Sharing a BI report (to view only) to users who do not have a Power BI licence

[fyogaff]

Hi

Is there a way to share a power bi report to users who do not have a licence.  They will only be viewing and not using the full capabilities of power bi so I don't want to have the cost of purchasing licences for all users.  It is for internal purposes only and all users have the MS business standard licence.

[v-menakakota]

Hi  @fyogaff ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum. 
I would also take a moment to thank @mark_endicott  , @speedramps    and  @wardy912  , for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference. 

Yes, you can share reports internally without giving every user a paid license, but there are a few options to consider.

1. Use F64 :
If your organization buys a F64 capacity or higher, users with a Free Power BI license can view reports shared from that workspace. This is secure and supports auto-refresh, but F64 can be expensive.
Please go through the below documentation:
What is Power BI Premium? - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

 

2. Share PBIX File via SharePoint or OneDrive:
You can store the report (.pbix file) in SharePoint or OneDrive. Users can download and open it using Power BI Desktop (free tool). But this method doesn't support auto-refresh or cloud sharing features.
 

If this post was helpful, please give us Kudos and consider marking Accept as solution to assist other members in finding it more easily.

Best Regards, 
Menaka Kota 
Community Support Team 

[mark_endicott]

@fyogaff - you can use the publish to web functionality to embed the report into a webpage. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-publish-to-web

Do be aware that there a re a few security issues with this methodology, so you'll need to scope whether it is suitable for the data you are sharing. 

If I answered your question please mark my post as the solution, it helps others with the same challenge find the answer!

[wardy912]

@fyogaff the only way to do this for free is to store the pbix in sharepoint and have users access the file directly.

[speedramps]

The free license just allows you to build and share Power BI Desktop files via email or sharepoint folders.

It is best pratice to buy a licenses so you can publish the reports to the Power Bi Service in the cloud,
You can then schedule auto refeshes, and users with a licenses and access can view the reports.

If you get F64 or higher capacity license then your users can view reports (but not build reports) without each having a license.

Pleae click accept solution and thumbs up.

Incidentally, the cost of license is far lower than paying someone to copy and email reports once a week !

Learn more here

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi/pricing

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/consumer/end-user-license

[fyogaff]

sorry, I didn't explain myself very well.  The person who is building the power BI report has a licence but the people who are viewing it don't have a licence.  are you saying that if you purchase a F64 licence this will allow the non-licence users to view the BI report?

[speedramps]

Hi again @fyogaff 

I have answered the question and provided links. 

If you buy a F64 or greater capacity and configure the workspaces and security corretly, then a users with Free license can view reports.   

F64 is expensive.  You are clealy a novice and I recommend that you purchase a few monthlly pro or ppu licenses and experiment and learn basic power bi skills before progressing

learn here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/training/modules/get-started-with-power-bi/

Please click thumbs up and accept solution, many thanks