getapp-logo

App comparison

Add up to 4 apps below to see how they compare. You can also use the "Compare" buttons while browsing.

GetApp offers objective, independent research and verified user reviews. We may earn a referral fee when you visit a vendor through our links. 

Microsoft Power BI Logo

BI visualization and reporting for desktop, web or mobile

Table of Contents

Microsoft Power BI - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

Verified reviewer profile picture
Verified reviewer profile picture

All user reviews are verified by in-house moderators and provider data by our software research team.  Learn more

Last updated: February 2026

Microsoft Power BI overview

Verified reviewer profile picture
Verified reviewer profile picture
Verified reviewer profile picture

Based on 1862 verified user reviews

What is Microsoft Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a data visualization program offering key features such as data visualization, reporting and analytics, customizable dashboards, data import/export, and data connectors, among others.

Who uses Microsoft Power BI?

Reviews for Microsoft Power BI come from a wide variety of industries, including Information Technology and Services (12% of reviewers), Computer Software (9%), and Financial Services (3%). The most frequent use case for Microsoft Power BI cited by reviewers is data visualization (61% of reviewers).

What do users say about Microsoft Power BI pricing?

Reviewers appreciate the free version for basic reporting and find the pricing competitive compared to alternatives. However, some users report limitations in the free plan, high premium costs, and confusion around the pricing structure.

What are the most popular integrations for Microsoft Power BI?

The Microsoft Power BI integrations most frequently cited by reviewers are: Microsoft Excel (a spreadsheet product rated 4.8 out of 5 for its integration with Microsoft Power BI), Microsoft 365 (a document management product, 4.7), and Microsoft SQL Server (a database product, 4.7).

Starting price

10per user /
per month

Alternatives

with better value for money


Pros & Cons

Connectivity

Visualization

Composition

Responsiveness

Formulas

Orientation

Microsoft Power BI’s user interface

Ease of use rating:

Microsoft Power BI pros, cons and reviews insights

Verified reviewer profile picture
Verified reviewer profile picture
Verified reviewer profile picture

To determine these pros and cons insights, we analyzed responses from 

Overall rating

Reviews sentiment

 
 
 
1-2(13)
3-4(669)
5(1,180)

What do users say about Microsoft Power BI?

Reviewers indicate Microsoft Power BI enables efficient data analysis, visualization, and dashboard creation from diverse sources, helping them uncover trends and make informed decisions. They value its customizable reports, interactive dashboards, and integration with Microsoft products, noting it streamlines performance tracking and business intelligence tasks. They appreciate the user-friendly interface and wide range of visualization options. Some mention the tool’s affordability compared to competitors, especially for organizations already using Microsoft 365.

Users report a steep learning curve for advanced features, with many relying on tutorials and community support to master the software. They find initial setup and complex functions challenging, especially for beginners, and mention limitations in the free version and pricing structure for premium features. Some feel the interface could be more intuitive and customizable, and note that training is often necessary to fully utilize Power BI’s capabilities.

Select to learn more


Who uses Microsoft Power BI?

Based on 1,862 verified user reviews.

Company size

Small Businesses

Enterprises

Midsize Businesses

Top industries

Information Technology and Services
Computer Software
Financial Services
Retail
Others

Use cases

Data Visualization
Data Analysis
Dashboard
Reporting
Business Intelligence

Microsoft Power BI's key features

GetApp's analysis of 222 verified user reviews collected between July 2021 and December 2024 identifies Microsoft Power BI's most critical features and summarizes user sentiment about those features.

Data visualization

Reviewers appreciate Microsoft Power BI's data visualization capabilities, highlighting its ability to transform raw data into meaningful insights through various visual elements like charts, graphs, and dashboards. They find it user-friendly and effective for identifying patterns and making informed decisions. Users report that it supports interactive exploration and real-time monitoring, which enhances decision-making processes. They also mention the customization options for visuals, although some feel that more specialized visuals could be beneficial. Overall, users value how Power BI facilitates storytelling and data comprehension. Of the 144 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Data Visualization, 100% rated this feature as important or highly important.

See related user reviews

“Power BI Desktop enables you to delve further into data and identify patterns that provide meaningful insights. It employs advanced analytics to offer you critical insights.”
KM

Killion M.

Senior Registration Assistant

“The whole importance of data visualization softwares is to analyze data into a meaningful information. PowerBI have visualizing components that enables normal users interpret data. Now CEO, Managers etc in managerial positions can interpret such data easily using charts, dashboards etc”
VO

Victor O.

