Grafana vs. Microsoft Power BI

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Grafana
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Grafana is a data visualization tool developed by Grafana Labs in New York. It is available open source, managed (Grafana Cloud), or via an enterprise edition with enhanced features. Grafana has pluggable data source model and comes bundled with support for popular time series databases like Graphite. It also has built-in support for cloud monitoring vendors like Amazon Cloudwatch, Microsoft Azure and SQL databases like MySQL. Grafana can combine data from many places into a single dashboard.
$0
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Pricing
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
Grafana Cloud - Pro
$8
per month up to 1 active user
Grafana Cloud - Free
Free
10k metrics + 50GB logs + 50GB traces up to 3 active users
Grafana Cloud - Advanced
Volume Discounts
custom data usage custom active users
Grafana - Enterprise Stack
Custom Pricing
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
8.0
5 Ratings
5% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
140 Ratings
1% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports6.45 Ratings7.9120 Ratings
Customizable dashboards10.05 Ratings9.1140 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.65 Ratings7.7128 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
7.3
4 Ratings
9% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
7.6
140 Ratings
6% below category average
Drill-down analysis6.84 Ratings6.7139 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.04 Ratings7.6138 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages6.24 Ratings7.9103 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.44 Ratings8.1135 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
8.7
4 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
134 Ratings
4% below category average
Publish to Web7.84 Ratings7.8129 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.04 Ratings8.2122 Ratings
Report Versioning9.04 Ratings8.1102 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.44 Ratings8.2104 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers9.44 Ratings7.874 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
7.7
4 Ratings
6% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
136 Ratings
1% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.24 Ratings7.9131 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.64 Ratings7.4122 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.04 Ratings7.9102 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.82 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.5
127 Ratings
0% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.3121 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.9102 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings9.8111 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.394 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
117 Ratings
2% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.0111 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.693 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.6112 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Grafana
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
7% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.072 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings9.956 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings8.046 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.163 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
Small Businesses
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 9.4 out of 10
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Mathematica
Mathematica
Score 8.2 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Sigma
Sigma
Score 9.2 out of 10
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(5 ratings)
8.0
(142 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.1
(58 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(53 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
GrafanaMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Grafana Labs
If I was starting over on an Observability platform, Grafana would be my number 1 choice due to the flexibility and ability to act as a single platform either on its own or combining multiple data sources. The trick however, is that it can be fairly complex to learn and setup, so time is needed to make it a successful implementation. There is a level of cognitive load required
Read full review
Microsoft
In operations we use the tool for many different topics, from factory quality systems to high level reviews. We have created kind of an internal "App Store" based on Power BI where you have a lot of different dashboards for different solutions (cost, cash, health and safety, sales, factories, distribution centers...) and you as an user just need to get in that "App Store" and enter in whatever tool can be useful for you. It is open to all the operations employees and can use on demand. Also it has raised the imagination of our colleagues, as they are not only working by themselves creating new reports, but also raising fantastic ideas that can be extended for the usage of all the community.
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Pros
Grafana Labs
  • Alerting through many different medium as Slack, Email, Webhook etc
  • Beautiful and unlimited number of dashboards to view your metrics and tweak them as you please
  • Log aggregation and powerful Logql to filter and view your logs
  • Microservices monitoring
  • Large number of plugins and data sources to collect your metrics from almost anywhere
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Quickly filter and view granular data sets with easily configurable reporting figures.
  • The ability to quickly switch between tabs allows for historical data comparisons and progress tracking.
  • It's helpful to dive into the data and break it down from high levels to small.
  • Achieve actionable insights faster by using real-time data. It's incredible to have online access to reports.
Read full review
Cons
Grafana Labs
  • There are some settings which we can't configure from UI (Web Console).
  • We've open[ed] up configuration files in command line text editors and manually do the settings e.g. LDAP/SSO configuration.
  • In terms of visualization, it's best, but it doesn't support log analysis otherwise it could destroy business of all other visualization tools.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The desktop app is great but needs a lot of performance improvements
  • No MacOS Version for the Desktop app, this is a big limitation for business since executives prefer Macs
  • Premium Cloud Version of Power BI is awfully expensive
  • On-Premise Version of the Power BI Reports Server is bundled only with SQL Server Enterprise License and cannot be purchased separately and requires Software Assurance Subscription
  • On-Premise Power BI Report Server doesn't support ADFS, AzureAD or any Claims-Based authentication platform, a sad disadvantage for enterprises
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Likelihood to Renew
Grafana Labs
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I find it helpful and easy to use
Read full review
Usability
Grafana Labs
It is infinitely flexible. If you can imagine it, Grafana can almost certainly do it. Usability may be in the eye of the beholder however, as there is time needed to curate the experience and get the dashboards customized to how it makes sense to you. I know one thing they are working on are more templates, based on data sources
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Microsoft
At this point, I think we all know who has taken the lead in the business intelligence and analytics market worldwide. With fresh new updates every other day on top of an already robustly built product with all features that one can dream of is a no brainer, I feel. Microsoft will invariably be synonymous with quality and professionalism.
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Support Rating
Grafana Labs
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I can't really speak to the support overall, [but] I will say that in the almost three years I have used the system, I have only needed to contact their support team once. I think the team was helpful, but it did take some time for us to resolve the issues/ request that they had. I guess the good news is that the system is pretty stable, and I personally have rarely needed to contact their technical support team.
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Implementation Rating
Grafana Labs
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
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Alternatives Considered
Grafana Labs
Grafana blows Nagios out of the water when it comes to customization. The ability to feed almost any data source makes it very versatile and the cost is great.
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Microsoft
[Microsoft] Power BI is practical and effective, like a hammer for a nail, it is easy to use and produces very quickly the results that in most cases are urgently required by clients (nice reports to share on the web). To start using [Microsoft] Power BI you need a business email address, with that you create an account in Power BI Service and in less than 1 hour you will have installed Power BI Desktop, a report will have been created and it will have been published on the web .
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Return on Investment
Grafana Labs
  • Time-consuming reports reduced
  • Spotting trends in services
  • Preventive maintenance
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Microsoft
  • It helps us track and achieve company goals.
  • It shows us [our] performance in areas we could not previously track and allows us to see and work on how to improve their performance.
  • Quick easy access for executives to use in helping teams and addressing issues.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow