Microsoft Power BI vs Apache Superset
Microsoft Power BI and Apache Superset are both BI & dashboards tools. Microsoft Power BI is aimed at enterprise and small businesses, while Apache Superset is aimed at developers and enterprise. Both have a free plan.
Enterprise BI in the Microsoft ecosystem
Open-source data exploration at scale
| Pricing | Freemium · $14 | Open source |
| Starting price | $14/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 60 days | — |
| Built for | Enterprise, Small businesses | Developers, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web, windows, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2015 | US · 2017 |
| Rating | — | — |
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).
Choose Apache Superset if
Data teams wanting open-source BI at scale.
- Free and powerful
- Scales to large data
- Open source
Look elsewhere if: Non-technical small teams (Metabase).
Microsoft Power BI vs Apache Superset pricing
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
Apache Superset
- Open source$0Apache 2.0, self-hosted
- Preset Starter$0Managed cloud, up to 5 users
- Preset Professional$25/user/mo$20/user/mo billed annually; 14-day trial
- Preset EnterpriseCustomDeployment at scale, AI agent access
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
Apache Superset · Key features
- SQL Lab IDE
- 40+ chart types
- Dashboards
- Semantic layer
- RBAC
- Many databases
Cons
- Setup and maintenance
- UX less friendly than Metabase
- Learning curve
Microsoft Power BI vs Apache Superset: FAQ
Do Microsoft Power BI and Apache Superset have a free plan?
Yes, both Microsoft Power BI and Apache Superset have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Microsoft Power BI or Apache Superset?
Microsoft Power BI lists small businesses as a core audience, while Apache Superset is aimed more at developers and enterprise.