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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Sprout Social

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASprout Social provides social media management, marketing, customer care, data and intelligence, and employee advocacy solutions for brands and agencies, including Ticketmaster, Chipotle, Grubhub, Subaru, and Zendesk. Sprout’s platform is used to simplify social publishing, engagement, reviews, analytics and listening for customers. Sprout also provides customer success and technical support, to deliver consistent value to all users. Any organization, regardless of size or industry, receives…

    $249

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Essentials
    $79 per seat/per month annual / $99 per seat/per month monthly
    Standard
    $199 annual / $249 monthly
    per user/per month
    Professional
    $299 annual / $399 monthly
    per user/per month
    Advanced
    $399 annual / $499 monthly
    per user/per month
    Free Trial
    Free
    for 30 days
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    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 BISprout Social
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Sprout Social
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    110 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    106 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    103 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    93 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    112 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    108 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    73 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    92 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.1
    198 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.1169 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.6197 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.7180 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    196 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.4193 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities7.7193 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4143 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.1191 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web8.1179 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF7.7174 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 Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.7
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.3183 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1168 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.2138 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.339 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.3
    180 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.6169 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.1148 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.1160 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.149 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.5141 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    162 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access7.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application7.5133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.8155 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.6
    116 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    REST API7.7104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API6.769 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)7.291 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
    Listening/monitoring
    Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.2
    114 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Boolean keyword searches00 Ratings6.980 Ratings
    Filtering out noise/spam00 Ratings7.196 Ratings
    Sentiment analysis00 Ratings7.077 Ratings
    Broad channel coverage00 Ratings8.090 Ratings
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    145 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Content planning and scheduling00 Ratings9.2145 Ratings
    Audience targeting00 Ratings7.2110 Ratings
    Content optimization00 Ratings8.2126 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings8.4126 Ratings
    Engagement
    Comparison of Engagement features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.9
    132 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Automated routing and prioritization00 Ratings7.687 Ratings
    Customer interaction histories00 Ratings8.1116 Ratings
    Bulk actions00 Ratings8.1115 Ratings
    Marketing
    Comparison of Marketing features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    7.1
    96 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Lead generation00 Ratings6.869 Ratings
    Content marketing00 Ratings8.192 Ratings
    Paid media management00 Ratings6.23 Ratings
    Campaigns and promotions00 Ratings7.24 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.4
    144 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Twitter00 Ratings8.8126 Ratings
    Facebook00 Ratings8.7143 Ratings
    LinkedIn00 Ratings8.6130 Ratings
    Google+00 Ratings7.846 Ratings
    Instagram00 Ratings8.6132 Ratings
    Pinterest00 Ratings8.246 Ratings
    YouTube00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    146 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Campaign success analytics00 Ratings8.6138 Ratings
    Real-time tracking00 Ratings8.1134 Ratings
    Competitor analysis00 Ratings7.8120 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Microsoft Power BI and Sprout Social
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    -
    Ratings
    Sprout Social
    8.0
    138 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Role-based user permissions & privileges00 Ratings8.7132 Ratings
    Mobile access00 Ratings7.3124 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Sendible
    Score7.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (199 ratings)
    8.4
    (203 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    9.2
    (67 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (115 ratings)
    8.5
    (130 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (8 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (52 ratings)
    1.8
    (39 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.0
    (12 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (82 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.0
    (81 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (42 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft Power BISprout Social
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Sprout is typically the first platform that comes to mind when I think of social media content scheduling/platform management/social media management. However, Sprout is very pricey, and I don’t think there’s an obvious standout element that helps differentiate it from other scheduling platforms. For organizations with only a few social media profiles, I’d be more likely to recommend lower-cost or free platforms as opposed to Sprout. I’d probably only recommend Sprout for organizations with dozens or hundreds of social media accounts
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • Social Scheduling: Sprout Social makes it easier than any platform I've used to schedule posts with each, and to batch-schedule the same post to run on multiple dates. The scheduling platform is intuitive and easy to understand.
    • Social Reporting: With just a few clicks of the button, you can easily export reports that are easy for both social media experts and complete novices to understand. I like how you can get a report within 60 seconds or so if needed.
    • Customer Service/Help: Whenever I've had a question, both my Sprout Social rep and the Help Center have been extremely easy to contact and quick to reply. Problems are solved very fast and it's made easy to understand.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • I would like for Personal Instagram Accounts to be able to integrate with Sprout Social's Employee Advocacy platform. You are able to connect personally accounts to Sprout Social itself, which is great, but for employee re-sharing internal stories, this is not possible unless it is with a Business Instagram account.
    • I would like for the left hand tool bar to be more user friendly. There are so many tools and settings that are available, and I would like for it to be simplified in a way that makes it less cluttered.
    • An improvement can be made with the Sprout Social Mobile App. The user friendliness of the app does not allow as much autonomy as the regular webpage.
    Incentivized
    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
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is the best platform out there for social-media management, and now that I have all my clients using Sprout Social, it would be sort of silly for me to walk away format at this juncture. The only cloud on the horizon would be if Salesforce bought it (as has been rumored) and put it inside its walled garden.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is straightforward to use - built for anyone regardless of tech experience to be able to navigate. It integrates pretty seamlessly to the native platforms and brings a lot of things together to make a seamlessly experience for seasoned social media managers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Uptime was OK, but given the fact that we are in Europe, there were some specific problems: They tended to take the system down for maintenance during the night in the US, which was during our workday. This was definitely problematic and hard to explain to our clients.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    It is quick to post, however you have to refresh the page every time you add a new scheduled item.
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    The chat and online resources are great. The managers are too. They go through account reps pretty fast. Also, not a lot of onboarding once a product or service is sold. The ticket request system is terrible, they have too many people switching off roles, they take a long time to get back to you and don't plan on anything being fixed over a weekend - even if you have a problem. Their customer service via tickets is the worst.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Sprout Social
    Their training is good, but the promotion of it is even better. I don't need or have the time for training, but I was always happy to know it was there. They did a great job sending updates out and making me aware when there was a new feature that I may want training for. As for the training I never used it, so I can't comment on that
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    Make sure you do it all the way. Do not break it into phases. Pour yourself a coffee, start it in the morning and you'll be done before you finish that coffee.
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    We started this agency using Later and switched to Iconosqaure because we needed more in-depth reporting. We switched from Iconosquare to Sprout Social because of the continuous scheduling bugs/issues we were having with our account and our terrible experience with their Customer Service team. We are planning to close our Sprout Social account and move to HeyOrca because of cost, ease of use, and the basic scheduling features Sprout Social doesn't offer.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sprout Social
    • One positive impact has been a huge time saver for our team. Where we once had multiple systems and delays from producing content to approval to publishing, now everything is seamless.
    • Another positive impact is streamlining the onboarding process for new team members. Sprout Social is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy to study even for someone completely new to social media.
    • One negative impact has been the time it takes to wade through irrelevant social listening posts. The filtering is not effective enough to eliminate the noise.
    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

    Sprout Social Screenshots

    Screenshot of Sprout’s social media publishing tools, used to schedule and post messages to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn simultaneously from a single Compose window.