Business Applications Developer


Reporting/Analytics

Reviewers indicate that Microsoft Power BI's reporting and analytics capabilities are robust and comprehensive. They value the ability to create detailed, visually engaging reports and perform in-depth analysis, which aids in informed decision-making. Users appreciate the seamless integration with various data sources, including Excel, and the advanced data modeling capabilities. They also highlight the tool's flexibility in generating dynamic reports and the ease of sharing insights with stakeholders. Some users mention the need for better data export options, but overall, they find the reporting/analytics capabilities highly beneficial. Of the 124 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Reporting/Analytics, 100% rated this feature as important or highly important.

See related user reviews

“Using Power BI I have a very dynamic way to analyze my data, even when we are in a meeting and the board want to play with the data studying different scenaries.”
CS

Carla S.

Property Administrator

“Power BI allows users to create visually appealing and interactive reports and dashboards. This is important because humans are generally better at interpreting information visually. The visualizations in Power BI, such as charts, graphs, and maps, m”
RI

Refaei I.

it manager


Customizable dashboard

Users report that Microsoft Power BI allows extensive customization of dashboards, enabling them to tailor visuals to specific business needs. They appreciate the ability to modify elements like colors, text size, and layout, which helps in creating user-friendly and visually appealing dashboards. Reviewers also mention the ease of incorporating company branding and the flexibility to set up custom templates. However, some users find the customization process challenging and suggest that more options could enhance the experience. Overall, they find the customizable dashboard feature valuable for personalized data presentation. Of the 49 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Customizable Dashboard, 98% rated this feature as important or highly important.

See related user reviews

“Based on the requirements from different business it needs dashboard customization and PBI allows us to customise the dashboard in customer choice and we can set dashboard as default page when we open PBI.”
BJ

Benoy J.

IT Manager

“We can customize every dashboard to our likings...Changing colors, type of letters, size, adding images... EtcPower BI gives us a lot of options to create dashboards.”
JE

Juan E.

Operations supervisor


Data import/export

Reviewers highlight Microsoft Power BI's flexibility in importing and exporting data from various sources and formats, such as Excel, SQL Server, and cloud services. They appreciate the robust data transformation capabilities provided by Power Query Editor, which allows for data cleaning and reshaping before import. Users also value the ability to export data in multiple formats, including Excel, PDF, and CSV, facilitating easy sharing and collaboration. Some users mention difficulties with exporting data and suggest improvements in this area. Overall, they find the data import/export capabilities essential for comprehensive analysis. Of the 87 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Data Import/Export, 98% rated this feature as important or highly important.

Verified reviewer profile picture

See related user reviews

“I appreciate Power BI's flexibility in importing/exporting data from various sources/formats, facilitating smooth data migration and enabling comprehensive analysis across platforms.”
AS

Asto S.

Owner

“Power BI's Power Query Editor provides robust data transformation capabilities, allowing you to clean, reshape, and enrich your data before importing it. It also allows users to export data from reports and dashboards in various formats, including Excel, PDF, CSV, and PowerPoint. This feature is useful for sharing insights and collaborating with stakeholders or other co-workers.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Eric R.

Data Analyst


Data connectors

Reviewers appreciate the extensive range of data connectors available in Microsoft Power BI, which facilitate seamless integration with various data sources, including databases, cloud services, and web services. They highlight the ease of connecting to popular tools like Excel, SQL, and SharePoint, enabling real-time data access and integration. Users find the data connectors feature important for creating comprehensive reports and dashboards by pulling data from multiple platforms. Some users wish for more connectors, but overall, they value the versatility and connectivity options provided by Power BI. Of the 97 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Data Connectors, 93% rated this feature as important or highly important.

Verified reviewer profile picture

See related user reviews

“Data connection or relationship between data sets give a great dynamic changes to the dashboard. Power BI comes with a variety of built-in connectors that allow you to connect to popular data sources, including databases, cloud services, and files such as Excel, CSV, and JSON”
MM

Mohammed M.

Planning Engineer

“Supports a wide variety of data connectors that allow the import of data from various sources, including relational databases, NoSQL, cloud services, local files, web services, among others. ”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Giuliana A.

Corporate Executive


Dashboard creation

Users report that Microsoft Power BI makes dashboard creation straightforward and efficient, thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and robust visualization options. They appreciate the ability to combine multiple reports into a single, interactive dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of key metrics. Reviewers highlight the real-time data integration and the ease of sharing dashboards with stakeholders. Some users mention the need for more templates to streamline the creation process, but overall, they find the dashboard creation capabilities highly effective for data storytelling and decision-making. Of the 60 Microsoft Power BI users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Dashboard Creation, 92% rated this feature as important or highly important.

Verified reviewer profile picture

See related user reviews

“Power BI dashboard is like a single, captivating snapshot of your data. It's a collection of visuals, or tiles, pinned from reports to tell a specific story. Think of it as the executive summary of your data analysis.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Mayank R.

Data Analyst

“Right from the selection of the visuals to using the filters, slices, charts, fetching data from different sources, integrating the charts & information, adding the interactive elements makes a meaningful dashboard.”
AS

Anjum S.

Analyst


All Microsoft Power BI features

Features rating:

Ad hoc Analysis
Mobile access
Data transformation
Data synchronization
Customizable reports
Reporting & statistics
Interactive reports
Visual analytics
Dashboard
Real-Time reporting
KPI monitoring
Data cleansing
Integration into third party applications
AI/Machine learning
Real-Time analytics
Self-service analytics
Collaboration tools
Activity dashboard
Data blending
Ad hoc query
Single page view
Data management
Real-Time updates
High volume processing
Data discovery
Self service data preparation
API
Ad hoc reporting
Natural language search
Geographic maps

Microsoft Power BI awards

Microsoft Power BI alternatives

Microsoft Power BI logo

Starting from

10

/user

Per month

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support
Domo logo
visit website

Starting from

Empty state illustration for "No pricing info"

No pricing info

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support
Toucan logo
visit website

Starting from

1000

Per month

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support
Adverity logo
visit website

Starting from

Empty state illustration for "No pricing info"

No pricing info

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support

Microsoft Power BI pricing

Pricing plans

Pricing details:

Free plan
Free trial
Subscription

Power BI in Microsoft Fabric free account

0.00

/user

Features included:

  • Create reports with Power BI Desktop5
  • Data security and encryption

Power BI Pro

10

/user

Per month

Features included:

  • 1 GB Model Size Limit
  • AI Visuals
  • Create Reports and Visualizations
  • Data Security and Encryption
  • Embed Apis and Controls
  • Mobile App Access
  • Publish Reports
  • Refresh Rate - 8/Day
  • Create Power BI Pro workspaces
  • Share datasets, dashboards, and reports
  • Use and collaborate on Power BI in Microsoft Teams
  • Get intelligent and augmented analytics capabilities
  • Discover and interact with other users' datasets, dashboards, and reports with other Power BI Pro users

Power BI Premium - Per User

20

/user

Per month

Features included:

  • 100 GB Model Size Limit
  • Advanced AI
  • AI Visuals
  • Application Lifecycle Management
  • Create Reports and Visualizations
  • Dataflows
  • Data Security and Encryption
  • Embed Apis and Controls
  • Mobile App Access
  • Paginated (RDL) Reports
  • Publish Reports
  • Refresh Rate - 48/Day
  • Advanced AI, dataflows, datamarts, and XMLA endpoint read/write

User opinions about Microsoft Power BI price and value

Value for money rating:

Of 177 reviews that provide robust commentary on Microsoft Power BI's price and value, 64% mention it in a positive light.

Reviewers appreciate that Microsoft Power BI offers a free version, which allows users to get acquainted with the software and accomplish many reporting tasks without any cost. They find the pricing competitive, especially when compared to other tools like Tableau, and value the integration with the Microsoft Office ecosystem, which can help keep costs down. Users think the paid versions provide significant additional functionalities, such as automation and collaboration features, making the investment worthwhile for many businesses. Some users say the cost is reasonable for the features and usability provided, and they find the regular updates beneficial.

However, some reviewers feel the free version has limitations, particularly in sharing and handling large data sets, which can be frustrating. They indicate that the cost of the premium versions can be high, especially for small businesses or those with limited budgets. Some users report confusion around the pricing structure and licensing, which can be a barrier to fully utilizing the software. They also mention that while the free version is useful, many advanced features require a paid subscription, which can be costly.

, and

To see what individual users think of Microsoft Power BI's cost and value, check out the review excerpts below.

“The free version of PowerBI is a great learning tool and lets you accomplish almost all your reporting tasks while the paid version lets you automate all your reporting.”
SB

Sunaina B.

Analyst

“PowerBI is part of a Microsoft Office 365 subscription package for businesses and you only need to pay an additional 15USD/month for each additional admin/analyst account you add.”
VH

Virgil H.

Research and Evaluation Manager and Advisor

“Second, I thought the fact that the desktop version was free was deceiving because it's basically inevitable that you will need some sort of paid license if you ever want your dashboards to leave your personal computer and be seen by others.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Chelsea U.

