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rajasekaro's avatar
rajasekaro
Icon for Helper III rankHelper III
1 year ago
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access Power BI reports

In my organization, we have 50 users who need to access Power BI reports. Currently, we only have 2 Power BI Pro licenses. Reports are being shared from the Pro accounts, but the free users are unabl...
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  • burakkaragoz's avatar
    burakkaragoz
    1 year ago

    Hi rajasekaro ,

    The answer above is spot-on—just to add some extra clarity and practical details:

    Why can’t free users view shared reports from Pro users?

    • Power BI Pro licenses allow users to create, publish, and share reports, but for others to view shared content, they also need a Pro license—unless the content is published to a Premium workspace.

    How does Premium Capacity help?

    • With Power BI Premium Capacity (P SKUs or Fabric F SKUs), you can publish your reports to a Premium workspace.
    • Anyone in your organization with a free (Power BI) license can then view and interact with the reports—no Pro license needed for viewers.
    • Only the report creators/publishers need a Pro license.

    Quick summary of what you need to do:

    1. Purchase a Power BI Premium (P1 or higher) or Fabric Capacity (F SKU).
    2. Move your reports to a Premium workspace.
    3. Share the reports from there—your 50 free users will be able to view them without extra licenses.

    Reference:

    Note:

    • Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) is another licensing model, but it still requires all users (including viewers) to have a PPU license. For your scenario, Premium Capacity is the best fit.

    Let us know if you need steps for assigning Premium capacity or moving workspaces—happy to help!
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rohit1991's avatar
rohit1991
Icon for Super User rankSuper User
1 year ago

Hi rajasekaro ,
In Power BI, to allow users to view shared reports, everyone who needs access typically must have a Power BI Pro license, unless you are using Power BI Premium. With only two Pro licenses, your free users won't be able to view reports shared from Pro accounts.

 

If purchasing a Pro license for every user isn't feasible, you might consider Power BI Premium Per Capacity, which allows you to assign reports to a Premium workspace. In this setup, free users within your organization can view the content as long as the reports are published to a Premium workspace. This is usually the most cost-effective solution for organizations with many report viewers. Otherwise, each user would need their own Pro license to access shared reports outside of Premium workspaces.