Power BI Pro vs Premium: Key Differences
Power BI offers two main licensing tiers: Pro and Premium. Premium is available in three different models: Per User, Per Capacity. Here’s how they compare across key features and capabilities, as well as to Evidence, a code-first alternative to Power BI.
Licensing & Pricing
| Feature | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) | Power BI Premium Per Capacity | Evidence Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price /month | $10/user | $20/user | Starting at $4,995 | $15/viewer |
| Licensing Model | Per user | Per user | Per capacity | Per viewer |
| Minimum Users | 1 | 1 | N/A | 1 |
| Free Viewer Access | No | No | Yes | No |
Features & Capabilities
| Feature | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium Per User | Power BI Premium Per Capacity | Evidence Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report Creation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Report Sharing | Limited to Pro users | Limited to PPU users | Organization-wide | ✓ |
| Paginated Reports | No | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refresh Rate | 8/day | 48/day | 48/day | Hourly |
| Model Size Limit | 1GB | 100GB | 400GB | N/A |
| Version Control | No | No | No | ✓ |
| Code-First Development | No | No | No | ✓ |
Security & Governance
| Feature | Power BI Pro | Power BI Premium Per User | Power BI Premium Per Capacity | Evidence Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row-Level Security | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Object-Level Security | No | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Encryption at Rest | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) | No | No | ✓ | ✓ |
When to Choose Each Option
Power BI Pro
- Best for: Small teams and individual analysts
- Use when: Basic reporting and collaboration features are sufficient
- Ideal for: Organizations starting with Power BI
- Budget: Cost-effective for small teams
Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)
- Best for: Advanced users needing premium features
- Use when: Large dataset analysis is required
- Ideal for: Teams needing AI capabilities
- Budget: Moderate, scales with user count
Power BI Premium Per Capacity
- Best for: Large organizations
- Use when: Enterprise-wide deployment is needed
- Ideal for: Organizations with many report consumers
- Budget: High, but cost-effective for large deployments
Evidence Team
- Best for: Data teams using SQL
- Use when: Version control and code-first development are priorities
- Ideal for: Teams wanting modern, git-based workflows
- Budget: Predictable per-viewer pricing
Key Considerations
Deployment Scale
- Pro: Small to medium teams
- Premium Per User: Medium teams needing advanced features
- Premium Per Capacity: Large organizations
- Evidence: Teams of any size preferring code-first approach
Data Volumes
- Pro: Limited to 1GB models
- Premium: Supports large datasets (100GB-400GB)
- Evidence: No inherent limits, based on database capacity
Cost Scaling
- Pro: Linear with users
- Premium Per User: Linear with users
- Premium Per Capacity: Fixed cost
- Evidence: Linear with viewers
Development Workflow
- Power BI (all tiers): GUI-based development
- Evidence: Code-first, version-controlled development
For teams prioritizing version control, SQL-based development, and modern workflows, Evidence provides a compelling alternative to traditional BI tools.