Senior Associate

Microsoft Power BI integrations (734)

Integrations rated by users

We looked at 1,862 user reviews to identify which products are mentioned as Microsoft Power BI integrations and how users feel about them.

Integration rating: 4.8 (131)

I try to avoid Excels as much as I can, but there is always the odd process that still relies on it. I'd expect Microsoft to be compatible all the way, but using Excel files with the older extensions will cause you a lot of trouble when moving to the cloud.

Manipulating the data is also very accessible in excel. There are a lot of functions that can be used especially the power query which is also available on both Power BI and Excel.

excellent for doing simple day to day things, and then its integration to Power Bi, it really is excellent in how Microsoft integrates with its Office suite

As MS Excel and Power BI use many similar structural elements like Power query, for instance, it is very significant upgrade when moving from Excel to PBI.

Not very straightforward, requires advanced technical skills, often the connection with the data has been lost and difficult to reconnect.

Excel integration enhances Power BI by enabling data import, transformation, and leveraging familiar formulas for more advanced analysis.

Cleaning the data on the back end can be a slight pain point, but once you’ve done that Excel is very easily integrated into Power BI.

excel is my main working tool as a data analyst so it's important to use tools such as Powerbi that will make my work so much easier.

Needs to a lot of work on online excel to powerbi integration. and excel column changes is hard to update on the power query editor

The integration of Microsoft Excel allows for easier import or export of data for data visualisation in Microsoft Power BI.

We handle numerous Excel files across the entire site. It is of utmost importance to be able to extract data from Excel.

most companies use Excel as the primary source of their data, which makes integration with this software very important

The integration makes it very easy and secure to export our data from Microsoft Excel to Power BI for analysis.

The historical data was coming from Excel while on another spreadsheet we were keeping the data up to date.

because they are two tools that complement each other in a necessary way in the analysis of information.

This integration converts the data available on excel sheets into insightful visualised dashboards.

It allows seamless data import, supports formulas, and keeps reports in sync with spreadsheets.

Because excel let's you work with the data and send it to people in a more universal format.

all our reports can but imported and exported making life easier for my role to report on.

It makes it easy create data sheets which are easier to work with when analyzing data.

Verified reviewer profile picture

Gabriel B.

Software Developer

1/20

Integration rating: 4.5 (15)

The link with cloud storage is important for the respective security and backup and the availability and storage potential offered by a cloud with respect to the option of large volumes of information.

The integration helps to ensure data stays in both my platforms plus flows seamlessly from SF to Power BI so that they can be updated real-time with just a sync in place.

Whatever you can dream of having as a dashboard, a portfolio, data keeping, Salesforce will one-thousand percent be the system to own.

The integration has been making it easy to transfer sales data safely for analyzing how our sales operations are performing.

There are some reporting limitations in Salesforce, so PowerBI picks up where Salesforce left off.

Enables a comprehensive view of the entire customer journey and marketing funnel.

JG

Jairon G.

Ing Tecnología de la Información

1/6

Integration rating: 4.4 (9)

Raw data can be shared via SharePoint to have a running dashboard so all snap shots can be seen easier with one click.

Most of the information we use in our sub-organization is in Sharepoint lists, which integrates nicely with Power BI.

The data in Sharepoint lists were used to display meaningful dashboards and reports

Verified reviewer profile picture

Bill L.

Vice President of Sales and Operations

1/3

Integration rating: 4.7 (44)

Able to imbed reports in Microsoft products such as Powerpoint and Power Platoforms, allows for a whole new degree of automation

Verified reviewer profile picture

Yugank J.

Business Analyst

Integration rating: 4.6 (21)

Provides significant benefits for users working with data stored in relational databases.

Verified reviewer profile picture

Anonymous R.

Corporate Executive

Integration rating: 4.6 (7)

You can watch you powert bi dashboards without having to open power bi, just while you are in Microsoft Teams.

JM

Jose M.

Iberia Marketing Manager

OneDrive logo
OneDrive

Integration rating: 5.0 (3)

Integration is crucial to allow a large number of users to view data updates automatically

Verified reviewer profile picture

Anonymous R.

Assistant études

ScreenCloud logo
ScreenCloud

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Use with a pesticide application tracking app/database to display applications and re-entry periods as required by our state inspectors.

LN

Lew N.

Director of Information Technology

SurveyMonkey logo
SurveyMonkey

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Microsoft Power BI customer support

What do users say about Microsoft Power BI customer support?

Customer support rating:

We analyzed 47 verified user reviews to identify positive and negative aspects of Microsoft Power BI customer support.

Widespread user sentiment highlights the extensive online community and forums that provide quick, helpful support for Power BI.

