Power BI Pro vs Premium: In-Depth Comparison & Analysis

Microsoft’s robust business intelligence tool, Power BI, offers two distinct versions: Power BI Pro vs Power BI Premium. Understanding their differences is essential for finding the right fit for your analytics needs.

So, what’s the difference between these two powerhouses?

Let me break it down for you in a way that even your grandma would understand. Power BI Pro is like your favorite pair of jeans – comfortable, reliable, and gets the job done. It offers all the essential features to create stunning visuals and share them with your team.

Conversely, Power BI Premium is like a luxury sports car – sleek, powerful, and built for speed. It has enhanced performance, dedicated capacity, and the ability to handle massive data. This takes your analytics game to a whole new level.

But don’t let the comparisons fool you. Both versions have unique strengths and cater to different user requirements. Therefore, it’s essential to understand the nuances and choose the right solution for your business.

Let me show you how.

Table of Contents:

1. Overview
2. Different Licensing Options for Power BI
3. Comparing Power BI Pro vs Premium
4. Evaluate Data in Power BI
5. Process of Data Evaluation
6. Wrap Up

Overview

Power BI is a Microsoft business intelligence tool. It transforms data into visual reports and dashboards. You can connect to various data sources, analyze information, and create interactive visualizations. Consequently, it enables data-driven decision-making, helping you gain insights from your data. Moreover, it’s user-friendly, supports data sharing, and comes in Pro and Premium versions to meet diverse analytics needs.

What are the Different Licensing Options for Power BI?

Power BI offers various licensing options to cater to the diverse needs of individuals, teams, and organizations. Each option serves different purposes and comes with a distinct pricing structure.

• Power BI Desktop

This is a free desktop application for creating and publishing reports and dashboards. It is primarily used for report development and doesn’t require a license.

• Power BI Pro

Power BI Pro is a user-based subscription allowing individuals to create, share, and collaborate on reports and dashboards. Users with a Pro license can share content with other Pro users or via Power BI Apps. It’s suitable for small teams and individuals.

• Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)

PPU is a per-user subscription that offers many premium features at a lower cost. It’s ideal for users who need access to premium capabilities without requiring an organization-wide premium capacity.

• Power BI Premium

Power BI Premium is a dedicated cloud-based capacity that provides enhanced performance, scalability, and governance. It caters to organizations with higher data processing demands, offering features like paginated reports and AI capabilities. It’s licensed based on capacity, not users.

• Power BI Embedded

This option is for ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) and developers. It helps them embed Power BI reports and dashboards into their applications. It is billed based on the number of rendered report pages.

• Power BI Report Server

This is an on-premises solution that allows organizations to publish Power BI reports on their servers. It suits organizations with strict data residency requirements or those who prefer to keep data on-premises.

Comparing Power BI Pro vs Premium

Let’s compare Power BI Pro vs Premium, from refresh rates to performance, collaboration to pricing.

Power BI Pro:

1. User-based licensing: Power BI Pro uses user-based licensing. Each user who needs to create and share reports and dashboards must have a Pro license. This licensing model is suitable for small to medium-sized organizations or teams.
2. Collaboration: Teamwork makes the dream work. Power BI Pro allows collaboration among Pro users. You can share reports and dashboards with other Pro users or via Power BI Apps, facilitating teamwork.
3. Performance: While Power BI Pro performs well in most scenarios, it operates on a shared infrastructure. Therefore, performance can be impacted during peak usage times.
4. Data refresh: Stay fresh! You can schedule data refreshes to keep insights up-to-date.
5. Capacity: There is no dedicated capacity here; you’re sharing resources with fellow Pro enthusiasts on the Power BI service.

