RLS issue.

[Ashish1212]

I have 2 Power BI Pro licenses for report creators and about 250 users who only need view-only access to dashboards. These users are from different zones and states and do not have Power BI licenses.

I want to allow them to securely view reports with Row-Level Security (RLS) applied—so that each user can see only their own data.

What would be the simplest and most cost-effective solution to achieve this?

#RLS  #Licensing  #PowerBI

[AntoineW · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ashish1212,

In Power BI, every user who views a shared report must either:

• Have a Power BI Pro license/PPU licence if workspace is in PPU or

• The report must be hosted in a workspace backed by a Premium capacity (SKU P or Fabric F).

RLS (Row-Level Security) works in all scenarios, but users can only benefit from it if they are properly authenticated (licensed or covered by capacity).

Option 1: Use Microsoft Fabric (F-SKU) capacity : from F64 and viewers don't need Power BI licences to access.

Option 2: Use Power BI Embedded (Azure)

If you already have a web portal or internal app, you can use Power BI Embedded:

• Publish your Power BI reports to an embedded workspace (A SKUs in Azure).

• Embed the reports securely in your web app using Azure AD authentication.

• RLS will apply based on the authenticated user identity.

Option 3 : Purchase Power BI Pro licences for viewers.

Docs : 

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/security/service-admin-row-level-security

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/fundamentals/service-features-license-type

Hope it can help you ! 

Best regards,

Antoine

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @Ashish1212 , Hope you're doing fine. Can you confirm if the problem is solved or still persists? Sharing your details will help others in the community.

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @Ashish1212 , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

We find the answer shared by both @AntoineW and @vojtechsima  is appropriate. Can you please confirm if any of them worked for you. It will help others with similar issues find the answer easily.
Thank you @AntoineW and @vojtechsima  for your valuable responses.

[vojtechsima · Accepted solution]

hey,  @Ashish1212 ,Only from Fabric F64, users don't need individual licences to view reports from other people.

Power BI Pro costs 14 dollars, that's 3500 dollars for 250 users.

F64 costs, 8,5k, with reservation, can be 5k

F64

64

$8,409.60/month

$5,002.667/month

So, 250 Pro licenses is still cheaper without some kind of special deal.

It would be 358 users with 1 year reservation to beak it even.

[AntoineW · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ashish1212,

In Power BI, every user who views a shared report must either:

• Have a Power BI Pro license/PPU licence if workspace is in PPU or

• The report must be hosted in a workspace backed by a Premium capacity (SKU P or Fabric F).

RLS (Row-Level Security) works in all scenarios, but users can only benefit from it if they are properly authenticated (licensed or covered by capacity).

Option 1: Use Microsoft Fabric (F-SKU) capacity : from F64 and viewers don't need Power BI licences to access.

Option 2: Use Power BI Embedded (Azure)

If you already have a web portal or internal app, you can use Power BI Embedded:

• Publish your Power BI reports to an embedded workspace (A SKUs in Azure).

• Embed the reports securely in your web app using Azure AD authentication.

• RLS will apply based on the authenticated user identity.

Option 3 : Purchase Power BI Pro licences for viewers.

Docs : 

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/security/service-admin-row-level-security

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/fundamentals/service-features-license-type

Hope it can help you ! 

Best regards,

Antoine