# Alternatives to Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is Microsoft's business analytics platform for connecting to data, modeling it into semantic models, and building reports and dashboards shared through the Power BI service, Power BI Desktop, and mobile apps. Power BI Report Server extends it to on-premises hosting, and Power BI Embedded lets developers embed analytics inside other applications. Pricing spans a free account plus per-user Pro and Premium subscriptions billed yearly.

Microsoft Power BI ranks #3 of 8 in Business intelligence, with an Alt Score of 89. It is proprietary, freemium from $14/user/mo and available on Windows, Web, iOS and Android. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/power-bi/
Category: Business intelligence

## Where Microsoft Power BI stands out

- **Git version control** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Business users viewing and exploring reports, report creators building dashboards in Power BI Desktop, and developers embedding analytics into other applications.
- **What you get**: Power BI Desktop (a free Windows application) for building reports, the cloud-based Power BI service for publishing and sharing, iOS and Android mobile apps, and Power BI Report Server for on-premises hosting of the same reports.
- **How it works**: Data is connected and transformed with Power Query's graphical interface or native database queries, modeled into semantic models, visualized in reports and dashboards, and distributed via the Power BI service, scheduled subscriptions, or embedding, with row-level security controlling what each viewer can see.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $14/user/mo (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Windows, Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-08-03)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Lightdash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lightdash.md) | 93 | MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) | ? |
| 2 | [Apache Superset](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apache-superset.md) | 89 | Apache License 2.0 | Web |
| 3 | [Metabase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/metabase.md) | 89 | AGPL | Web |
| 4 | [Looker](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/looker.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Sigma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sigma-computing.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web |
| 6 | [Tableau](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tableau.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [Redash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/redash.md) | 59 | BSD-2-Clause | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Business intelligence checklist | Microsoft Power BI | Lightdash | Apache Superset | Metabase | Looker | Sigma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Free | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | Usage-based |
| Starts at | $14/user/mo | $3000/mo | Free | $100/mo | ? | ? |
| License | Proprietary | MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) | Apache License 2.0 | AGPL | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, Web, iOS, Android | ? | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SQL editor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No-code query builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled report delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Embedded analytics | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Data alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Semantic layer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Git version control | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | Yes | No |
| SSO (SAML/OIDC) | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Microsoft Power BI. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/get-started> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $14/user/mo — <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Windows, Web, iOS, Android — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/consumer/mobile/mobile-apps-for-mobile-devices> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Status**: active — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/fundamentals/desktop-latest-update> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Self-hostable**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/get-started> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Open source**: No — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/get-started> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SQL editor**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/native-database-query> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **No-code query builder**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/power-query-what-is-power-query> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Scheduled report delivery**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/consumer/end-user-subscribe> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Embedded analytics**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/embedded/embedded-analytics-power-bi> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Row-level security**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-rls> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Data alerts**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/service-set-data-alerts> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Semantic layer**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-datasets-understand> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Git version control**: Yes — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/cicd/git-integration/intro-to-git-integration> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SSO (SAML/OIDC)**: Partial — <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-power-bi-security> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Free tier**: Yes — <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/