Microsoft Power BI vs. Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.5 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
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft R Open and Revolution R Enterprise are big data R distribution for servers, Hadoop clusters, and data warehouses. Microsoft acquired original developer Revolution Analytics in 2016. Microsoft R is available in two editions: Microsoft R Open (formerly Revolution R Open) and Revolution R Enterprise.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Power BI

No answer on this topic

Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Chose Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
R is decent for our needs but in the end didn't quite solve all of our needs so moved on. It is a good tool so far. its been a couple months since we last touched it so with changes continuing and more wide spread use and more info being published this tool will improve. …
Chose Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
The two are different products for different purposes. But for someone who has little or no experience in R programming, Power BI would be better for starting with. Having said that, Microsoft R is built on R, thus allowing for customization of complex calculations not …
Features
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.3
196 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.3167 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.7195 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.0178 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
194 Ratings
0% below category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.3191 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.8191 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4143 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4189 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
187 Ratings
3% below category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.2177 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.0172 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning7.7144 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.9110 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
187 Ratings
2% below category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.2181 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1166 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.4136 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.437 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.5
178 Ratings
0% above category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.7168 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.4146 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.4158 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.347 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.6140 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
160 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.7150 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.6131 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.9153 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
115 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
-
Ratings
REST API8.0103 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API7.684 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API7.068 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.690 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform Connectivity
Comparison of Platform Connectivity features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
5.3
3 Ratings
45% below category average
Connect to Multiple Data Sources00 Ratings6.13 Ratings
Extend Existing Data Sources00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Automatic Data Format Detection00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
MDM Integration00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Data Exploration
Comparison of Data Exploration features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
7.0
3 Ratings
19% below category average
Visualization00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Interactive Data Analysis00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Data Preparation
Comparison of Data Preparation features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
4.8
3 Ratings
52% below category average
Interactive Data Cleaning and Enrichment00 Ratings5.13 Ratings
Data Transformations00 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Data Encryption00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Built-in Processors00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Platform Data Modeling
Comparison of Platform Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
6.0
3 Ratings
33% below category average
Multiple Model Development Languages and Tools00 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Automated Machine Learning00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Single platform for multiple model development00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Self-Service Model Delivery00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Model Deployment
Comparison of Model Deployment features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Microsoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
6.5
2 Ratings
27% below category average
Flexible Model Publishing Options00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Security, Governance, and Cost Controls00 Ratings6.92 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.7 out of 10
Jupyter Notebook
Jupyter Notebook
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(197 ratings)
6.0
(5 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(3 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(113 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(52 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft R Open / Revolution R Enterprise
Likelihood to Recommend
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
Read full review
Microsoft
If you are a MS shop specifically, or have more generic data requirement needs from Microsoft sourced data this will work well. If you have a lot of disparate data across a number of unique platforms/cloud systems/3rd party hosted data warehouses then this product will have issues or a lack of documentation on the net. Performance-wise this product is equal to other R platforms out there.
Read full review
Pros
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It allows distributed algorithm runs on Hadoop HDFS cluster
  • It allows using different file formats such as SAS7BAT files or complex files in tab or comma delimited making data munging easier
  • It provides scalable solutions by allowing users to re-use R scripts and distributing the computing over nodes through RHadoop
Read full review
Cons
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Very steep learning curve... for such a quick and useful tool the learning curve is unacceptable.
  • Very dangerous in the wrong hands. Because most add-ons are pre-written, you have to trust the community that malicious script is not used.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
Microsoft
In general, Revolution Analytics brings a lot of value to the organization. The renewal decision would be based on return on investment in terms of quantified actionable insights that are getting generated against the cost of the product. Additionally, market brand of the tool and reputation risk in terms of possible acquisition and its impact to overall organizational analytic strategy would be considered as well.
Read full review
Usability
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
It is good, easy to use, improvements are being made to the product and more info being shared in the community. It just needs some more time to become more integrated to other platforms and tools/data out there.
Read full review
Support Rating
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
Generally support comes through the forums and user generated channels which are helpful, easy to access, quickly turned around and provided by knowledgeable users. However the support channels are not employees and the channels are often used as a way to learn quick difficult elements of R. Better design, users interface and tutorial options would alleviate the need for this sort of interaction.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
The two are different products for different purposes. But for someone who has little or no experience in R programming, Power BI would be better for starting with. Having said that, Microsoft R is built on R, thus allowing for customization of complex calculations not typically available otherwise.
Read full review
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Helped save company money versus buying other stat software
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