Based on 53 verified reviews published in the last 18 months
TrustRadius Community Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when relevant, HG Insights data.
Overview
Synthesised from 53 reviews | Last Published April 23, 2026
This product assessment is based on a synthesis of 53 recent reviews analyzing Microsoft Power BI across multiple dimensions. Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence platform primarily used for data visualization and analysis. A significant portion of users, 34% of reviewers, praise its data visualization capabilities, specifically the ability to create dynamic dashboards and reports. The platform's data integration features are also highly valued, with 23% of reviewers appreciating its capacity to consolidate data from multiple sources, including databases and cloud services. Furthermore, its ease of use is also a frequently cited advantage, with 21% noting its accessibility for non-developers. While Power BI is well-regarded, alternatives such as Tableau Desktop (11% of reviewers) and Looker (9% of reviewers) are also considered by users.
Pros
Robust data visualization capabilities for creating insightful dashboards and reports (34% of reviewers).
Strong data integration features, allowing consolidation from multiple sources (23% of reviewers).
User-friendly interface, making it accessible for non-developers (21% of reviewers).
Effective dashboard and reporting functionalities (17% of reviewers).
Seamless integration with other Microsoft products like SQL Server and Excel (13% of reviewers).
We use Microsoft Power BI to visualize and create dashboards from sql databases.
Pros
Create dashboards
Easy connection to sql databases
Flexible way to present data
Cons
Dashboard building has a steep learning curve
Connecting sql tables and datafields could use a better wizard
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Power BI is best suited for a Microsoft scenario where your data comes from SQL and you want to present dashboards in tools like Microsoft Teams.
If your data comes from other sources and you don't have a need to present it in Microsoft tools there are tools that are easier to learn
VU
Verified User
Advisor in Information Technology (201-500 employees)
[Microsoft] Power BI is being used by our BI team (developers) and business analysts in selected Departments. It is a tool of choice for a quick data analysis and dashboard creation primary for 311 city services (service requests), Health/Vaccination (COVID) public facing analysis and purchasing improvement process.
Pros
Ability to connect to many different data sources
Ease of access (basic version is free)
Integration with office modules
Cloud based (Azure) architecture
Cons
Confusing licensing for Pro and Premium
Steep learning curve
Too many features are hard to find
Likelihood to Recommend
Since virtually all organizations are using Microsoft's products, Power BI comes "baked in" with your Office 365 licensing. To end users, it is free, and you can do a lot with this free desktop version. Analysts and developers with data source knowledge can very quickly create pretty advances and interactive visualizations - with zero additional costs. You can even share your output with another Power BI desktop user, or via free Power BI viewer tool.
Problems start if you want to distribute and share your work on a broader scale. You need to purchase additional licenses, which to us was kind of confusing (pro vs premium) and expensive. If you are not a Microsoft shop, this can be a showstopper.
VU
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)
Microsoft Power BI is currently in use by departments who really want to dig into their data and give additional meaning to what they typically might see on a spreadsheet. It is not in use across the entire organization here, but rather by individual departments who have taken some initiative to get more out of their data. The big problem it addresses is the ability to visualize large complex data sets in simple, easy to read ways.
Pros
It integrates easily with other applications, especially true of Microsoft products.
No specialized technical training needed to get using it quickly.
A simple learning curve for people used to a Microsoft environment, familiar feel.
Cons
There are only a few data sources that permit real-time connections to reports
Limit of 1GB per dataset.
On-prem installs of the product are very expensive.
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft BI is well suited for a small or large department that really wants to get into the details of their data. It is not that difficult to set up, and it is easy for those coming from a Microsoft background. The downside is the cost, especially for on-prem installs. It is not cheap to host your own instance.
VU
Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology (5001-10,000 employees)
We are fairly new to Power BI, and it's being evaluated by our development team. I've tested the product on a couple of items, and am pretty impressed with how easy it is to figure out without help. I quickly created some easy to read graphs from an Excel spreadsheet. I will be testing more when I have free time.
Pros
Provide quick graphs from spreadsheet data
It's pretty easy to learn how to use the product without help
It calculates data and gives suggestions for use
Cons
I'm not sure it needs a lot of improvement, but I guess it could provide some clear suggestions when you first start using the product
It could be a no-cost option with our Microsoft portfolio
It could give more suggestions when you are configuring items
Likelihood to Recommend
Again, my experience has only been using it with Excel spreadsheet data, and it was really cool how fast you can create custom graphs out of simple cells of data.
Microsoft Power BI is being used by most departments in the whole organization however my department uses it mostly for advanced analytics. Power BI helps business in gaining an in-depth understanding of their data set by looking at the visualizations created from their data. Businesses are able to see the trends in the data and how best they can use that for future decisions.
Pros
It has a very good user interface
Power BI can easily be used by individuals who are not analytically inclined
Has a large user community where your questions can be answered
Cons
There is not some documentation for some data sources
Power BI is a build up on excel but some Excel features are kind of lost
Not all reports can be shared with colleagues as they have to get a pro-licence to work collaboratively
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Power BI is well suited for almost all scenarios. Be it financial data, transportation data, health data or any business problems. Financials information can to visualized using different widgets and any custom visuals. Also, Power Bi supports R which can be used to write code to build up different visualizations.
VU
Verified User
Analyst in Research & Development (1001-5000 employees)
Power BI is our primary visualization tool for dashboards, scorecards, ad-hoc reports, and self-service. The power of Power BI stems from the implementation of a strong foundation in the form of an enterprise data warehouse. While we introduced Power BI, the data warehouse has been implemented in small chunks, therefore, while the goal is for Power BI to be used across the organization, currently, it is used by a subset of staff. The primary purpose of having Power BI is to allow staff to self-serve and get information at a glance without needing to use a complicated tool or relying on IT /technical resources to generate extracts.
Pros
Easy to use, intuitive
Inexpensive licencing
Option to deploy to cloud or on-premise
Variety of visualizations
Ability to deploy on top of any data source
Cons
Heavy use of DAX as a programming language for measures/KPIs
Confusion around the variety of products that serve same/similar purpose from Microsoft
No ability to create a portal with Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Power BI is a market leader in visualization and analytics toolsets. The backing of Microsoft is critical because the tool is familiar to users who use Microsoft products. Integrates well with any data source - whether it is a CSV, an Oracle database, SQL database, or any data warehouse. The visualization options are great and provides flexibility and variety. The natural language search and visualization is a great feature. Mobile apps are great for executives to get information at a glance.
