Microsoft Power BI vs. Plotly Dash

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Plotly Dash
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Plotly headquartered in Montreal creates data visualization and UI tools for ML, data science, engineering, and the sciences with language support for Python, R, Julia, and JS. Plotly's Dash aims to empower teams to build data science and ML apps that put Python, R, and Julia in the hands of business users. The vendor states that full stack apps that would typically require a front-end, backend, and dev ops team can be built and deployed in hours by data scientists with Dash.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Features
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.8
140 Ratings
8% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.5120 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards10.0140 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.0128 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
140 Ratings
2% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis7.0139 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.9138 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.0103 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.9135 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.6
134 Ratings
4% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.0129 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.9122 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning8.9102 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0104 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.974 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.7
136 Ratings
9% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.9131 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.0122 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.9102 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.6
127 Ratings
1% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)9.0121 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.0102 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)10.0111 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.394 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
117 Ratings
1% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access8.0111 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.793 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.7112 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
7% above category average
Plotly Dash
-
Ratings
REST API8.072 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API9.956 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API8.046 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.163 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform Connectivity
Comparison of Platform Connectivity features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Plotly Dash
8.9
3 Ratings
6% above category average
Connect to Multiple Data Sources00 Ratings8.43 Ratings
Extend Existing Data Sources00 Ratings9.33 Ratings
Automatic Data Format Detection00 Ratings8.43 Ratings
MDM Integration00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Data Exploration
Comparison of Data Exploration features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Plotly Dash
9.0
4 Ratings
7% above category average
Visualization00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Interactive Data Analysis00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Data Preparation
Comparison of Data Preparation features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Plotly Dash
6.2
2 Ratings
27% below category average
Interactive Data Cleaning and Enrichment00 Ratings4.42 Ratings
Data Transformations00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Data Encryption00 Ratings3.92 Ratings
Built-in Processors00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Platform Data Modeling
Comparison of Platform Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Plotly Dash
8.4
2 Ratings
0% above category average
Multiple Model Development Languages and Tools00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Automated Machine Learning00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Single platform for multiple model development00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Self-Service Model Delivery00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Model Deployment
Comparison of Model Deployment features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Plotly Dash
9.7
2 Ratings
13% above category average
Flexible Model Publishing Options00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Security, Governance, and Cost Controls00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Small Businesses
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 9.0 out of 10
Jupyter Notebook
Jupyter Notebook
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(142 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(58 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(53 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BIPlotly Dash
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
Read full review
Plotly
Applicable for data visualization across disciplines. I have used it for data from buildings, building occupancy, public health, and statistics. It is a useful tool to use for big data. It has nice templates and a number of interesting visualization types. If you are familiar with R and python it is easy to use.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
  • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
  • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
Read full review
Plotly
  • Powerful visualization options.
  • Ability to create in-browser interactive visualization apps.
  • Ability to create hosted apps.
  • Allows you to develop web-based reporting applications without requiring web application development expertise.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
  • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
  • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
  • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
Read full review
Plotly
  • Would be good if Dashboard Engine was included in the Enterprise VPC plan
  • Would love to see ready made fintech apps
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
Read full review
Plotly
No answers on this topic
Usability
Microsoft
Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
Read full review
Plotly
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
Read full review
Plotly
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
Read full review
Plotly
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
Read full review
Plotly
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
  • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
  • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
Read full review
Plotly
  • A no-cost option as it is open sourced.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow