By default, all of Power BI’s version (Desktop, Pro and Premium) can be connected via mobile applications. To get the app you simply have to download and install the Power BI Desktop app from the Microsoft Store. The app offers a number of added benefits such as automatic updates. Although you can’t, however, operate Power BI Pro and Free apps simultaneously.
Furthermore, native smartphone and tablet Power BI Mobile applications are available for multiple platforms including Android, iOS and Windows devices. These apps act as a complimentary service aimed at enabling report viewing when on the move or away from your primary computer.
What is Power BI Report Server?
Power BI Report Server is an on-premises (at your own location) server that lets you and your business build your BI initiatives on local hardware, and publish and share both Power BI reports and traditional reports created with SQL Server Reporting Services from within your organization’s firewall. In simpler terms, the server you use for managing your collaboration through Power BI will be at your location using infrastructure that is physically present.
Is Power BI On Premise available?
Power BI On Premise or Report Server is an option included with Power BI Premium and is ideal for your business if you want to establish reporting infrastructure on-premises and have it operate under your own policies and rules. Furthermore, the server will allow you to seamlessly scale up and move to the cloud should you ever wish to do so. Power BI Report Server also lets you use the same number of virtual cores provisioned in the cloud on-premises, without the need to split capacity. Lastly, if you would like Power BI Report Server but don’t want to take the plunge just yet and don’t want to buy Power BI Premium, the Power BI Report Server is also available as part of the SQL Server Enterprise Edition – but only if you have active Software Assurance.
Power BI Pro vs. Power BI Premium vs. Power BI Free key differences explained
The key difference between Power BI Pro vs. Free version vs. Power BI Premium is in the core functionality and data processing / handling capacity. That is to say there is a difference of handling capacity in Power BI Pro vs. Free. On the other hand, there is a difference in data capacity in Power BI Pro vs. Premium. Furthermore, in terms of report generation in Power BI Pro vs. Free version, the former gives more options and improves collaboration quality.
By having a Premium license, your smaller number of Pro users unlock more capacity (larger storage sizes) and higher limits (refresh rates, isolation, etc.) therefore, it’s not really a case of only having one or the other.
LIMITATIONS: POWER BI FREE VS POWER BI PRO VS POWER BI PREMIUM
Power BI Free
Naturally, there are some feature limitations with Power BI Desktop which in many cases are an incentive to upgrade:
- Can’t share created reports with non-Power BI Pro users
- No App Workspaces
- No API embedding
- No email subscriptions
- No peer-to-peer-sharing
- No support to analyse in Excel within Power BI Desktop
Although, all things considered, there is a problem with secure sharing in the latter in case of Power BI Pro vs. Free. If you publish a report to the Web, it is made public, and anyone on the internet can potentially search and find the data. In this case Power BI Pro users have the advantage of sharing reports directly with other Pro users besides of course uploading the document to a Premium workspace.
Power BI Premium
Power BI Premium is not a standalone application in that it has to work with Power BI Pro in tandem. You cannot operate the first without a large number of the latter. The reason for this is simple: Power BI Premium only lets your users consume (view) Power BI content rather than actually create reports.
It’s important to understand that even with a Power BI Premium license, your organisation’s members that are generating reports as well as those that are simply viewing them (Power BI Pro vs. Free) will still require their own Power BI licenses in order to create reports for consumption for the rest of your users (those just viewing) covered by Premium.
ADVANTAGES: POWER BI FREE VS POWER BI PRO VS POWER BI PREMIUM
Despite its free nature, you may be surprised at what Microsoft has included with Power BI Desktop:
- You can connect and import data from over 70 cloud-based and on-premises sources
- The same rich visualisations and filters from Power BI Pro
- Auto-detect that finds and creates data relationships between tables and formats
- Export your reports to CSV, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF
- Python support
- Save, upload and publish your reports to the Web and the full Power BI service
- Storage limit of 10 GB per user
Power BI Pro
On the other hand, in the case of Power BI Pro vs. Free, you have:
- Ability to embed Power BI visuals into apps (PowerApps, SharePoint, Teams, etc)
- Native integration with other Microsoft solutions (Azure Data Services)
- Share datasets, dashboards and reports with other Power BI Pro users
- Can create App Workspaces and peer-to-peer sharing
- To securely share a Report, a Pro user can share with another Pro user, or place the Report on a Premium Workspace and share it with Free licence users.
Power BI Premium
Mainly, the advantage garnered through using Power BI Premium is the dedicated capacity and the ease of access for those that need to consume the data / reports.