Evidence vs Microsoft Power BI
Evidence and Microsoft Power BI are both BI & dashboards tools. Evidence is aimed at developers, while Microsoft Power BI is aimed at enterprise and small businesses. Microsoft Power BI costs less, from $14/mo versus $2500/mo for Evidence. Both have a free plan.
BI as code: Markdown + SQL to reports
Enterprise BI in the Microsoft ecosystem
| Pricing | Open source · $2500 | Freemium · $14 |
| Starting price | $2500/mo | $14/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | 60 days |
| Built for | Developers | Enterprise, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web, windows, ios, android |
| Country | CA · 2021 | US · 2015 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Evidence if
Analysts comfortable with code.
- Version-controlled reporting
- Beautiful output
- Developer workflow
Look elsewhere if: Business users wanting self-serve.
Choose Microsoft Power BI if
Organizations on Microsoft 365 that want affordable, scalable BI.
- Low price per user
- Deep Microsoft integration
- Powerful modeling with DAX
Look elsewhere if: Mac-only teams or startups preferring lightweight tools (Metabase).
Evidence vs Microsoft Power BI pricing
Evidence
- Open source$0MIT-licensed framework, self-build (GitHub)
- Team$2,500/moUnlimited users, 20K AI credits/mo, Analytics Agent
- EnterpriseCustomAnnual contract, SSO, SCIM, embedding, self-deploy
Microsoft Power BI
- Free$0Fabric free account, personal authoring
- Pro$14/user/moPaid yearly; publish and share reports
- Premium Per User$24/user/moPaid yearly; larger models, more refreshes
- Fabric capacityCustomVariable capacity pricing
Evidence · Key features
- Markdown + SQL reports
- Components for charts and tables
- Git version control
- Static site builds
- Templated pages
- Cloud hosting
Cons
- Requires SQL and Markdown
- Not drag-and-drop
- Smaller community
Microsoft Power BI · Key features
- Power Query data preparation
- DAX data modeling and measures
- Interactive reports and dashboards
- Copilot for report and DAX generation
- Teams and SharePoint integration
- Microsoft Fabric for end-to-end data
Cons
- Desktop authoring is Windows-only
- DAX learning curve
- Licensing complexity with Fabric
Evidence vs Microsoft Power BI: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Evidence or Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI starts at $14/mo and Evidence at $2500/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Evidence and Microsoft Power BI have a free plan?
Yes, both Evidence and Microsoft Power BI have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Evidence or Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI lists small businesses as a core audience, while Evidence is aimed more at developers.