What each option means is in Licensing Options. What each costs is in Pricing. The technical eligibility checks and the capacity sizing method are in the decision reference. Thirteen situations with reasoning and cost are in Worked Examples.
This page helps you find your likely licensing route and see what we check next. It does not pick an exact capacity size, because that needs a measurement of your actual workload, which we do before quoting. Prices mentioned are Microsoft list prices in Canadian dollars as of 22 September 2026 and change without notice.
Count your publishers and viewers
- Publishers: people who will build reports and publish them for others.
- Viewers: everyone else who will open a report.
Then note how many of each already hold Microsoft 365 E5, Office 365 E5, Pro, or PPU. Those people are already covered for Pro.
Decision diagram
Answer top to bottom. "Standard needs" means every dataset is under about 1 GB compressed, no dataset needs more than 8 automatic refreshes a day, and nobody needs BI-developer tools such as external modelling software or test-and-release workspaces. Print-ready documents such as invoices count as standard. Unfamiliar terms are explained in Concepts Explained.
Text version of the diagram. Start by asking whether reports must stay on your own servers. If yes, the route is Power BI Report Server, and we confirm which entitlement you hold or need. If no, ask whether customers will view reports inside your own application without their own Power BI licences. If yes, the route is Fabric capacity for customer embedding, and we confirm the application design and size the capacity. If no, ask whether you want Copilot, a data platform beyond reports, or data held in more than one region. If yes, Fabric capacity may be appropriate, plus Pro for each publisher; viewers on capacities below F64 still need Pro or PPU, and we confirm the size and compare the cost with per-person licences. If no, ask whether anyone other than the report builder will see the reports. If nobody else will and your needs are standard, the Free licence costs nothing; if your needs exceed standard, the route is one PPU licence and we confirm the data fits PPU. If others will see the reports and your needs are standard, the route is Pro for everyone not already covered; with hundreds of unlicensed viewers we compare that against F64. If your needs exceed standard, ask whether everyone who will open that content can hold a PPU licence. If yes, PPU is a candidate, and we check suitability and compare the total with capacity. If no, Fabric capacity may be appropriate, plus Pro for each publisher; viewers below F64 still need Pro or PPU, and we confirm the size and compare the cost with PPU.
What each route means
Pro for everyone not already covered. Most small and mid-sized organizations need only Pro. If you have several hundred viewers with no existing licence, we run the comparison against a Fabric F64 capacity, where viewers become free. At Canadian list prices the break-even point is a little over 400 unlicensed viewers; see Pricing.
PPU is a candidate. When a team needs larger data, frequent refresh, or developer features. Everyone who opens content hosted in a PPU workspace needs PPU, so the whole audience is priced. We confirm the data fits PPU's limits and compare that total with a capacity plus Pro for publishers; for a large audience, capacity is often cheaper. Anyone with E5 or Pro moves to PPU at the add-on price.
Fabric capacity may be appropriate. When you need Copilot, Fabric's data platform, data in more than one region, free viewing for a large audience, or data too large for PPU. Publishers still need Pro or PPU. Viewers need Pro or PPU on capacities below F64 and only the Free licence from F64 up. We confirm the required size by measuring the workload, then compare the cost with per-person licences using the licences you already hold.
Fabric capacity for customer embedding. When reports appear inside your own application. Whether your users need licences depends on how the application itself connects to Power BI, which is separate from how they sign in to your application. We check that design and size the capacity.
Report Server. For reports that must stay on your own servers. The entitlement comes with certain Fabric reservations, existing Premium capacity, or SQL Server licences, and we confirm which applies.
Conditions that apply to every route
- People publishing to shared workspaces need Pro or PPU, whatever else you buy.
- Everyone who opens content hosted in a PPU workspace needs PPU.
- Viewers need Pro or PPU on Fabric capacity below F64 and only the Free licence from F64 up.
- People on Microsoft 365 E5 already have Pro and are counted before anything is priced.
- Any capacity size on this page is a starting point that we confirm by measuring the workload.
Example
A mid-sized Canadian organization. Five publishers and 350 viewers, standard needs, no existing licences. Route: Pro. At Canadian list, 355 Pro licences cost CAD 6,745 a month against CAD 7,798 for F64 plus five Pro. Twelve further situations, each with the reasoning and cost, are in Worked Examples.
What we ask in the first meeting
- How many people will view reports, and how many will build them?
- How many of each already have Microsoft 365 E5, Pro, or PPU?
- How much data is there, and how fresh does it need to be?
- Will anyone outside your organization see reports, and through what?
- Any interest in Copilot or in a data platform beyond reporting?
- Must anything stay on your own servers?
Book a discovery call and we will take it from there.
The technical eligibility checks behind each question and the capacity sizing method are in the decision reference. Thirteen situations with reasoning and cost are in Worked Examples. Before any quote we complete a fuller worksheet with you, covering the measured size of your largest dataset, peak viewer numbers, data-residency needs, and expected growth.