Microsoft Power BI vs. Salesforce Starter

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.
$168
per year per user
Salesforce Starter
Score 9.0 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Salesforce Starter (formerly Salesforce Essentials) is a small business CRM that replaces the former SalesforceIQ product. It is priced at $35 per user, on a monthly basis, or at $25 per month for if billed annually ($300) and can be tried free for 14 days on a trial.
$35
per month per user
Pricing
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
Editions & Modules
Power BI Pro
$14
per month (billed annually) per user
Power BI Premium
$24
per month (billed annually) per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPower 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 Power BISalesforce Starter
Features
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
198 Ratings
0% above category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.2169 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.7197 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.8180 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
196 Ratings
2% below category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.3193 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.7193 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4143 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.3191 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
189 Ratings
3% below category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.1179 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF7.9174 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning7.7145 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.3148 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.9111 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.7
189 Ratings
4% below category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.3183 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1168 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.3138 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.339 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
180 Ratings
1% below category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.7169 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.2148 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.2160 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.249 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.6141 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
162 Ratings
2% above category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.5133 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.9155 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.6
116 Ratings
2% below category average
Salesforce Starter
-
Ratings
REST API7.9104 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API7.585 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.869 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.491 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.7
7 Ratings
11% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings7.57 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings7.67 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings9.66 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings9.45 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.46 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings9.75 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
7.6
6 Ratings
2% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings7.66 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.3
5 Ratings
7% above category average
Task management00 Ratings9.55 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings6.75 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.85 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
9.0
5 Ratings
16% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings9.35 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
7.2
6 Ratings
6% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings7.55 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings6.25 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.8
6 Ratings
5% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.86 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.86 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.5
5 Ratings
13% above category average
Social engagement00 Ratings8.55 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.1
5 Ratings
8% above category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings8.35 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
8.3
6 Ratings
9% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.36 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.7 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(197 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(3 ratings)
4.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(113 ratings)
8.5
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(52 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BISalesforce Starter
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
Salesforce
If you own a business that has complex selling processes or requires integrations with 3rd party tools/systems, you should look at Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited editions. Salesforce operates very well across pretty much every industry, but not all sales, marketing, and operational processes are created equal. If your marketing process requires a long list of sendable contacts then I would recommend adding on Pardot or Hubspot. Always start small and scale up, to avoid boxing yourself in down the road.
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
Salesforce
  • Tracking phone calls is extremely easy when using the app on the iphone. After a phone call is complete it prompts the user to enter in call details.
  • SalesforceIQ also automatically logs emails for us. This has saved us time from entering in information manually.
  • SalesforceIQ was easy to set up and allowed us customization for fields that were relevant to our business.
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
Salesforce
  • Table views can be sorted by column. Filters can be applied, but only to one column. Multi-column filtering like Excel allows would be extremely useful and a big improvement.
  • The ability to quick copy data in a table view would also be helpful, like (ctrl ') in excel.
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
Salesforce
No answers on this topic
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
Salesforce
The system is very user-friendly on a desktop but lacks mobile friendliness. The Customer relationship manager disappears after the deal is signed. We struggled to get the system in a usable format, which was not cost-effective. The CRM system on desktop was great but way more complicated than it should be.
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
Salesforce
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
Read full review
Salesforce
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
Salesforce
more expensive but as an industry leader and go, the learning curve pays for itself in ROI in lost time in onboarding
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
Salesforce
  • It made the job more efficient for staff so they can spend time doing other tasks rather than configuring and maintaining Salesforce Starter.
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

Salesforce Starter Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of