Power BI Premium:

1. Capacity-based licensing: Power BI Premium uses capacity-based licensing. Organizations purchase a dedicated Power BI capacity not tied to the number of users. This makes it cost-effective for organizations with a large number of users.
2. Collaboration: Premium still loves collaboration, allowing Pro and non-Pro users to join the data party. You can view and interact with shared reports and dashboards.
3. Performance: Power BI Premium provides enhanced performance, especially for large datasets and complex reports. It offers dedicated resources, reducing the risk of performance degradation during peak times.
4. Data refresh: Premium allows more frequent and faster data refresh options than Pro. This is beneficial for real-time or high-frequency data updates.
5. Large datasets: Power BI Premium supports larger datasets and can handle more data processing. This makes it suitable for organizations with substantial data volumes.
6. Paginated reports: Fancy formatted, printable reports? Premium’s got your back with paginated reports, ideal for those who love their reports in hard copy.
7. Embedded analytics: You can use Power BI Premium to embed Power BI reports and dashboards into custom applications. This makes it an ideal choice for ISVs and developers.

Evaluate Data in Power BI

Follow the steps below to learn how to evaluate data in Power BI. We will divide the process into five stages.

Stage 1: Logging in to Power BI

• Log in to Power BI.
• Enter your email. Click the “Submit” button.

• You are redirected to your Microsoft account.
• Enter your password and click “Sign in”.

• You can choose whether to stay signed in.

Stage 2: Creating a Data Set and Selecting the Data Set to Use in Your Sankey Chart

• Go to the left-side menu and click the “Create” button.
• Select “Paste or manually enter data“.

• We’ll use the company valuation data below for this example.

Company	Country	Industry	Valuation ($B)
ByteDance	China	Media & Entertainment	$225
SpaceX	United States	Industrials	$137
SHEIN	China	Consumer & Retail	$66
Stripe	United States	Financial Services	$50
Canva	Australia	Enterprise Tech	$40
Revolut	United Kingdom	Financial Services	$33
Epic Games	United States	Media & Entertainment	$31.50
Databricks	United States	Enterprise Tech	$31
Fanatics	United States	Consumer & Retail	$31
OpenAI	United States	Enterprise Tech	$29
Chime	United States	Financial Services	$25

• Paste the above data table in the Power Query Window.
• Select the “Create a dataset only” option.

• On the left-side menu, click “Data Hub“.
• Power BI populates the data set list. (If you have not created a data set, refer to the Error! Reference source not found section).

Process of Data Evaluation in Power BI

• Choose a data set for the Sankey chart.
• PBI populates the screen as shown below:

• A Report Canvas screen appears as below:

Stage 3: Adding the Power BI Sankey Diagram Extension by ChartExpo

• Creating the Sankey Diagram requires us to use an add-in or Power BI visual from AppSource.
• Navigate to the right side of the Power BI dashboard.
• Open the Power BI Visualizations panel.
• Click the ellipsis symbol (…) as highlighted in the diagram below. This will import the Power BI Sankey Diagram extension by ChartExpo.

• The following menu opens:
• Select the “Get more visuals” option.

• The following window opens.
• Enter “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” in the highlighted search box.
• You should see the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo”, as shown in the image below.

• Click the highlighted “Add” button.

• Power BI will add the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.

Stage 4: Drawing a Sankey Diagram with ChartExpo’s Power BI extension

• Select the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.
• The following window opens in the report section of your dashboard:

• You can resize the visual as needed.
• Navigate to the right side of your Power BI dashboard.
• You should see “Fields” next to “Visualizations“.

• You’ll select the fields to use in your Sankey chart here.
• The ChartExpo visual needs to be selected, though. Select the field in the following sequence:
  • Company
  • Country
  • Industry
  • Valuation ($B)

• You’ll be asked for a ChartExpo license key or email address.

Stage 5: Activate your ChartExpo Trial or Apply a Subscription Key

• Select the ChartExpo visual.
• You should see three icons below “Build Visual” in the Visualizations panel.

• Select the middle icon, “Format visual“. The visual properties will be populated as shown below.

• To begin using ChartExpo as a new user;
  • Enter your email address in the textbox under the “Trial Mode” section. ChartExpo will send the License key to this email upon subscribing to the add-in.
  • Ensure you provide an accurate and up-to-date email address.
  • Toggle “Enable Trial” to activate your 7-day trial.

• You should receive a welcome email from ChartExpo.
• If you do not find the email in your inbox, kindly check your spam folder.
• The Sankey Diagram you create under the 7-day trial contains the ChartExpo watermark.

