Power BI pro users - any additional licences needed by users to view and refresh data?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am completely new in the world of Power BI and after reading and viewing a lot of material I did not find answer to this question, so I am posting it here.

I have a small organization of 30 people interested in implementing Power BI solution for their internal reporting needs. Data is currently located on Oracle database but migration to Microsoft SQL database is planned.  

I was wondering are there any additional licences (costs) associated with potential implementation, above the cost of Power BI pro, which is straight forward, ie. $9,99 per user per month.

Or in other words, do end users need any additional licences to refresh and view the data published on the Power BI server? Are there any differences between imported and live connection data?

Thanks,
Ivca   

[messerjc]

Also keep in mind that if you're just buying the Pro licenses for your users, if you intend to use Power BI Report Server on-premises, you'll need to get SQL Server Enterprise Edition for the rights to run PBI Report Server.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/get-started#licensing-power-bi-report-server

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your help. Maybe my question was not clear enough so let me rephrase, if I use Power BI Desktop to import data and publish it to the server, is it enough for me (one PRO user) to have  access (licences) to SQL and perform a daily refresh for entire organisation, or do all my end users (PRO Power BI licenced) need access (licence) to SQL to see refreshed data.

Additionally, if I chose live connection instead of import then I probably need all my users to have access to database?

Thanks

[stretcharm]

Are you publishing to the cloud service or the On premise report server.

The On premise report server needs to be licenced. I had enterprise (with support) core licences so all my users were licenced. Just had pro licences for the people uploading. I had the SQL engine and PBI RS on the same machine so they had the same licence.

Not sure if you need oracle licences.

[Anonymous]

I am looking for the most affordable solution so it will probably need to be cloud service. Power bi pro licenses for all my users are probably a must. I just dont know do I need additional licences for Microsoft SQL for all my users or is one licence enough? Any difference between import and live connection in terms of SQL licences?

[stretcharm · Accepted solution]

I would suspect that imported data into the powerbi service should be able to use a single SQL user.

Your pro users would be accessing the Powerbi Model, not the database.

I'm not sure if DirectQuery/Live connections changes this. I suspect MS would say you need a user licence. I've always used core based SQL licences so users are not an issue.

I prefer imported data over directquery. However, there are certain scenarios where directquery is the best option.

You can get some cheap azure serverless core based single db

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/pricing/calculator/

and also SQL express is free for small databases (20gB).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/sql-server/sql-server-2019-pricing

[Anonymous]

Thanks to you all.

[Jon-Heide]

I would suggest contacting your Microsoft account rep for licensing questions. In general Pro licenses are required for any user to authors, shares or consumes content. Unlimited distibution is available through Premium. Yes, refresh is included in all licenses.