This page explains the different types of Power BI licenses.
Detailed Information
Which license is right for me?
A "Free" Power BI license is available for anyone with an email login. Power BI Desktop is an authoring tool available for everyone without paying for the license. Using Power BI Desktop, everyone can create a report. A paid license is called Power BI "Pro". Without a Pro License, users are not able to publish content to Workspace in Power BI Service, or they can only consume contents residing in Premium Workspaces.
Power BI Service is an online portal where all sharing and content distribution and consumption happens. You will use the Power BI Service for creating dashboards on top of your reports, as well as distributing them to a wider audience of other Pro users. Power BI Premium is the capacity reserved in Power BI Service for the University of Maine System. Once a Workspace is upgraded to Premium Capacity, an even wider audience, including those with free licenses, is able to view your work.
In very general terms, pro users are report creators and free users are report consumers.
Free vs. Pro Features
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Features
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Free
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Pro
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| Create and edit Power BI files (.pbix) |
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| Access to Power BI Service |
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| View content in Premium Capacity |
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| Publish reports to Workspaces |
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| Publish reports to Premium Capacity |
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| Create an App |
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| Distribute to users with free licenses |
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Request a Pro License
Power BI Pro license for the University of Maine System is maintained by UMS:IT. Please submit the Pro License Request form.