- Power BI from Microsoft connects data from different systems, cleans it and shows it in reports that refresh without anyone stepping in.
- You build a report in Power BI Desktop, and people read it in the Power BI Service, in a browser or on their phone.
- Building the report itself takes hours. The time goes into the brief, the data, and making sure the report still holds up a year from now.
Contents 8 sections
- 01What Power BI is
- 02What a first report takes
- 03Power BI Desktop
- 04Power BI Service
- 05Who is Power BI for?
- 06When does Power BI make sense?
- 07What Power BI costs and what it takes on your side
- 08FAQ
What Power BI is
Power BI is a Microsoft platform that connects data from different sources, figures, lookup lists and exports alike, and can also visualize it, describe it and publish it to the Power BI Service web environment. There the result, traditionally called a report, is shared with colleagues in the company and set up to refresh automatically.
What Power BI is made of
| Part | What it does | Where you work with it |
|---|---|---|
| Power Query | Loads data from sources and shapes it: merges exports, filters out blank rows, sets data types | Power BI Desktop |
| Semantic model | Holds the tables, relationships and DAX calculations, one definition for each number | Power BI Desktop, partly also in the browser |
| Report | Pages of visuals and filters on top of the model | Power BI Desktop and Service |
| Power BI Service | Sharing, scheduled refresh, access permissions, apps for readers | Browser and mobile app |
Alongside this standard setup there are variants for special cases. Power BI Report Server serves companies whose data can't go to the cloud, Power BI Embedded puts reports into your own application, and Report Builder builds paginated reports, that is, reports made for printing. The guides Power BI and data on your own servers and Power BI Embedded for your customers cover them in more detail.
What a first report takes
Building the report itself is no rocket science, and someone with minimal experience can do it in a few hours. The time gets lost elsewhere. In the brief, which has to say what questions the report should answer and what it brings the company. In the data, which has to be pulled out of your systems and cleaned. And in sustainability, so that a year from now the report still shows the same KPIs without you stepping in.
The guide How a Power BI report is built walks through how a report comes together step by step, how long each phase takes and what you need to prepare.
Power BI Desktop
Power BI Desktop is the main tool for building reports and semantic models. The app is a free download from Microsoft or from the Microsoft Store, and it runs only on Windows.
Some development is moving into the browser, but Desktop remains the standard: it allows full local development at no extra cost, and you can also connect AI agents to it that speed development up. If you work on a Mac, you have several options, and the guide Power BI on a Mac describes them.
The output of work in Desktop is a .pbix file, or a project in PBIP format that you can version in Git. The file carries the Power Query queries, the model and the report. As long as it sits on the author's disk, only the author sees it. The report reaches readers when it's published to the Power BI Service.
Working in Desktop itself needs no license. The license comes into play once you want to show the report to someone else without sending them the .pbix file.
Power BI Service
The Power BI Service runs in the browser at app.powerbi.com, or fabric.microsoft.com, and it's used for sharing, administration and governance. Both addresses are the same for every company: the work account you sign in with takes you into your company's environment. A report is published to a workspace, a shared space for a team or department, and from there it reaches readers, either directly or packaged in an app that brings several reports together under one address.
The Service makes reports sustainable in three ways. Scheduled refresh updates the data without anyone stepping in, up to eight times a day with a Pro license. Access permissions decide who sees the report, and row-level security decides which rows of data a particular user sees. And if the data sits on a server in your network, the on-premises data gateway connects it to the Service, a small service installed on your Windows server.
Row-level security (RLS) filters data by who opened the report. The rules are written in the semantic model, for example by region, cost center or branch, and in the Power BI Service users or groups are assigned to them. So everyone opens the same report, but each person sees only the rows they're entitled to. The rules apply to readers; workspace admins and members see all the data.
Who is Power BI for?
Three roles meet Power BI in a company, and each needs something different.
- Reader, for example a manager, a salesperson or the owner. Opens the report in the browser or on their phone, clicks a filter and sees their numbers.
- Report creator, usually a controller, an analyst or a capable person from operations. Works in Desktop, builds the model and reports, and needs Power Query and DAX basics for it.
- Administrator, often someone from IT. Handles licenses, workspaces, the gateway and who may see what.
In a smaller company the creator and the administrator are often one person. That setup works for a while, but as you grow it's good to put specific people in charge of administration and governance. Without them, what's called self-service hell takes off: everyone builds their own report for their own needs, and the same work gets done several times. So as Power BI grows in your company, keep an eye on a single source of truth and on certified reports and semantic models.
When does Power BI make sense?
Power BI pays back the work you put in when the same thing keeps repeating.
- The same number is calculated in two places. Sales has different revenue than finance, and nobody knows whose number counts.
- The same report is put together by hand every month. Someone downloads an export from the ERP, pastes it into Excel, fixes the formulas and sends it by email.
- Reports depend on one person, and without them the Friday meeting falls apart.
If your data isn't being created in any system yet, or decisions aren't made by the numbers anyway, Power BI will show it faithfully and nicely, but it won't do any good. The time put into the report and the model then costs more than it returns. The guide Your data journey, in four stages describes where your company stands on the data journey.
What Power BI costs and what it takes on your side
Licenses are paid monthly per user, or for the whole company through a capacity. The guide How much Power BI costs covers current prices and the point at which a capacity pays off. For orientation:
Power BI licenses at a glance
| Licenses | What it lets you do | Price per month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Only Desktop and a personal workspace, no sharing | 0 |
| Pro | Publish, share and read reports | €12.10 per user |
| Premium Per User | Everything in Pro, larger models, more frequent refresh | €20.80 per user |
| Fabric capacity F64 and above | Readers with a Free license, creators with Pro | €7,812 for the whole capacity |
Prices checked October 11, 2026 against Microsoft's price list, in euros excl. VAT, for Azure region Sweden Central. They may differ in rare cases by region, agreement and partner.
Besides licenses, count on two items you won't find on any price list. The first is a person on your side who understands the data and keeps the model running, even if someone from outside builds it. Good documentation eases this need to some extent. The second is the time of the people who have to agree on what they actually want, how each number is defined and what the report will really bring them.
FAQ
Is Power BI free?
Power BI Desktop is free, and you can build a whole report in it. Once you want to share it with colleagues, the author and every reader need a paid Pro license, unless the company has a Fabric capacity of size F64 or larger. So Desktop is enough for trying things out, but sharing needs a license.
What's the difference between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service?
Desktop, a Windows app, is where you build the model and the report. The Service runs in the browser and is used for sharing, scheduled refresh and access control. A report creator uses both, a reader only the Service or the mobile app.
How long does it take to build a report?
Building a report takes hours. The whole path from the brief to a report people actually use usually takes two to six weeks, depending on how quickly you agree on the brief and how ready the data is.
Do we need our own IT for Power BI?
You don't need your own IT department. But you do need a person who understands your data, owns the number definitions and keeps the model running after handover. Licenses and access can be handled by whoever manages Microsoft 365 for you today.
Will Power BI replace Excel?
Excel stays for calculations, planning and one-off analyses. Power BI takes over the recurring reports that more people need to trust. The two tools can be connected, so anyone who wants to can work in Excel on the same model the report reads from.
Where do you stand?
Data Probe
€840excl. VAT
One day with the people who work with the numbers at your company. Within three working days you get one page: which systems and numbers you have, the three biggest findings and one recommended next step with an estimate in days and in euros.
