Colleagues cannot open my Power BI report
Power BI has three license shapes: Free (yourself only), Pro (sharing), and Premium (capacity). The right choice hinges on who needs to see what.
Try this first
- 1Power BI Free: you can build but not share via a workspace. Not usable for 'viewers'.
- 2Power BI Pro: required for both publisher and viewer, unless the workspace runs on Premium capacity.
- 3Power BI Premium per User: same as Pro plus larger model limits, paginated reports, deployment pipelines and Copilot features.
- 4Microsoft Fabric / Power BI Premium per Capacity: capacity per org, viewers then only need Free; scales beyond 50 viewers. Microsoft has folded Premium-per-capacity into Fabric SKUs (F-SKUs); the legacy "P-SKU" is closed to new customers.
- 5Count viewers vs builders first; that determines whether Premium capacity is cheaper than Pro per person.
When to bring us in
Power BI license architecture is its own specialty. Ask for advice past around 50 viewers; it can save thousands per year.
See also
- New hire has an account but cannot reach Outlook or TeamsAn M365 account without a license is an empty shell. Assigning takes a few clicks, but picking the right plan pays off long-term.
- Employee left, but their email must be retainedPulling the license straight away starts a 30-day timer on the mailbox. The right route keeps access to the mail without paying for the license.
- We pay for licenses nobody usesBetween leavers, duplicate plans, and test accounts there is often 10-20% wasted license spend. A usage report exposes it fast.
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