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Microsoft Power BI Reviews

4.6 (1,738) Write a Review!

About Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is a unified, scalable platform for self-service and enterprise business intelligence (BI).

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Pros:

The biggest positive that Power BI has going for it is that it was included as part of my organization's O365 subscription.

Cons:

The UI is clunky, the data model is not very intuitive to set up, performance is slow, especially compared to other tools. No build in box and whisker plots was a huge downside too.

Microsoft Power BI ratings

Average score

Ease of Use
4.1
Customer Service
4.1
Features
4.5
Value for Money
4.4

Likelihood to recommend

8.6/10

Microsoft Power BI has an overall rating of 4.6 out 5 stars based on 1,738 user reviews on Capterra.

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Filter reviews (1,738)

Максим
Максим
Analyst in Norway
Verified LinkedIn User
Utilities, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Good and improving

4.0 6 months ago

Comments: As an analyst, I appreciate the versatility of Power BI, but feel that more improvement for use cases needed

Pros:

It is a combination of all you need: visuals, analysis, data cleansing in one place, which has lots of native connectors.

Cons:

Power BI is not the most efficient tool in terms of operatinal memory, and it lacks some features which you would expect it to have.

Mariia
Software Engineer in Canada
Computer Software, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Best data analytics and visualization platform

5.0 last month New

Pros:

Data processing speed and rich functionality covering any possible reporting request. Desktop version is free.

Cons:

Since Power BI is a part of Microsoft suite it might be a bit hard to integrate Power BI with different platform.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Creating and Using PowerBI Reports Daily

3.0 6 months ago

Pros:

It is easy to link with existing datasets in the Microsoft ecosystem and external databases such as SQL servers. Reports can be customized to display information however you want to.

Cons:

it can be very confusing and difficult to have everything displayed correctly. there are bugs that can cause the dataset tables to not show information accurately

Cody
VP Product and Technology in US
Real Estate, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Robust tool, with a steep learning curve

4.0 4 months ago

Comments: There is a pretty steep learning curve to set up a robust dashboard, but if you stick with it the insights can be very helpful. For the price, it has been worth the effort and our team gets regular use and value from the many dashboard pages we have in place.

Pros:

With the right data backing it, the dashboards can be adjusted and augmented quickly, sometimes right in the browser, to glean new insights.

Cons:

When manipulating data, the language and structures needed are clunky and proprietary. For example, to display a date in a new format conditionally, a new measure needs to be built, written with functions and syntax specific to Power Bi.

Issac
Senior Engineer in India
Automotive, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

A professional business intelligence tool

4.0 last month New

Comments: I use it primarily for developing dasboards and the whole experience is great from creating the dashboard to publishing it in workspaces everything is seamless

Pros:

Very easy to connect to a wide variety of datasources such as sharepoint List,SQL Databses and excel files . The data transform option supports a wide variety of data manipulation and data cleaning options which makes data modelling very easy It supports a lot of inbuilt visualization graphs and figures with an easy drag and drop functionality.

Cons:

Only the data loading while working on large datasets takes a lot of time if that can be improved a really great tool

Warren
CFO in Canada
Apparel & Fashion, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Benefits of Microsoft Power BI

5.0 last month New

Comments: Overall very pleased with this product. It allows us to customize our own reports and dashboards without the need for costly ERP consultants.

Pros:

The ability to create impressive looking dashboards and reports on our own.

Cons:

Somewhat complicated to attach it to a database.

Wasif
Training Analyst in US
Medical Devices, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Best for organizations that don't mind spending on pro license

5.0 last month New

Pros:

Very advanced features. Does everything Tableau does and more.

Cons:

DAX. Did not need a custom language just for PBI.

Shaun
Frontend Software Engineer in UK
Telecommunications, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Microsoft Power BI

4.0 last week New

Comments: Quite positive, few niggles but nothing out of the ordinary

Pros:

Does what we need it to do, several clients use it as well and it accomplishes what they need it to

Cons:

Maybe a bit of a steep learning curve for a new comer, we often have to do guided sessions with clients to help on this

Nick
Account Manager in US
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Power BI - An Easy, No Fuss Analytics Service

5.0 last month New

Comments: Power BI has been great for driving and reporting KPIs internally and externally for our company. It's easy to use and intuitive.

Pros:

The thing I liked most about Power BI is how easy and intuitive it is to import and interact with data.

Cons:

I wish it had more functionality with languages like SQL. It is a bit one dimensional in this sense.

Phil
Marketing Manager in UK
Automotive, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Professional but Effective Software

4.0 2 months ago New

Comments: We run all our entire reporting off Power Bi, it gives us the flexibility and in depth information required.

Pros:

I like how in depth you can go with Power BI to run all sorts of automations and reporting.

Cons:

There is a steeper learning curve to understand the product. It's more difficult to jump in and get started.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Information Technology & Services, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Microsoft Power BI: Your Data's Storyteller

5.0 5 months ago

Comments: I have been using Bower BI with more than four years now and It is one of the best data visualisation tool that I have came across. You can do all kind of data analysis in Power BI like Like data presentation, analysis, forecast etc. I find it easy to learn and very interactive for a user.

