Forum Discussion
Impactful IndividualPower BI Report Server Pricing for Sql Server 2025
i am working on estimating the cost of purchasing power bi report server, i am unable to find pricing for SQL Server 2025 enterprise edition from microsoft so i have done some calculation for SQL Server 2022 based on below documentation
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2022-pricing
One time cost of SQL Server 2022 Enterise Edition is $15,123
considering 5 developers , the price is $70 per month ($14 pro license per month x 5 )
considering 295 viewers, the price is $0
- If I consider one server for Dev & Test environment and 1 for Prod then how many cores I would need for DEV/TEST and for PROD server?
- Does above cost calculation for enterprise edition for SQL Server 2022 is correct or i am missing something?
As per my understanding buying SQL Sever 2022 license would be costlier than F64 capacity which cost $5,002.667/month as per https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/microsoft-fabric/
Power BI Report Server would be require for atleast one year
- SQL Server Enterprise is core-based, so the $15,123 figure is not the full server cost unless it represents a 2-core pack.
- For a server/VM, SQL Server must generally be licensed for all physical cores or all assigned virtual cores, with a minimum of 4 cores per VM/server.
- For Power BI Report Server, you also need Software Assurance on SQL Server Enterprise.
- Your 5 developers × $14/month = $70/month assumption is fine if they need Power BI Pro.
- Your 295 viewers = $0 assumption is valid for Power BI Report Server viewing.
- In many cases, Fabric F64 can be cheaper than SQL Server Enterprise + PBIRS once you include core licensing, Software Assurance, and infrastructure.
Core sizing guidance
For licensing, core count is based on the server/VM size, not the number of users.
Typical starting point:
- Dev/Test: 4 cores
- Prod: 8 cores or more, depending on report complexity and concurrency
Please refer to Microsoft documentation below for your reference:
SQL Server 2022 pricing
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2022-pricingSQL Server licensing guide (core-based licensing details)
https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/3/d/93d32de6-f268-45ed-ba25-2f9a6756b6af/SQL_Server_2022_Licensing_guide.pdfSQL Server product licensing overview
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/sql-serverMicrosoft Fabric pricing
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/microsoft-fabric/Power BI Premium / Fabric capacity info
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/enterprise/powerbi/service-premium-what-is
4 Replies
powerbidev123Solution Sage
- SQL Server Enterprise is core-based, so the $15,123 figure is not the full server cost unless it represents a 2-core pack.
- For a server/VM, SQL Server must generally be licensed for all physical cores or all assigned virtual cores, with a minimum of 4 cores per VM/server.
- For Power BI Report Server, you also need Software Assurance on SQL Server Enterprise.
- Your 5 developers × $14/month = $70/month assumption is fine if they need Power BI Pro.
- Your 295 viewers = $0 assumption is valid for Power BI Report Server viewing.
- In many cases, Fabric F64 can be cheaper than SQL Server Enterprise + PBIRS once you include core licensing, Software Assurance, and infrastructure.
Core sizing guidance
For licensing, core count is based on the server/VM size, not the number of users.
Typical starting point:
- Dev/Test: 4 cores
- Prod: 8 cores or more, depending on report complexity and concurrency
Please refer to Microsoft documentation below for your reference:
SQL Server 2022 pricing
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2022-pricingSQL Server licensing guide (core-based licensing details)
https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/3/d/93d32de6-f268-45ed-ba25-2f9a6756b6af/SQL_Server_2022_Licensing_guide.pdfSQL Server product licensing overview
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/sql-serverMicrosoft Fabric pricing
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/microsoft-fabric/Power BI Premium / Fabric capacity info
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/enterprise/powerbi/service-premium-what-is
- krishnakanth240
Super User
Please go through the link for your reference - https://sqlyard.com/2026/01/12/sql-server-pricing-models-2025/
- v-csrikanth
Community Support
Hi powerbiexpert22
We would like to inquire whether have you got the chance to check the solutions provided by krishnakanth240 powerbidev123 in commiunity to resolve the issue. We hope the information provided helps to clear the query. Should you have any further queries, kindly feel free to contact the Microsoft Fabric community. - v-csrikanth
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Thank you.