A fair number of users appreciate the comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and self-help resources available from Microsoft.

Multiple users report that support staff are professional, knowledgeable, and responsive when contacted directly.

A limited number of users mention that direct, human customer support is hard to access and sometimes not very effective.

Support options

Email/help desk
Chat
Knowledge base
Faqs/forum
Phone support
24/7 (live rep)

Training options

Videos
Documentation
Webinars
Live online
In person

To see what individual users say about Microsoft Power BI's customer support, check out the review snippets below.

“My personal experience was excellent in general, the online support, the community and the user manuals that Microsoft has on its website are especially good, everything it has is really immense, there is an answer for almost all the doubts that may arise.”

Verified reviewer profile picture

Angelo A.

Developper

“It has a very reliable and always available customer support base with support staff always dedicated to provide the most professional assistance whenever needed.”

Verified reviewer profile picture

Minal D.

Financial Controller

“As with a lot of Microsoft products, direct customer support is lacking and you likely have to rely on other users in forums to help you with any issues/queries”

JS

Josh S.

Data Coordinator

Microsoft Power BI FAQs

Q. What type of pricing plans does Microsoft Power BI offer?

Microsoft Power BI has the following pricing plans:
Starting from: $10.00/month
Pricing model: Free, Subscription

These products have better value for money


Q. What is Microsoft Power BI used for?

Microsoft Power BI is a suite of analytics tools for analyzing business data and sharing insights via rich visualizations. Customizable and pre-built dashboards unify important metrics into single views, showing real time updates to every device. The centralized, web-based Power BI service interfaces Power BI gateways to connect to and unify organizational data while Power BI Desktop for Windows provides local data mashup and report authoring features. Live dashboards offer an instant 360-view on business health, leveraging 59 out-of-the-box connections for apps or services such as Salesforce, Google Analytics, Azure, Facebook, Github, QuickBooks Online, Twilio and Zendesk. Power BI brings all that data, wherever it resides, together to form a complete picture of key metrics that can then be queried using natural language. With Power BI Desktop, users can author reports using intuitive drag-and-drop tools and share amongst colleagues through the online Power BI Service. Integrating with Microsoft’s established Query engine, data modeling and visualization technologies, Power BI Desktop connects, shapes and reports to centralize a typically disjointed process of reporting. Outputting to .pbix format, these report files can then be manually shared like any other or uploaded to the shared service. In addition, this ability to keep all users on the same page at all times extends to a suite of optimized mobile support. Power BI Mobile keeps remote connectivity consistent across native apps for Windows Mobile, iOS and Android devices, adding intuitive gesture-based operation. Live dashboards can be viewed on the fly, alongside full report sharing capabilities and data-driven alerts.


Q. What are the benefits of using Microsoft Power BI?

  • Microsoft Power BI spans a suite of Business Intelligence tools for creating rich visualizations and sharable reports.

  • Web-based Power BI Service provides a centralized hub for defining live personalized dashboards, harnessing on-premises data via Power BI gateways.

  • Out-of-the-box connections and pre-built dashboards for 59 popular apps and services makes unifying data quick and simple, wherever it resides.

  • Power BI Desktop for Windows provides deeper visual data exploration within a free-form drag-and-drop canvas and a library of powerful visualizations.

  • Author rich reports that can be exported to Power BI’s .pbix format or shared more engagingly among user groups by uploading to the Power BI service.

  • View personalized dashboards and reports from anywhere with Power BI Mobile, offering optimized apps for Windows Mobile, iOS and Google Play.

  • Stay informed of the very latest real-time update with data-driven alerting and full report sharing options while on the move.

  • Q. Who are the typical users of Microsoft Power BI?

    Microsoft Power BI has the following typical customers:
    Freelancers, Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Non Profit, Public Administrations, Small Business


    Q. What languages does Microsoft Power BI support?

    Microsoft Power BI supports the following languages:
    Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmal), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian


    Q. Does Microsoft Power BI support mobile devices?

    Microsoft Power BI supports the following devices:
    Android


    Q. Does Microsoft Power BI offer an API?

    Yes, Microsoft Power BI has an API available for use.


    Q. What other apps does Microsoft Power BI integrate with?

    Microsoft Power BI integrates with the following applications:
    Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Azure, OneDrive, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Online, Twilio, Microsoft Excel


    Q. What level of support does Microsoft Power BI offer?

    Microsoft Power BI offers the following support options:
    Email/Help Desk, Chat, Knowledge Base, FAQs/Forum, Phone Support, 24/7 (Live rep)

    Related categories