Microsoft Power BI vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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 SQL Server
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database.
$1,418
Per License
Pricing
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Subscription
$1,418.00
Per License
Enterprise
$13,748.00
Per License
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
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 SQL Server
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Power BI
Chose Microsoft Power BI
I selected Power BI because it is the best in all because of its ecosystem and its ability to connect with multiple data source like Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server, web, analysis services etc. Moreover, its available on both Cloud and Desktop with some pro and cons …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Qlik also builds dashboards upon your data. It's more expensive as Microsoft Power BI and needs as much training as Microsoft Power BI
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Just because we wanted single-party integration environment and a player which can take ownership of Big Data Analysis. Microsoft Power BI is better in these features as compared to other key BI players like Tableau.
Chose Microsoft Power BI
In any [Microsoft] Power BI to Tableau comparison, especially in organizations that uses both platforms the most important aspect is which platform came first. As any platform that is widely adopted first will naturally have the 'first mover' advantage.

In this case where in my …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Microsoft Power BI was a cheaper alternative to Tableau. It is part of the Office 365 universe, so easier connectivity to all Microsoft apps.
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Some of the other tools that we use are Oracle Business intelligence, Oracle data Visualization, Tableau etc. All of these tools are being used for different purposes and are connected to the source system in different ways. However Power BI is the most widely used in our …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
We selected Microsoft Power BI because it was the easiest to integrate with our primary systems, allowed us to embed reports for our partners, allowed us to host our data and some reports on premise. It also provided the shortest route to production deployment allowing us to …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Both do a good job from a presentation layer. I feel that PowerBI has better data modeling capabilities, and Tableau has a slight edge on the visualizations and end-user experience. Power BI is more attractive to most of our B2B clients, and Tableau is more attractive for B2C …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
They all offer a free trial with free versions available, but for enterprise installation and support and overall cost per user, we decided to try out Microsoft BI. Microsoft BI offers predictive analytics as well as data prep tools which Google Analytics does not offer. Power …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
The primary reason why we selected Power BI is cost. Most enterprises have some sort of Microsoft or SQL Server licensing in place. Adding Power BI and the Microsoft infrastructure is a low-cost barrier to an existing license. Most other products came at a much higher price …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Although we use Birst for our client facing dashboards, PowerBI is much more efficient when connecting to external data sources, and is much easier to customise. The pricing of it almost makes is preferable to other more established options like Tableau.
Chose Microsoft Power BI

From a user perspective, Power BI appears to be more intuitive than Birst. You don't need a training class to learn or use Power BI.

Power BI Desktop is free, other vendors are charging for desktop licenses.

Microsoft SQL Server
Chose Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft was the original creator of the SQL database, and thus, they still rule the market and drive innovation when it comes to data warehousing systems. It's comparable in price and allows you to retain the structured datasets that you lose when you change to a NoSQL …
Chose Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server was our first choice as we are a Microsoft partner.
Chose Microsoft SQL Server
I use Crystal and Microsoft SQL Server with each other. Each has a unique role that it brings to every query. Microsoft SQL Server allows me to write and refine my base query. Crystal allows me to take that query and make it more visually appealing and easier to interpret.
Chose Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a DBMS that can be used in any situation, from small projects to big ones, and the latest versions now can be used in several OS platforms. It is a great product with many features over its competitors. It's a mature and robust product. It's easy and …
Chose Microsoft SQL Server
SQL Server is definitely the go-to product for all things BI. It has its weaknesses, but other products like Oracle or Pentaho don't hold a candle to the power of SQL Server.
Features
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
193 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.3164 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.8192 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.0175 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
191 Ratings
2% below category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.2188 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.7188 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.3140 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.5186 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.1
184 Ratings
2% below category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.3174 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.2169 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning7.7141 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.3144 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.9107 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
184 Ratings
2% below category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.2178 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1163 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.4133 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.434 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.6
175 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.8165 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.5143 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.4155 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.7137 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
157 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.8147 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.7128 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.0150 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
113 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft SQL Server
-
Ratings
REST API8.2101 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API7.682 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.967 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.588 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
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Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
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User Ratings
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(194 ratings)
8.2
(102 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(3 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(111 ratings)
7.6
(16 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.9
(52 ratings)
7.9
(25 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BIMicrosoft SQL Server
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
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Microsoft
Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
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
  • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
  • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
  • Data Security
  • Easy to understand and use
  • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
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
  • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
  • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
  • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
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
We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
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
SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Its does not have outages.
Read full review
Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
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
We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
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In-Person Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It was good
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Online Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
very hands on and detailed training
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
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Microsoft
Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
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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
[Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
Read full review
Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
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
  • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
  • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
  • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
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