• If you have obtained a license key:
  • Enter your license key in the “ChartExpo License Key” textbox in the “License Settings” section (see below).
  • Slide the toggle switch next to “Enable License” to “On“.

• Let’s add colors to each node. Expand the “Level Colors” properties and select the colors.

• Let’s add the Prefix (e.g., $ sign) and Postfix (e.g., B sign) with the numeric values in the chart.
• Expand the “Stats” properties. Add the Prefix value (e.g., $ sign) and Postfix value (e.g., B sign).

• Automatically, all changes will be saved.

Insights

• Geographic Dominance

The presence of multiple companies from the United States on the list highlights the country’s strong dominance in the tech and innovation sectors.

• China’s Rising Influence

ByteDance from China has emerged as a significant player in the Media and Entertainment industry. SHEIN, another Chinese company, has made notable progress in the Consumer and Retail sector. This demonstrates China’s increasing impact on the global market.

• Tech and Finance

The list has many companies within the Enterprise Tech and Financial Services sectors. This highlights the crucial role of technology and finance in the contemporary business environment.

• Valuation Variation

The list includes a variety of valuations, with ByteDance leading at $225 billion and OpenAI at $29 billion, highlighting the range of industries and business models.

• Media & Entertainment

The Media and entertainment industry has witnessed significant valuations for companies like ByteDance and Epic Games. This highlights the lucrative nature and promising future of the sector.

• Innovation Hubs

Companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI operating within the United States highlight that the U.S. remains a central hub for innovation, particularly in space exploration and artificial intelligence.

• Retail and E–commerce

The continued growth of online retail and e-commerce businesses is evident through the presence of SHEIN and Fanatics.

• Financial Technology

The fintech industry is witnessing the rise of prominent players like Stripe, Revolut, and Chime. This highlights the growing significance of digital financial solutions.

• Unicorn Companies

The fact that these companies are valued in billions of dollars highlights the significant number of unicorn startups in today’s business environment.

• Global Expansion

Many of these companies possess a global presence, signifying their capacity to expand and seize opportunities in international markets.

FAQs

What is the difference between Power BI Pro and Premium?

Power BI Pro offers user-based licensing for individuals and small teams with shared resources. Conversely, Power BI Premium uses capacity-based licensing, providing dedicated resources, enhanced performance, and support for large datasets. This makes Power BI Premium suitable for large organizations with advanced analytics needs.

What are the limitations of Power BI Pro?

1. User-based licensing: Pro licenses are required for report sharing.
2. Limited capacity: Shared resources may lead to performance issues.
3. Not suitable for handling large datasets.
4. Costs add up with increasing user count.
5. No support for on-premises deployment.

What are the benefits of transforming data in Power BI?

1. Data transformation: You can clean, reshape, and enrich your data.
2. Data integration: You can combine multiple data sources effortlessly.
3. Data modeling: Create relationships and calculations.
4. Data preparation: Helps to ensure data is analysis-ready.
5. Efficiency: Streamlines data processing for accurate insights.

Wrap Up

We’ve concluded the grand showdown of Power BI Pro vs. Power BI Premium. We’ve explored the critical distinctions that can shape your data-driven journey. With its user-based licensing, Power BI Pro caters to smaller teams and individuals, fostering collaboration within budgetary constraints. It’s like a trusty sedan, reliable and cost-effective.

Power BI Premium, the heavyweight champion, embraces capacity-based licensing, delivering unparalleled performance, scalability, and support for vast datasets. It’s your high-performance sports car, built for enterprises with intensive analytics demands and a thirst for power.

Both options uphold the spirit of collaboration, allowing the sharing of insights and collaboration on reports and dashboards. However, Premium takes the lead with enhanced performance and support for paginated reports and embedded analytics.

Choosing between Pro and Premium hinges on your organization’s size, data volume, and budget. Pro serves as the gateway to the world of Power BI. Conversely, Premium unlocks the full potential for data-driven decision-making, especially in large enterprises.

Power BI stands as a beacon in business intelligence, guiding you toward data-driven success. Whether Pro or Premium, the choice is yours, and it’s a journey worth embarking upon.