Sharing reports stored in Fabric workspace with free users

[Checklist]

Hello,

I want to know how the report sharing with free users works when the report is published to Fabric workspace which is backed by SKU which is lower than F64.  I have received contradicting information about this and also the documenation is confusing and seems to be partially outdated.  Because of this I decided to make some tests. I activated F8 capacity and assigned it to a workspace and published report into the workspace. I tried sharing this report via following scenarios:
1. Embed report->Website or portal (secure URL) - free user was able to consume the report via secure link. 

2. Embed report ->Sharepoint online (embedding report to sharepoint site page) - free user was able to consume the report via the Sharepoint

3. Adding report to Teams tab - free user can't consume the report via Teams, user gets a message which states that pro license is required. 

Currently we are using EM1 license for sharing the reports with free users and all 3 scenarios work. We're considering replacing our EM1 license with an F8 license, but I’d like to understand the differences between these two licenses for these three sharing options.

The documentation states that it should be possible to Embed into Teams with F SKU. There is Note that the users need to have F64 or higher to consume the reports in Power Bi service, but the licensing requirement for consuming reports Embedded to Microsoft apps and via secure URL is not specified. It is specially strange that embeding to Sharepoint and Sharing via secure URL works with F8 but consuming via Teams requires pro license. 

My questions:

1. When switching from EM1 to F8 can we be confident that the first 2 scenarios will keep working for us in the future?

2. What is the difference between sharing via Teams between EM1 and F8?  Is it a bug that the sharing via Teams with free users is not available with F8 or is it intended behaviour?

[ibarrau]

Hi. The main difference starts with F64. If you want to share with free users inside the microsoft suite, in power bi service, teams, etc. Then you need an F64 or higher. That's the only way to share with free users using microsoft suite. However, if you want to share in a custom web site, you can use any SKU for embedding in a web site. There are softwares will do this without you coding the web like pibi.cloud

I hope that helps,

[Checklist]

Hi, Thanks for the reply!

What about sharing with free users via embedding to Sharepoint and via secure URL -  I tested it and this seems to work with F8 as well.  I this different from sharing via Teams ?  

[ibarrau]

Even though the feature says "embedding to sharepoint". That's not considered an embedding to custom web site. Sharepoint is like any other microsoft suite component, it will require an F64 for free users to view. It's not different to sharing via Teams.

Regards

[Checklist]

I understand that, but how do you explain the fact that based on my tests the option "Embeded to Sharepoint" and sharing via secure URL worked with the free users.  I tested this on several free users who don't have trial activated, they don't have Power Bi Pro or E5 either.  The report is stored in F8 workspace. The same report won't work in Teams for them and they can't access it via service, but like I mentioned they can see it when embedded to Sharepoint and using the secure URL. 

[ibarrau]

Hi. I can't explain your tests. I can assure what I'm saying with the following doc:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-embed-report-spo#requirements

It specify the following requirement for embedding in sharepoint: 

• Users with a free Fabric license can view a report that's hosted in a Power BI Premium capacity (EM or P SKU) or Fabric F64 or greater capacity.

Regards

[Checklist]

Hi, thanks for the input.  Seems the documentation and the real world does not match in this case. Now I wondering should I rely on my tests or on the documentation. Maybe these functions should not be available with F8 and this is a "bug" which will be "fixed" in the near future.

Unfortunately it seems it is safer to stay on EM1 for the time being, can't take the risk that secure URLs and reports embedded to Sharepoint stop working for the free users at some point. This confusing stuff. 

[ibarrau]

I would rely on the documentation. Beacuse it's kind of the real deal at the end of the day. You might experience something today that tomorrow will be exactly like the docs. Depending on the amount and type of users you can run the scenario of the capacity expected.

Regards,