Forum Discussion
Fabric Cost optimization
I was previously using Power BI Premium per capacity P1 at around USD 4000 per month. My usage was limited to Power BI reporting and internal content sharing only.
After the transition to Microsoft Fabric, my capacity was migrated to Fabric F64. Since this migration, the monthly cost has significantly increased. This increase is caused by additional Fabric workloads such as Lakehouse, Notebooks, and Data Engineering features, which I do not use.
My current usage remains strictly Power BI only. I do not use Fabric data workloads, embedding scenarios, or external applications. All reports are consumed by internal users through the Power BI service.
To optimize costs, I would like to downgrade the capacity from Fabric F64 to Fabric F32, which is commonly considered equivalent to the former Power BI Premium P1 for Power BI workloads.
However, I am concerned that downgrading to Fabric F32 may prevent users without Power BI Pro licenses from accessing Power BI reports. This would be a blocking issue, as a large number of users currently access reports without Pro licenses.
I am looking for confirmation on whether Fabric F32 can be used to share Power BI reports with users who only have a free Power BI license in a Power BI service scenario.
Hello Mmoustaqssa
You're right, downgrading to a F32 capacity means you'll need more Power BI Pro licenses for your report/dashboard consumers.
Switching back to a P1 capacity won't work either! Microsoft has officially retired P SKUs. Customers were able to renew their Power BI Premium capacity subscriptions until February 1, 2025. Customers who had a renewal date after February 1, 2025 had to replace their Power BI Premium capacity subscription purchase with the purchase of Fabric capacity at the end of their agreement. It is described here -
Important update coming to Power BI Premium licensing | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI
However, if you're currently using F64 PAYG, you can upgrade to a F64 Reserved capacity. This will be the best option in your case. You don;t need to "switch" the capacity itself, you just buy a discount voucher (the Reservation) that automatically covers the cost of your running capacity.
The process is strictly a billing change in the Azure Portal.
1. Go to "Reservations": Search for Reservations in the Azure POrtal
2. Purchase Microsoft Fabric Reservation: Click + Add, select Microsoft Fabric, and choose the 1-year term.
3. Match the Region and CUs:
a) Region: select the exact same region where your F64 capacity is running.
b) Quantity: enter F64
4. Complete purchase: once you buy, Azure's billing system sees you have an active F64 reservation. It will automatically stop charging the PAYG rate.
4 Replies
You can downgrade to Fabric F32, but a couple of important things to be aware of.
First, the cost increase you’re seeing after moving to F64 isn’t because you’re actively using Lakehouse, Notebooks, or Data Engineering. It’s because Fabric is billed per capacity and pay as you go model. With F64, you’re paying for 64 CUs all the time the capacity is running, even if you only use Power BI.
Regarding the report access:To view Power BI content with a Microsoft Fabric free per user license, your capacity must reside on an F64 or larger SKU, and you need to have a viewer role on the workspace. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/enterprise/licenses
So if you downgrade to F32, users with a Free Power BI license won’t be able to view reports anymore, they’ll need a Pro license.
In the case you want to reduce costs while maintaining free per user licence accesses, i would consider a common approach that is to keep F64 but automate pause/resume of the capacity. You can use an Azure Logic App to stop the capacity outside business hours (nights/weekends for example) and start it again in the morning. Since Fabric is billed while the capacity is running, this can cut costs significantly without changing SKUs.
You can have a look at this article regarding the automation : Never Pay for Idle Azure Fabric Capacity Again: Au... - Microsoft Fabric Communitywhat about to switch to a F64 Reserved capacity ?
If you switch to an F64 Reserved capacity, you’re no longer paying based on uptime of the capacity. You’re committing to the capacity 24/7 for 1 year, and you pay for it whether it’s running or paused.
So in practice:
Reserved F64 : You pay upfront (or monthly) for the full year, cost is fixed and discounted but pausing the capacity will not reduce cost anymore (since you reserved the capacity)
Pay as you go F64 : You pay per hour of runtime, pausing the capacity does stop compute billing and Logic Apps pause/resume allow real savings
As a quick summup for you to find the best fitted solution:
- If your capacity have to run most of the time (≈ 24/7), then a reserved F64 makes sense
- If your capacity run only on specific business hours, keeping pay as you go and adding auto‑pause will be cheaper
If you found this guidance useful, you are welcome to acknowledge with a Kudos or by marking it as a Solution !
Hello Mmoustaqssa
You're right, downgrading to a F32 capacity means you'll need more Power BI Pro licenses for your report/dashboard consumers.
Switching back to a P1 capacity won't work either! Microsoft has officially retired P SKUs. Customers were able to renew their Power BI Premium capacity subscriptions until February 1, 2025. Customers who had a renewal date after February 1, 2025 had to replace their Power BI Premium capacity subscription purchase with the purchase of Fabric capacity at the end of their agreement. It is described here -
Important update coming to Power BI Premium licensing | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI
However, if you're currently using F64 PAYG, you can upgrade to a F64 Reserved capacity. This will be the best option in your case. You don;t need to "switch" the capacity itself, you just buy a discount voucher (the Reservation) that automatically covers the cost of your running capacity.
The process is strictly a billing change in the Azure Portal.
1. Go to "Reservations": Search for Reservations in the Azure POrtal
2. Purchase Microsoft Fabric Reservation: Click + Add, select Microsoft Fabric, and choose the 1-year term.
3. Match the Region and CUs:
a) Region: select the exact same region where your F64 capacity is running.
b) Quantity: enter F64
4. Complete purchase: once you buy, Azure's billing system sees you have an active F64 reservation. It will automatically stop charging the PAYG rate.
