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Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) vs. Microsoft Power BI

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Office 2016 is the familiar suite of Office products including applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for use on a single PC or Mac. The 2016 is no longer available for sale from Microsoft, and support is at an end since 2020.N/A

    Microsoft Power BI

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft 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.

    $168

    per year per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Power BI Desktop is the data exploration and report authoring experience for Power BI, and is available as a free download.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    MS Office 2016 offers far more features than its alternatives. The ability to write complex scripts using VBA in MS Excel and MS Access can increase work productivity manyfold. Other MS Office 2016 like products don't offer such features.

    MS Office 2016 offers cloud storage in …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Power BI
    I have worked with Crystal Reports, and while Power BI has many strengths over Crystal, Crystal is still the gold standard and my fall back application when I need certain functionality in our environment. This may be a temporary issue as Microsoft has shown committment to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Power BI
    As mentioned earlier, Power BI is not as mature as QlikView or Tableau and, as a result, is more limited in the kinds of things it's capable of. That said, it's still highly capable of fulfilling most typical BI dashboard requirements. We chose Power BI partly because of a very …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    50 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    110 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    47 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    103 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    52 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    112 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    40 Answers
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    41 Answers
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    73 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.1
    198 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.1169 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.6197 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.7180 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    196 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.4193 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.7193 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.4143 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.2191 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.1179 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings7.7174 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.7145 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.3148 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.9111 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.7
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings8.3183 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.1168 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.2138 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.339 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.3
    180 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.6169 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.1148 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.1160 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.149 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.5141 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    162 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.6152 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings7.5133 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.8155 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued) and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.6
    116 Ratings
    2% below category average
    REST API00 Ratings7.7104 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings7.485 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings6.769 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.291 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Small Businesses
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft 365 Business Premium
    Score9 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.5
    (64 ratings)
    8.6
    (199 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    8.3
    (115 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (45 ratings)
    10.0
    (52 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (82 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (81 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)Microsoft Power BI
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    I'd recommend [Microsoft] Office2016 for any business that has more than a couple of users, as the software is very scalable from just a small business to a large enterprise corporation. I don't know of any case where it might not be appropriate, as even home users and students use the software suite as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Data manipulation. Excel takes the raw data we receive and allows us to digest it in ways that are useful to our business processes.
    • Communication. Outlook serves as our primary means of communication and setting up appointments.
    • Documentation. Word is the default standard when it comes to using a word processor and we are no different in this regard. Nearly every user has to use the application on a regular basis in order to accomplish their work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
    • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
    • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • Office 2016 professional edition can be priced for a single user license, it would be nice to see a drop in the pricing.
    • Office 2016 home edition is a better price but does not include outlook 2016, so it is not a good fit for the workplace environments.
    • Office 2016 can run slowly on older systems, so you need to make sure you have a machine that is 4 years old or less for it to run smoothly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
    • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
    • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
    • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    We believe that office 2016 offers the best value when it comes to features included out of the box. The software is used in its entirety by our organization and is easily supported by our staff of IT technicians. Users find this software to be easy to learn and easy to use with minimal learning curve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    It's fairly easy to use, but the automatic formatting or capturing of formatting when pasting is wonky - especially when there are outlines or other bullets/numbered lists. Fixing and sizing up tables can be annoying, and there are sometimes formatting issues that we just absolutely cannot fix for some reason
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    I am an MS feedback hub participant and they certainly don't pay enough attention to several bugs several people raise it in the portal. For the enterprise, it seems to me based on my prior experience that yes, they have a dedicated team to support operations. For mid to small companies or single users, it has been a struggle. So, you are pretty much with MS Blogs and others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    We use Microsoft Office 2016 because at the time it was the best tool for us, but now with full attention to cloud products, we may be thinking of migrating our solution to a cloud service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • Microsoft Office 2016 saves me a lot of time daily. I have functions and macros set up that calculate and show me a lot of things just from a couple of my inputs. This would take full days sometimes if not for that.
    • Apart from time, it saves me money, I manage data in Excel, I don't have to buy software specifically for that.
    • Sooner or later my company will have to switch to new edition, which will hurt revenues because of a subscription model.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
    • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
    • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
    Incentivized
    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