ANSWERS
Power BI License Plans Compared for Business Reporting
Power BI licensing is one of the most-misunderstood Microsoft products. Here is what each plan actually unlocks.
The plans
- Free — personal use, no sharing
- Pro — per-user, included in Microsoft 365 E5, required for content sharing
- Premium Per User (PPU) — per-user with Premium features without buying capacity
- Premium Capacity (F-SKUs in Fabric) — dedicated capacity for viewers, no per-user licence for read-only consumers
When each fits
Pro for small analyst teams. PPU when authors need advanced features but viewer count is low. Premium capacity when viewer counts scale past ~250 named users.
Frequently asked questions
- Do viewers always need a Pro licence?
- Only when content is hosted in non-Premium workspaces. Premium capacity removes the per-viewer requirement.
- Where does Fabric fit?
- Fabric F-SKUs replace the older Premium P-SKUs and unify Power BI with the broader analytics platform.
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