Skip to content
← Licensing FAQ

Power BI Pro vs Premium Per User vs Fabric

By ClearSourcePublished Last checked

Per-user Microsoft Power BI licences or a Fabric capacity. Prices where Microsoft publishes them, and when Microsoft says a capacity makes sense.

In short:

  • Pro: authors and viewers in small/medium deployments
  • PPU: small teams (<250) needing Premium features without a capacity
  • F2-F32: Fabric data engineering/warehousing with Pro-licensed viewers
  • F64+: large viewer populations (free viewers) and full Fabric workloads

ClearSource’s reading of Microsoft’s documentation — not a recommendation for your situation.

Power BI Pro CHF 11.30, Power BI Premium Per User CHF 19.40 per user and month — Power BI Premium Per User costs CHF 8.10 more. Microsoft list prices for Switzerland, annual commitment, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026; IT partners often quote lower.

The upgrade path

CHF list price per user and month, annual commitment, excl. VAT

  1. Power BI Pro
    CHF 11.30
    Includes
    • Power BI Pro
  2. +8.10
    Power BI Premium Per User
    CHF 19.40
    Adds over Power BI Pro
    • Power BI Premium Per User
—Power BI ProPower BI Premium Per User
Price per user / month
Annual, paid yearlyCHF 11.30CHF 19.40
Included in both plans
  • Power BI Pro
Key differences
Power BI Premium Per Usernot includedincluded
Model with Power BI ProModel with Power BI Premium Per User

Only rows where the plans differ. ✓ = included. Prices: Microsoft list prices for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026.

All differing service plans (Microsoft’s list) · 1 service plan

From Microsoft’s licensing list of 23 September 2026: every service plan that isn’t in all columns.

—Power BI ProPower BI Premium Per User
Power BI Premium Per Usernot includedincluded

When a Fabric capacity makes sense

Microsoft says Premium Per User is more cost-effective below about 250 users.

On a Fabric capacity of F64 or larger, people who only view reports need just a free licence. Report creators still need Pro or PPU.

Fabric capacity is billed through Azure. Its Swiss prices (region Switzerland North) are in the detail below.

In detail, with sources

  • Add-on

    Power BI Pro

    CHF 11.30

    user/month

    Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [1]

    Lowest list price

    Includes

    • Publish and share Microsoft Power BI content; create Pro workspaces [2]
    • Included in Microsoft 365 E5 / Office 365 E5 [3]
    POWER_BI_PRO
  • Add-on

    Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)

    CHF 19.40

    user/month

    Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [1]

    Includes

    • Most Power BI Premium features, 48 refreshes/day, models >1 GB, XMLA endpoint, PPU workspaces [2]
    • PPU add-on available for users already licensed with Pro / Microsoft 365 E5 [4]

    Limits

    • Does not provision a Fabric capacity - no lakehouses/warehouses/notebooks; only PPU users can access PPU workspaces [2]
    • Microsoft positions PPU as more cost-effective below ~250 users [2]
    PBI_PREMIUM_PER_USER
  • Add-on

    Microsoft Fabric F2 (2 CU)

    CHF 269.95

    capacity/month (730 h pay-as-you-go) · Azure PAYG, per-second billing, 1-min minimum; Switzerland North

    List price, excl. VAT, as of 24 September 2026 [5]

    Includes

    • PAYG CHF 0.3698/hour; 1-year reservation ~CHF 160.50/month (CHF 963.0123 per CU per year) [5]
    • Below F64: every user viewing Microsoft Power BI content needs Pro, PPU or trial [2]
  • Add-on

    Microsoft Fabric F4 (4 CU)

    CHF 539.91

    capacity/month (730 h pay-as-you-go) · Azure PAYG, per-second billing, 1-min minimum; Switzerland North

    List price, excl. VAT, as of 24 September 2026 [5]

    Includes

    • PAYG CHF 0.7396/hour; 1-year reservation ~CHF 321.00/month (CHF 963.0123 per CU per year) [5]
    • Below F64: every user viewing Microsoft Power BI content needs Pro, PPU or trial [2]
  • Add-on

    Microsoft Fabric F8 (8 CU)

    CHF 1'079.82

    capacity/month (730 h pay-as-you-go) · Azure PAYG, per-second billing, 1-min minimum; Switzerland North

    List price, excl. VAT, as of 24 September 2026 [5]

    Includes

    • PAYG CHF 1.4792/hour; 1-year reservation ~CHF 642.01/month (CHF 963.0123 per CU per year) [5]
    • Below F64: every user viewing Microsoft Power BI content needs Pro, PPU or trial [2]
  • Add-on

    Microsoft Fabric F64 (64 CU)

    CHF 8'638.53

    capacity/month (730 h pay-as-you-go) · Azure PAYG, per-second billing, 1-min minimum; Switzerland North

    List price, excl. VAT, as of 24 September 2026 [5]

    Includes

    • PAYG CHF 11.8336/hour; 1-year reservation ~CHF 5136.07/month (CHF 963.0123 per CU per year) [5]
    • Users with Fabric Free licence + viewer role can view Microsoft Power BI content (F64 or larger) [2]

Key differences

  1. Fabric capacity CU price (switzerlandnorth, CHF): PAYG 0.1849 per CU-hour; 1-year reservation 963.0123 per CU per year (~40.5% saving); overage 0.5547 per CU-hour [5]
  2. F64 = Microsoft Power BI P1 compute (8 v-cores); F SKUs are recommended; Power BI Premium P SKUs are being retired [2]
  3. Fabric reserved capacity saves 40.5% vs pay-as-you-go; Pro licences still required for publishing [1]
  4. OneLake storage (hot) CHF 0.0212 per GB/month billed separately [5]

What changed recently

  1. Power BI Premium per-capacity (P) SKUs being retired in favour of Fabric F SKUs [2]

Sources

  1. 1Power BI pricing (de-ch) (24 September 2026)
  2. 2Understand Microsoft Fabric licenses and capacity (Microsoft Learn) (5 August 2026)
  3. 3Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plan options - Service Descriptions (Microsoft Learn) (2 December 2025)
  4. 4Modern Work Plan Comparison - Enterprise (Microsoft PDF, publish date September 1, 2026) (1 September 2026)
  5. 5Azure Retail Prices API - Microsoft Fabric, switzerlandnorth, CHF (24 September 2026)

Microsoft’s own pages, read on or before 24 September 2026.

Sources (Microsoft)

Want offers for these licences?

Free and without obligation: checked Swiss IT partners send you an offer. Nothing goes out until you confirm by email.

What next?

Model it for your organisationEnter your headcount and see the cost at Microsoft’s Swiss list prices, with a check for gaps and overlaps.Open the licence modeller →Find a Swiss IT partner162 Swiss IT partners that sell Microsoft licences. Filter by canton, language and product.IT partners for Power Platform →

Keep reading

Related comparisons