9.8
Spot Score
Microsoft Power BI Review: Is It The Right Business Intelligence Software For Your Team?
Best for SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise
Free Trial Available
Starts from $9.99 / User / Month
Adobe
GE Healthcare
Heathrow
Aston Martin
MeijerTrusted by many companies including Adobe
Overview
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What is Microsoft Power BI?
Power BI is a suite of analytics tools that works across a variety of devices. Power BI gives business users access to real-time data from systems, from spreadsheets and databases to SaaS applications. Power BI can live on a desktop, tablet, or even in browser. It can gather data into interactive dashboards for side-by-side reporting, filtering, drilling into details, and connecting to other tools.
Pricing
Starts from $9.99 / User / Month
Free Trial available
Best For
Suited for solo users, small teams, SMBs, and enterprise
Platform
Web + mobile app (iOS & Android)
Microsoft Power BI Software Demo
Microsoft Power BI was reviewed internally using user feedback, in-house testing, and market research to assess its performance, reliability, and user experience. Learn how we review products and our evaluation process.
Who should consider Microsoft Power BI
- Team types
- Large Enterprises, Medium Business
Why teams choose Microsoft Power BI
Wide range of pricing models, offering flexibility for different budgets.
Can connect to almost any data source, enhancing data accessibility and analysis.
Offers extensive visual and add-on library, facilitating enhanced data visualization.
Is Microsoft Power BI right for you?
What buyers should know before shortlisting Microsoft Power BI
Power BI stands out as a transformative technology that's ahead of its time, according to recent user reviews. Users appreciate the versatility of Power BI in connecting to various data sources seamlessly.
This feature, along with its ability to generate quality graphics and easily share data, has garnered praise. The tool's range of pricing models and the support of ETL tools and programming languages are additional strengths highlighted by users.
While the program excels in many aspects, there are some areas that users have identified for improvement, such as difficulties in merging data from multiple sources and occasional delays in loading large datasets. Some users also find certain aspects of the desktop version clunky and in need of refinements.
Overall, Power BI is lauded for its user-friendly interface, expansive data visualization capabilities, and its positive impact on business operations. Despite some minor issues, it remains a go-to tool for many users for creating insightful reports and harnessing the power of data analytics effectively.
If further enhancements are made to address these minor concerns, Power BI has the potential to become an even more indispensable tool for businesses looking to streamline their data analysis processes.
Microsoft Power BI pros and cons
- Microsoft Power BI pros
Wide range of pricing models, offering flexibility for different budgets.
Can connect to almost any data source, enhancing data accessibility and analysis.
Offers extensive visual and add-on library, facilitating enhanced data visualization.
- Microsoft Power BI cons
Desktop version can feel clunky and may have bugs that need addressing.
Requires background knowledge in SQL and database management for efficient use.
Ready to try it?
Get started with Microsoft Power BI
Start your free trial — no credit card required.
Still comparing?
See how it stacks up
Compare Microsoft Power BI side-by-side with top Business Intelligence Software alternatives.
What is the pricing of Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI Pricing Plans
Power BI Pro
$9.99
/User/Month
Included with Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E5
Mobile app access
Publish reports to share and collaborate
Model size limit : 1 GB
Refresh rate : 8/day
Show more +
Power BI Premium (User)
$20
/User/Month
Includes features of Power BI Pro plan, plus
Available now to buy with a credit card
Paginated (RDL) reports
Model size limit : 100 GB
Refresh rate : 48/day
Show more +
Power BI Premium (Capacity)
$4,995
/Month
Requires a Power BI Pro license for publishing content into Power BI Premium capacity.
Enable autoscale with your Azure subscription to automatically scale Power BI Premium capacity.
Mobile app access
Paginated (RDL) reports
Consume content without a per-user license
Show more +
Microsoft Power BI reviews and ratings
Buyer sentiment
Buyer sentiment is positive across 151 reviews, with strong overall satisfaction.
What buyers like
- Wide range of pricing models, offering flexibility for different budgets.
- Can connect to almost any data source, enhancing data accessibility and analysis.
- Offers extensive visual and add-on library, facilitating enhanced data visualization.
Common complaints
- Desktop version can feel clunky and may have bugs that need addressing.
- Requires background knowledge in SQL and database management for efficient use.
- Pricing models may limit accessibility to some features for non-pro users.
What users are saying
P
Paula
11/30/21
Transformative technology that's ahead of its time
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? Power BI customer reps have always been helpful and responsive--kudos to them! They don't ...
Read more
I
Isadore
09/03/21
The best data analysis tool we've ever used.
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? Power BI can connect to just about any data source--and this is probably its main selling ...
Read more
L
Levi
08/23/21
Been using this for 3 years now--and counting.
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? There's so much to love about Power BI. For one, it offers a range of pricing models, and ...
Read more
D
Davon
08/14/21
A pro tool fit for the pros.
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? Ever since we started using Power BI, we've grown heavily dependent on its functionalities. ...
Read more
E
Elisha
07/09/21
Easy to use and interactive.
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? One of the best things about Power BI is its flexibility and ease of use. We haven't come ...
Read more
I
Icie
05/15/21
A crowd favorite in our office.
PROS & CONS What are the best aspects of this product? This has quickly become one of the favorite programs among my colleagues. It manages to ...
Read more
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What are the features of Microsoft Power BI?
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Ad hoc query is a powerful software feature that allows users to perform immediate and customized data analysis. It is commonly used in data…
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Cleaning, converting, and modeling data to discover relevant information for business decision-making is what data analysis is all about. Da…
A quantitative measure of performance over time for a specific goal is referred to as a "key performance indicator." KPIs provide teams with…
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Trend indicators help to find out If there is a trend in the market and how it is moving. These indicators are called oscillators because th…
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Microsoft Power BI Customers
Adobe
GE Healthcare
Heathrow
Aston Martin
Meijer
PharmID
WorldSmart
Microsoft Power BI Support Options
Frequently Asked Questions About Microsoft Power BI
Common questions buyers ask before choosing Microsoft Power BI.
Microsoft Power BI is a Business Intelligence Software. Microsoft Power BI offers Trend Indicators, Strategic Planning, Key Performance Indicators, Data Analysis, Dashboard and many more functionalities.
Buyers commonly note the following limitations of Microsoft Power BI: Desktop version can feel clunky and may have bugs that need addressing.; Requires background knowledge in SQL and database management for efficient use.; Pricing models may limit accessibility to some features for non-pro users..
Some top alternatives to Microsoft Power BI includes Google Drive, Tableau, IBM Cognos Analytics, Dundas BI and Microsoft Power BI Desktop.
Microsoft Power BI offers Free Trial, Subscription pricing models
The starting price of Microsoft Power BI is $9.99/User/Month
Ready to try it?
Get started with Microsoft Power BI
Start your free trial — no credit card required.
Disclaimer: This research has been collated from a variety of authoritative sources. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].