Forum Discussion
Does Power BI Report server require annual user licensing?
Could you help me to better understand why a user would need a Pro account to publish to a local PBI Report Server? My current understanding is that any of my users can install Power BI Desktop (version designed for Report Server), create reports with it, and then upload/publish those reports to the PBI Report Server.
What added benefit/functionality would a Power BI Pro account offer?
Helper I
I reached out to Power BI. At first they told me the same thing. "You need a Power BI Pro license to publish" and I had the same questions you did. I need a cloud license to publish to on premise? There is too much confusion out there. After the first email I received the following minutes later. YOU DO NOT NEED ADDITIONAL LICENSES FOR PBIRS IF YOU HAVE SQL ENTERPRISE WITH SOFTWARE ASSURANCE. I feel like too many people out there are unnecessarily paying for a pro license .
- d_gosbell
Super User
This is documented here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/get-started#licensing-power-bi-report-server
The second paragraph clearly says:
If you publish Power BI reports to Power BI Report Server, you also need a Power BI Pro license. You don't need a Power BI Pro license to view and interact with Power BI reports on Power BI Report Server.
