 TB+ |
| Sharing & Collaboration | ||||
| Publish to cloud | ||||
| Free viewers allowed | N/A | |||
| Workspaces | ||||
| Advanced Features | ||||
| Paginated reports | ||||
| XMLA endpoint | ||||
| Deployment pipelines | ||||
| AI features (AutoML) | ||||
| Incremental refresh | ||||
| Enterprise Features (Premium Only) | ||||
| Report Server (on-prem) | ||||
| Multi-geo | ||||
| BYOK encryption | ||||
| Autoscale | ||||
Answers to the most common questions about Power BI pricing and licensing options.
Yes, Power BI Desktop is completely free to download and use. You can connect to hundreds of data sources, build complex data models, create reports and visualizations, and save .pbix files locally. However, to share reports with others via the Power BI Service (cloud), you need at least a Power BI Pro license ($10/user/month). Desktop alone is ideal for individual analysts who only need to create reports for personal use or export to PDF/PowerPoint.
Power BI Pro costs $10/user/month and includes collaboration features, 1 GB dataset limit, and 8 daily refreshes. Premium Per User (PPU) costs $20/user/month and includes all Pro features plus Premium capabilities: 100 GB datasets, 48 daily refreshes, paginated reports, deployment pipelines, XMLA endpoints, and AI features. The key limitation: PPU content can only be accessed by other PPU users, while Premium capacity allows free viewers.
Choose Premium capacity when: (1) You have 250+ users needing Premium features (break-even point), (2) You need to share reports with external users or those without paid licenses (unlimited free viewers), (3) You require on-premises reporting via Power BI Report Server, (4) You need multi-geo data residency or BYOK encryption, or (5) You are embedding Power BI in external customer-facing applications.
Power BI Embedded uses A SKUs with Azure pay-as-you-go pricing starting at approximately $735/month for A1 (1 v-core, 3 GB RAM). Higher tiers include A2 ($1,470/month), A3 ($2,940/month), up to A6 ($23,520/month). Unlike Premium P SKUs with fixed monthly costs, Embedded can be paused when not in use to save costs. Embedded is designed for ISVs and developers embedding Power BI analytics in external applications for customers.
Common hidden costs include: (1) Training and enablement ($500-5,000 per user depending on depth), (2) Data gateway infrastructure for on-premises sources ($2,000-10,000+ setup), (3) Premium data connectors that require additional licensing, (4) Implementation consulting ($150-300/hour), (5) Data preparation and ETL development, (6) Ongoing administration and support (0.5-2 FTEs for enterprise), and (7) Azure costs for data storage, compute, and Power BI Embedded if used.
Microsoft Fabric is a unified analytics platform that includes Power BI Premium capacity. Existing Premium P SKUs are being transitioned to Fabric F SKUs with equivalent capabilities. Fabric F64 (equivalent to P1) starts at approximately $5,000/month but includes additional workloads like Data Factory, Synapse Data Engineering, and Real-Time Analytics. For organizations only needing Power BI, Premium may still be more cost-effective, but Fabric provides better value if you need the full data platform.
Yes, you can mix license types. Common scenarios: (1) Power BI Desktop (free) for individual analysts, (2) Pro licenses for report creators and collaborators, (3) Premium Per User for power users needing advanced features, (4) Premium capacity for organization-wide distribution with free viewers. However, PPU content cannot be accessed by Pro users, and Pro content cannot be accessed by free users. Plan your workspace strategy carefully.
Power BI Pro is included with Microsoft 365 E5 licenses at no additional cost. M365 E3 and below do not include Power BI. If you have E5, you already have Pro for all licensed users. Power BI Desktop is always free regardless of M365 subscription. Premium features (PPU, Premium capacity) always require additional licensing beyond M365.
EPC Group has 28+ years of Power BI and Microsoft licensing expertise. We will analyze your requirements, user counts, and growth plans to recommend the optimal licensing strategy that minimizes cost while maximizing value.
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