Microsoft Power BI Reviews

“Accurate analytics”

Pros

After using this program for quite a while, I can say I genuinely love it. It's user friendly, reasonably priced and incredibly powerful at the same time. I've been able to build attractive visualizations from data gathered through enterprise systems and web analytics platforms like Google Analytics. Getting everything up and running is very simple too. If you need a strong analytics tool to support better business decisions this is absolutely a solid choice.

Cons

Wish it offered is a wider range of dashboard choices and more data import options. That would make it even better.

“powerful dashboards”

Pros

One thing that really stands out with this application is how capable it is for data visualization and how much data it can import. From the dashboard, I can access a wide range of tools to stay organized and monitor important business information, like my team members' performance, the status of offers and the company's income, among many other things. Overall, it's a very strong application.

Cons

The part I liked least is the beginning of the learning process. When you first start using this application, it can be quite hard to learn because it's somewhat complicated to understand at first, mainly due to the large number of options and tools available.

“Great software”

Pros

A really useful option for data visualization and analytics and a strong alternative to Tableau.

Cons

One issue is that when the browser window is resized, the report layout stays fixed relative to it. That makes the reports shrink when the browser gets smaller which can make them hard to read.

“modern dashboards”

Pros

Coming from Excel and Power Query, this feels very familiar especially if you have already worked with DAX. That familiarity makes the platform very user friendly and much easier to get comfortable with. The visualizations also look modern and attractive which adds a lot to the overall experience. As a BI tool, it handles big data from multiple sources well and supports automation which saves a lot of unnecessary time when building reports and dashboards. The share and embed features are also really useful making it simple to distribute reports without any hassle.

Cons

Data visualization panel could be made more user friendly.

“solid data modeling and query tools”

Pros

Compared with other tools in this space, this feels more effective overall. Power Query is especially helpful for data cleaning and transformations and the data modeling feature is clean and simple to work with.

Cons

It would be better if online report publishing were free at least to some extent. I'd also like to see more visualizations added.

“affordable boost for startups”

Pros

Solid option for startup businesses especially because it keeps costs low.

Cons

One thing that could make it even better is adding more features or learning support to help people who aren't very experienced pick it up faster.

“solid data visualization tools”

Pros

It helps users organize, structure and build out data models in a way that makes visualization very simple for the end user.

Cons

At times, the huge amount of customization can make the software a bit harder to navigate.

“Impressive data storytelling”

Pros

Does a really nice job of turning data into clear, compelling stories.

Cons

Didn't enjoy was how complex the software can feel.

“Highly customizable reports”

Pros

Uploading data is easy and features like slicers, graphical visuals and data linking make report building very convenient. It also works well for combining data from different sources into a single report. Compared with other visualization tools, Microsoft Power BI feels more user friendly and simpler to work with.

Cons

Learning how to use this software on your own can be challenging. I also noticed that its ability to connect with SAS datasets is somewhat limited.

“interactive visuals”

Pros

Both the Desktop and online versions have a very appealing interface and feel user friendly. The data visualizations are excellent and it consistently helps me build dashboards for my meetings. It's also reassuring that the product is developed and supported by Microsoft.

Cons

Got nothing to complain about.

“great templates”

Pros

Right away, the visual templates in this application stand out. They're eye-catching, well-designed and make data mapping into visuals very simple to work with.

Cons

The official Power BI Premium Per Capacity licensing is quite expensive compared with other licensing options.

“Worth the price”

Pros

Absolutely worth the price. I recommend for building visual, real time dashboards. Once your data is connected to the database, reports update live whenever changes happen which makes monitoring everything much more practical. Compared with hard-coding a dashboard for web deployment, this approach is far more convenient and saves a lot of effort.

Cons

One limitation is that data can't really be edited or manipulated through the web app. If you need to make changes or update the data, you have to do it from the desktop version instead.

“Great connectivity”

Pros

Connects really well with our LMS and gives us a live view of employee status across multiple locations nationwide. Even with a huge amount of data, it still lets us drill all the way down to the individual level which makes it useful for spotting broader trends while also addressing the needs of specific employees at the same time.

Cons

Takes a while to get used to and figure out how to use it to its full potential. Sharing dashboards can be a bit complicated.

“quick visualizations for businesses”

Pros

Its an excellent data visualization platform for many companies. It's fairly simple to work with and performs quickly.

Cons

For users building more advanced reports, a few features can feel missing, such as multi-column sorting and the dashboard capabilities are somewhat limited.

“solid data handling and relationships”

Pros

Working with large datasets is where this software really shines and it does an excellent job of creating relationships between data coming from different sources.

Cons

The biggest limitation is the lack of true cross platform support. Right now, it only runs on Windows computers so on a Mac you have to rely on Parallels or Boot Camp to use it.

“good reporting tools that needs little to no coding”

Pros

Getting started with it is quite easy and it works really well as a low code platform. The Power Query console is also a very useful feature and adds a lot of value.

Cons

One thing that can be frustrating is the licensing structure which feels a bit complicated especially since it is tied into the broader Power Apps platform.

“works well for me”

Pros

Checks all the boxes for me. The reporting and dashboard features are reliable and work really well. Data cleaning is simple to handle and it helps a lot that the interface feels very similar to Excel. The pricing is affordable and it also integrates nicely with other Microsoft tools.

Cons

Visualization building tool needs some improvement. It could be refined a bit more and for new users, finding values in the sections can be confusing at first.

“stunning data storytelling”

Pros

A really strong tool for visualizing data. We were able to bring in information from HubSpot and show how a customer's data changed over time in a clear, meaningful way.

Cons

Getting the data to look exactly the way you want can be challenging and at times it took quite a bit of tweaking to land on the right visualization.

“clean dashboards”

Pros

Building polished dashboards is a fairly easy process even when pulling in data from a wide range of sources. If you already know Excel well, the learning curve feels manageable and it doesn't take long to become reasonably confident with it.

Cons

One downside is that the dashboards can feel a bit restrictive for people who want to explore the data in more depth.

“interactive reporting feature”

Pros

There's a lot to appreciate here. You can work with your own datasets or build new ones and getting everything set up is simple whether you use the built in tools or import data from elsewhere. The interactivity is also a big plus. It's incredibly useful for both end users and report developers.

Cons

Because it's such a powerful and large platform, there can be a slight delay when applying changes. Aside from that, it feels pretty much perfect.