Premium Per User VS Capacity VS Fabric? Limitations & Considerations.

[GanesaMoorthyGM]

Hi Folks,

In my previous thread, I asked about embedding Power BI charts in Outlook using Power Automate. From the responses, I understood that this scenario is supported only with Premium Capacity, and not with a Premium Per User (PPU) license.

Currently, I am using a Premium Per User account. Before considering an upgrade to Premium Capacity, I would like to better understand the limitations and trade-offs between:

• Premium Per User (PPU)

• Premium Capacity

• Microsoft Fabric capacity

My concerns are:

• Even if we invest in Premium Capacity, are there still feature limitations (especially with Power Automate, email embedding, external sharing, etc.)?

• What are the key differences and considerations when choosing between PPU, Premium Capacity, and Fabric?

• From a cost vs functionality perspective, what scenarios truly justify upgrading from PPU to Capacity or Fabric?

The goal is to avoid upgrading licenses unless it clearly solves the current limitations and aligns with future needs.

Any insights, real-world experiences, or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Cookistador · Accepted solution]

Hello @GanesaMoorthyGM 

To begin with, Power BI Premium Capacity has now been replaced by Microsoft Fabric Capacity. (Important update coming to Power BI Premium licensing | Microsoft Power BI-blog | Microsoft Power BI)

With Fabric, even the smallest capacity tier provides access to all Fabric features. The main difference between tiers (F2, F4, F8, etc.) is simply the amount of available compute resources.

I recently worked with a customer who had a similar requirement: they needed to generate paginated reports through Power Automate. Their solution was to move to an F2 capacity, which they start and stop on demand based on when the workload is needed.

Depending on your organization’s usage patterns, an F2 capacity can sometimes be cheaper than several PPU licenses. An F2 costs approximately $0.36 per hour, and because Fabric capacities can be paused, you only pay for the hours you actually use.

[v-prasare]

We would like to confirm if our community members answer resolves your query or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are happy to help you.

Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Prashanth Are
MS Fabric community support

[v-prasare]

We would like to confirm if our community members answer resolves your query or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are happy to help you.

Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Prashanth Are
MS Fabric community support

[KarinSzilagyi · Accepted solution]

Hi @GanesaMoorthyGM, Quick note: You can't upgrade to Premium Capacities anymore. The purchase of new and extension of existing premium capacities has been disabled for quite a while already, as they were replaced with the Fabric F-SKUs. The currently existing P-SKUs will have to transition to F-SKUs once their enterprise agreement ends (if they want to keep their features).

If you upgrade to a F-SKU you can use the Fabric features in all workspaces assigned to that Fabric Capacity. If the capacity is smaller than an F64 (which is roughly equal to the previous P1 Premium Capacity), the read-users in the workspace will still need the additional Pro Licenses to access the reports. With F64 and above it works just like a Premium Capacity with all the Fabric Features.

Whether it's worth to get a F-Capacity or not mostly depends on which features you want and need. Then you can also decide which capacity size is the right fit for you, since you don't necessary need a F64-SKU if you're a small organization that e.g. doesn't plan a full DHW migration to Fabric.

[Cookistador · Accepted solution]

Hello @GanesaMoorthyGM 

To begin with, Power BI Premium Capacity has now been replaced by Microsoft Fabric Capacity. (Important update coming to Power BI Premium licensing | Microsoft Power BI-blog | Microsoft Power BI)

With Fabric, even the smallest capacity tier provides access to all Fabric features. The main difference between tiers (F2, F4, F8, etc.) is simply the amount of available compute resources.

I recently worked with a customer who had a similar requirement: they needed to generate paginated reports through Power Automate. Their solution was to move to an F2 capacity, which they start and stop on demand based on when the workload is needed.

Depending on your organization’s usage patterns, an F2 capacity can sometimes be cheaper than several PPU licenses. An F2 costs approximately $0.36 per hour, and because Fabric capacities can be paused, you only pay for the hours you actually use.

[rohit1991]

Hii @GanesaMoorthyGM 

PPU is meant for individual or small teams where every consumer has a PPU license and does not support Power Automate email embedding or broad sharing. Premium Capacity removes this limitation by allowing email distribution, automation, and Free-user consumption, making it suitable for enterprise-wide reporting. Fabric capacity includes the same Power BI benefits as Premium Capacity but is only needed if you also require data engineering or analytics workloads.