Power BI is  Microsoft’s cloud-based business analytics platform designed to connect to hundreds of data sources and deliver interactive insights. It’s one of the most popular options because it’s easy to use, affordable, and works well with familiar products like Microsoft Excel and Teams.

However, are you struggling to choose between the different Power BI plans - Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium? Choosing the right plan for your team is essential for cost, performance and scalability. 

In this guide, we break down the differences, price and features between Power BI Pro vs Premium so you can make a confident decision moving forward. 

What Is Power BI Pro?

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Power BI Pro is Microsoft’s first tier of paid Power BI version - this is ideal for individual users and for small teams who need to create, share and collaborate on reports and dashboards. 

Pricing

Power BI pro plan costs $14/user/month and it is on a per user basis meaning you have to pay for each user in your team who wants to use Power BI Pro. This can mean the larger your team gets, the net bill can add up. 

Key Features of Power BI Pro:

• Use Power BI Desktop app to connect to a wide array of data sources, create interactive reports with rich visualizations, filters, slicers and custom measures and columns. 

• Refresh the report up to 8 times per day

• Share report with other Power BI Pro users in your team

• Export report as PowerPoint, PDF or Excel

However, if you have a team that is growing or you need premium features with greater storage and data processing capabilities - then it might be wise to look at the Premium option of Power BI which we discuss in the next section. 

What Is Power BI Premium?

Power BI Premium offers Premium Per User (PPU) license which is a unique way to get premium features on a per-user basis and includes all Power BI Pro license capabilities, along with features like paginated reports, AI, and other capabilities that previously were only available with a Premium capacity. This comes at a cost of $24/user/month. 

We previously had a Premium Per Capacity license but Microsoft discontinued them in 2024. Instead, Power BI transitioned to Microsoft Fabric Capacity SKUs which you can learn more about in our blog section at CaseWhen. 

Now let’s dig deeper into the features of Power BI Premium and what sets it apart from Power BI Pro along with Power BI Pricing comparison in 2025.

Pros and Cons: Power BI Pro vs Premium Per User

Power BI Pro: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Affordable

• Easy to set up and use

• Great for collaboration for small sized businesses

Cons

• Limited dataset size and storage

• No advanced AI or automation

• Not suitable for large-scale reporting

Power BI Premium: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Handles massive datasets

• Advanced analytics and AI capabilities

• Faster data processing capabilities

Cons

• Expensive for small teams

Which One Should You Choose? 

Well choosing between Power BI Pro vs Premium depends on your business size and needs. If you are just starting out with Power BI, it might be worth just getting the Pro version and exploring the tool first. Moreover, a Pro license might be sufficient for solo data analysts or freelancers. 

However, if your team works with larger datasets and need the performance and advanced AI features, that is when it might be a good idea to look into switching over to the Premium version. 

Pro tip: Microsoft offers a free trial for both Pro and Premium plans so it might be best to first try them out first before committing. 

For more on related topics, please visit our site and explore further into the ins and out of Power BI. 

FAQs

Does Power BI Premium include Pro?

Yes Premium Per User license includes all the Power BI Pro features on top of the premium features

Can Power BI Pro users share with Premium users?

Yes, but Pro users can only access Premium features if they also have a Premium license.

Is Power BI Premium worth it?

Depends on what you do with the tool. For some AI features are a must along with data processing speed and performance - specially for larger organizations. 

Can I switch from Pro to Premium later?

Yes, absolutely. Just reach out to the Microsoft team for any support you may need with that.