Power BI Licence Query

[mrben]

Hi,

I have a query around the licencing requirements in a specific scenario, and would appreciate some clarification.

Scenario:

1. User1 is a licenced Power BI Pro user.
2. User1 creates a multi-page report using a SQL query to a Database (within User1's network) in Power BI desktop and saves this as a template (.PBIT file format).
3. User 1 sends the template (.PBIT file) to User2, who works for a different organisation.
4. User 2:
   1. Opens the Power BI Template in Power BI Desktop,
   2. Recongifures the parameters to connect the report to their own SQL database as it's data source (residing within their network), and
   3. Uses exclusively Power BI Desktop to view the reports and analyse the data.

Questions:

1. What type of licence does User2 require (if any)?
2. If User2 takes a screenshot of a report in Power BI Desktop and sends this in an email to another user (User 3), what type of Power BI Licence is required for User 2 and User 3 (if any)?

Many thanks in advance for your assistance.

[v-piga-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @mrben ,

For your scenario, I'm afraid that both the user 2 and user 3 don't need the Power BI Pro license.

Actually, if you don't publish your report in Power BI Service, you could not sign in Power BI Desktop.

You may have a little confused about Power BI license.

Normally, if you need peer to peer sharing, you'd better have the Pro license. If you have Pro license, you could share your content in Power BI Service.

More details, please refer to this docuement.

If you still need any help, please feel free to ask.

Best  Regards,

Cherry

[mrben]

Thank you for your reply @v-piga-msft 

For absolute clarity, am I correct in saying that a user only needs a Power BI Pro licence if they share content through a Power BI Service, and any method of sharing of reports, templates or content is freely allowed, without a licence, if the user only engages with Power BI Desktop, or takes screenshots of Power BI Desktop to put into presentations or emails?