Pros:

1. User-friendly interface: Its intuitive design makes it accessible to users with varying technical expertise. 2. Interactive visualizations: Creates engaging and interactive dashboards and reports. 3. Customizable reports: Enables users to tailor reports to their specific needs.

Cons:

Dependency on Microsoft ecosystem: Relies heavily on Microsoft products and services.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Information Technology & Services, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Intuitive interface

5.0 12 months ago

Comments: Has an active community of users who share knowledge, solve problems and contribute to the development of the platform.

Pros:

Allows real time updates and integration with microsoft tools

Cons:

Some users habe note that there ir a learning curve, especially for those who are new to the tool or have no prior data analysis experience.

Stephen
Engineering Manager in UK
Music, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

I do not know of another tool that does this job so well

5.0 last year

Comments: I use it daily for my for tracking everything that can be measured in a delivery process, weekly for planning and monthly for business reporting. It is my everything data tool. I have been involved in exploring other options but it feels like Power BI stands alone in this field.

Pros:

For a tool to be this powerful and complete at this price level really does make it almost impossible to beat. If you have any experience with the Microsoft Power Query platform such as in Excel then Power BI is a natural next step for upping your BI and reporting game. The integration with the Microsoft Office system is seamless and it makes querying external data sources a doddle.

Cons:

It can feel a bit clunky and slow if you do not have a high powered client - but the deployed dashboards take this issue away from everything except development. The only other issue I have encountered is in deploying this to a non-Microsoft environment but the tools are available to make it work, it just adds an overhead that you need to be aware of when evaluating the tool. Even with this overhead we have found Power BI to still be preferable to other options native to our non-Microsoft infrastructure and that is really impressive!

Hosam
People Analytics. in Egypt
Information Technology & Services, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The best self-service business analytical tool.

5.0 7 months ago

Comments: Microsoft Power BI helps me turn raw data into reports and actionable insights as I pull data from various sources, including our local files using the desktop version and online data via the Azure SQL database service. I can transform this data to build interactive reports and dashboards, which I then embed into our internal Power App to visually communicate key metrics and make them available to analytics teams and across the company. I connect Power BI directly to our Azure SQL database and virtual machines to get a live view of data that are important to our business operations. My team and I use DAX and SQL for on-the-fly data queries and analysis to generate performance reports on employees, turnover, and other key HR metrics.

Pros:

Microsoft Power BI is an easy-to-use analytical tool that provides a convenient self-service data reporting and visualization solution for the average and non-technical business users. The desktop app and online service support data extraction, transformation, and visualization from various file types and offer built-in Power Platform integrations. The web service's rich AppSource marketplace provides apps and templates that help users design better dashboards more efficiently. Power BI's well-organized navigation menus make it seamless to integrate with other Microsoft solutions like Azure SQL database, virtual machines, and various Fabric Platform services for data science and data warehousing workflows. The Power BI community forums and user tutorials are helpful for new and experienced users alike.

Cons:

Managing user permissions can become a bit complex when dealing with a large number of users and varying report access levels within the same workgroup and department. Also, the increasing number of options available in the user interface can sometimes feel overwhelming.

PRACHI
Cyber Breach Riview Attorney in India
Legal Services, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Best analytics tool for data transformation and informed decision making

5.0 3 months ago

Comments: It has been a good experience using Power BI as it allows me to collect all the scattered data on various other platforms and visualize it at a single place.

Pros:

It is one of the best analytics tool and the cloud storage enhances its ease of use. Also it is easy to collaborate on reports and other stuff.

Cons:

There is no bottlenecks in the tool but sometimes it slows down a bit when handling very large datasets.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Market Research, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Power BI- Essential to learn if you want to be a data analytics champ

5.0 11 months ago

Comments: Its a very impressive tool, if anyone wants to play with data or this is the most important tool for data analytics and also it helps business owner too as it helps them to easily see their company performance

Pros:

Ease of use and Data visualization- Power BI lets you turn data into insights with ease. No coding is needed, just drag and drop. Beautiful charts and graphs highlight trends and patterns you wouldn't see in spreadsheets, making data exploration a breeze, even for beginners. Analyze faster, understand deeper, and make informed decisions - all thanks to Power BI's user-friendly magic.

Cons:

Sometimes it is slow and especially when dealing with large datasets or complex queries.

Angela
Angela
SharePoint Developer in South Africa
Verified LinkedIn User
Information Technology & Services, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Microsoft Power BI from a SharePoint Dev

5.0 last year

Comments: The steepest slope to climb was formula syntax. It was a lot of testing in excel and trying to convert to Power BI. Luckily the forums are helpful, and most formulas are already available to copy and paste from the forums too.

Pros:

I enjoyed the natural availability of Microsoft Power BI within SharePoint lists. It made quick dashboards and quick visuals easy, without having to navigate between different programs, I could just do it all in the same browser window.

Cons:

The licensing and sharing was confusing and frustrating to begin with, but I guess any product has to make money somehow. We can't get everything for free.

