Power BI has four licence types: Free (free, for yourself only), Pro (€12.10 per user per month), Premium per user (€20.80) and Fabric capacity (variable) — prices with annual billing, excluding VAT (Microsoft, 2026). The rule that determines the cost: anyone who views a shared dashboard needs, as a rule, at least Pro — so a dashboard for twenty people costs €242 per month in licences, separate from the build. This article explains who needs which licence and where the tipping point to capacity lies.

Which Power BI licences are there?

Four flavours: Power BI Free (free, for yourself only), Power BI Pro (€12.10 per user per month), Power BI Premium per user (€20.80 per user per month) and Fabric capacity (variable, per capacity unit) — prices with annual billing, excluding VAT (Microsoft, 2026). The core rule that determines all costs: anyone who wants to share or view a dashboard in the Power BI service needs, as a rule, at least Pro.

Watch out for two things before you calculate. Prices apply per user per month with annual billing and are subject to change — always check the current Microsoft price list. And sometimes Power BI Pro is already included in your Microsoft 365 plan (in a few enterprise variants); check that first, it changes the whole calculation.

Power BI Free: for yourself

With the free licence you can build full-fledged reports and data models in Power BI Desktop and use them on your own machine. What you can't do: share reports with colleagues via the Power BI service — and virtually every organisation runs into that within a week, because a dashboard no one can see is a hobby.

Free is therefore fine for learning, prototypes and one-person analyses. As soon as the dashboard has to serve a team, the real licence question begins — and that is about the viewers, not the builder.

Power BI Pro: the standard for teams

Pro (€12.10 p/u/m; Microsoft, 2026) is the licence with which you publish, share and collaborate in workspaces. The easily missed consequence: colleagues who only view also need Pro. A dashboard for twenty people means twenty licences — €242 per month — regardless of whether one or ten people build.

For most SMB organisations, Pro is the right answer: at ten to a few dozen users it is by far the simplest and cheapest route. Count the number of real viewers; in practice that often turns out smaller than expected, certainly if a weekly PDF export for the outer ring suffices.

Premium per user and Fabric: when is it worth it?

Premium per user (€20.80 p/u/m) adds heavier capabilities: larger data models, more frequent refreshes and more advanced features. It is interesting for data teams with large models — not as the standard for everyone, because here too the rule applies: whoever views the report needs the same licence type.

Fabric capacity decouples the costs from the number of users: you pay for compute capacity (reserved fixed or by consumption), and with sufficient capacity viewers can view reports without their own paid licence — publishing still requires Pro. That tipping point makes capacity interesting at large numbers of viewers; for most SMB situations it only comes into view well above a hundred users. Work through both scenarios before you choose.

Worked example and the total sum

An SMB with two builders and eighteen viewers: twenty Pro licences at €12.10 is €242 per month, €2,904 per year. Licences are therefore, over time, a serious part of the total dashboard costs, alongside the one-off build (indicatively €3,000–€20,000 per scenario, see What does a Power BI dashboard cost?). You can work out the full sum for your own numbers with the free Power BI cost calculator.

Anyone who only needs light marketing or web reporting can also avoid the licence costs entirely: Looker Studio is free. The honest comparison between the two is in Looker Studio vs Power BI.

In short

  • Four types: Free (€0), Pro (€12.10 p/u/m), Premium per user (€20.80 p/u/m) and Fabric capacity (variable) — annual billing, excl. VAT (Microsoft, 2026).
  • Core rule: viewers, too, need Pro as a rule — calculate licences on the number of real users.
  • For most SMB organisations Pro is the right choice; capacity only becomes interesting at large numbers of viewers or heavy models.
  • Twenty users on Pro = €242 per month, €2,904 per year — a serious part of the total dashboard costs.
  • First check your Microsoft 365 plan: in a few enterprise variants Power BI Pro is already included.

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Frequently asked questions

What does Power BI cost per user?

Power BI Pro costs €12.10 per user per month and Premium per user €20.80 — both with annual billing and excluding VAT (Microsoft, 2026). Power BI Desktop and the Free licence are free, but with those you can't share via the Power BI service. Prices are subject to change; check the current Microsoft price list.

Do viewers really need a paid licence?

As a rule, yes: anyone who opens a shared report in the Power BI service needs at least Pro. The exception is Fabric/Premium capacity: with sufficient capacity, viewers can view along without their own paid licence — that becomes interesting at large numbers of users.

Is Power BI already included in my Microsoft 365 plan?

Sometimes, in a few enterprise variants; the common Business plans (Basic, Standard, Premium) do not include Power BI Pro. Check your plan before you buy extra licences — it changes the calculation right away.

When do I switch from Pro to capacity?

Calculate the tipping point: capacity pays off when the fixed capacity price becomes lower than the number of viewers times the Pro price, and for most organisations that is only well above a hundred users — or sooner if you need large models and more frequent refreshes. For the average SMB, Pro is the logical start.

Is Looker Studio a free alternative?

For marketing and web reporting often yes: Looker Studio is free and strong with Google sources. For financial and operational steering across multiple sources, Power BI wins on data modelling and the Microsoft integration. The comparison is in Looker Studio vs Power BI.

Written by Hugo Eleveld · Updated . This article is informational; for tailored advice book an intro call.

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