Yugank
Business Analyst in Australia
Mining & Metals, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Power BI - BI tool for everyone

5.0 4 months ago

Comments: PBI combined with Its workspace and abilities to integrate in PPT, makes it a nice BI tool.

Pros:

Power BI combines the abilities of power query and data modelling to create beautiful visualizations. It's easy to use and quite powerful, does not take much reasources/

Cons:

DAX is something that is not very easy to learn and its quite essential to make custom measures and columns

Beth W
Beth W
Digital Creator in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Entertainment, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The ultimate best tool for accurate business analytics.

5.0 last year

Comments: Microsoft Power BI helps us to run our business efficiently by giving us insights which allows us to understand which areas that are performing well as well as areas which need much of our attention. Moreso, it helps us understand our performance in the market and thereby develop strategies to help us remain competitive in the gaming market.

Pros:

With Microsoft Power BI, we are able to run full analysis on our entire business and this keeps us on the light about how every part and department of the company is performing. The reports we get are easy to read and understand and with the visualization options available like graphs, we get to capture insights easily from them. It has well defined and dynamic security functions which guarantee the security of all our business data by making sure thag we are the only ones with the access to these confidential information.

Cons:

Am yet to experience the downside of Microsoft Power BI and there has been nothing that has ever gone wrong with it.

Keith
Keith
Head of Business Process Management in UK
Verified LinkedIn User
Telecommunications, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Transforming Data into Strategic Insights

5.0 10 months ago

Comments: My overall experience with Microsoft Power BI has been extremely positive. It stood out as an essential tool for transforming complex process data into clear, actionable insights.

Pros:

The most impressive aspect of Microsoft Power BI for me was its robust data integration and visualization capabilities. It enabled me to combine various process datasets into a comprehensive reporting suite. The platform's drill-down functionality was particularly useful, allowing us to delve into detailed views from top-level opportunities down to specific process steps. This made identifying and analysing critical points for improvement and automation much more efficient.

Cons:

One area where Power BI could improve is its initial learning curve. For new users, especially those not familiar with other Microsoft products or lacking a strong background in data analytics, getting up to speed can be somewhat challenging.

Alwanga
Alwanga
Editorial Assistant in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Publishing, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

You can't control what you don't know, analyze and get to know your business with Microsoft Power BI.

5.0 last year

Comments: As the saying goes by you can't control what you don't know, we are using Microsoft Power BI so as we can have an understanding of how business which would then allows us to be in control of what is happening. It allows to have access to valuable insights which helps us in making decisions to allow our business to become more agile and more productive.

Pros:

The highlight of Microsoft Power BI in analyzing our business has being how simple it makes it for us to analyze our business data from across multiple platforms which we use, discover the insights and visualize them in easier to read and understand forms like graphs. You don't need to be a coding guru to learn how to use it since everything is pretty straightforward and has no complexities of lines codes.

Cons:

Microsoft Power BI capabilities in data analytics has always been so evident to us and it has never given any reasons to doubt it.

Fancy
Fancy
Librarian in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Libraries, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Microsoft Power BI, insight into and understanding of business performance.

5.0 last year

Comments: We have been able to take our business to greater performance levels and we attribute most of this to Microsoft Power BI. It does a very great job of letting us know our current performance position from which we can build up and improve to get better returns.

Pros:

One of the best things we have experienced with Microsoft Power BI is the use of AI tools to analyze our business since this gives us an upper hand in the accuracy of the insights we receive. With the accurate reports from Microsoft Power BI, we are able to have a better awareness of the direction our business is taking and make decisions to try improve and make things better.

Cons:

All the features available in Microsoft Power BI are very impactful and the best thing is that they are easy to interact with and use.

Sarin
Information Service in India
Information Services, 5,001–10,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

MS Power BI streamlined my data analysis!

5.0 2 months ago

Comments: Easily connecting data sources is great, and recent improvements have improved visualization
choices.

Pros:

I've used various data tools, but Power BI is easier.

Cons:

The program might be slow when handling large datasets, which is aggravating.

Shannel
Shannel
Climate Change Analyst in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Think Tanks, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Accurate business insights with Microsoft Power BI.

5.0 last year

Comments: Microsoft Power BI allows us to have a clear picture on how our our organization is performing on all aspects. It offers us with comprehensive analytics tools which makes it possible to fully analyze our organization and get insights that helps us make decisions and take actions to help us improve in all areas.

Pros:

Microsoft Power BI gives us the power to turn every stone when analyzing our business and this helps us access accurate and dynamic insights about our business as a whole. The dashboards and the reporting tools offers the most simple experience and makes it easy to read, interpret and understand each and every data that you have generated.

Cons:

Microsoft Power BI implementation was not so smooth but we were lucky to that the support team was there to answer our questions.

Brandon
President in US
Pharmaceuticals, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

MS Power BI gets it done for small business

5.0 4 months ago

Comments: Easy to use. Easy to understand monthly pricing. Does the job.

Pros:

It's easy to use and looks good. But what I like most is the pricing is easy and inexpensive.

Cons:

I don't thin the display is as good as some of the other tools out there.