Not in the plans most small businesses use. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium don't include Power BI Pro, and neither does Microsoft 365 E3. Pro comes with Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5, and with Microsoft 365 E7, which includes everything in E5. On any plan, Power BI Desktop is a free download, and anyone with a work account can build reports for themselves on the free Power BI licence. What the free licence can't do is share them. For that, each person who publishes a report or opens a shared one needs Power BI Pro, which Microsoft UK lists at £10.80 per user per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT, as of October 2026.
So for a business of 10 to 250 people the practical answer is this: you already have enough to try Power BI properly, you don't need to change your Microsoft 365 plan, and you'll pay £10.80 a month for each person who needs to share or read the finished reports.
Which Microsoft 365 plans include Power BI?
Here's every mainstream plan side by side. Prices are Microsoft's published UK prices per user per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT, as of October 2026.
| Plan | UK price (ex VAT) | Power BI licence in the plan | What you can do with Power BI on this plan alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | £5.40 | None (free licence available) | Build reports for yourself; no sharing |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | £10.80 | None (free licence available) | Build reports for yourself; no sharing |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | £16.90 | None (free licence available) | Build reports for yourself; no sharing |
| Business Standard or Premium with Copilot | £18.10 or £24.60 | None (free licence available) | Same as above: Copilot doesn't add Power BI |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | £33.50 | None (free licence available) | Build reports for yourself; no sharing |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | £51.60 | Power BI Pro | Publish, share, and open reports other Pro users share |
| Microsoft 365 E7 | £81.60 | Power BI Pro (E7 includes E5) | Same as E5 |
| Power BI Pro, bought on its own | £10.80 | It is the licence | Publish, share, and open reports other Pro users share |
| Power BI Premium Per User | £18.50 | It is the licence | Pro plus larger models and more frequent refreshes |
Sources, all as of October 2026: Power BI pricing (UK), which lists Pro as "included in Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5"; Microsoft 365 business plans (UK) and the individual Business Basic, Standard and Premium pages; Microsoft 365 enterprise plans (UK); and Microsoft Learn's E3, E5 and E7 comparison, which says E7 "includes the capabilities of Microsoft 365 E5".
Two things worth knowing about that table. Business Standard happens to cost exactly the same as Power BI Pro, £10.80, which is a coincidence but a handy one for budgeting. And the business plans are for organisations of up to 300 users; Microsoft's own FAQ points larger organisations at the enterprise plans.
What can you do with Power BI without paying anything extra?
Quite a lot, as long as the audience is you.
Power BI Desktop is free. It's the Windows app where reports actually get built: connecting to your accounts system, your CRM or a folder of spreadsheets, shaping the data, writing the calculations and laying out the pages. Microsoft's pricing page lists it as a free download, and it's the full tool, not a trial version.
The free licence lets you publish to your own space. Microsoft calls it Fabric (Free). With it you can publish to your personal My workspace in the Power BI service and use the reports in a browser. Microsoft Learn is clear about the limit: free users "can't use the Power BI sharing or collaborating features with others, or publish content to other people's workspaces" (Power BI licence types, as of October 2026). A free user also can't open reports other people share from ordinary workspaces.
Excel is already in the box. Business Standard and Business Premium include desktop Excel, with PivotTables and Power Query. For one person analysing one export, that's often enough, and I've written about when the spreadsheet wins rather than pretend it never does.
You can email a Power BI file. A colleague with Power BI Desktop can open a .pbix file you send them. It works in the way that emailing a spreadsheet works: the data travels inside the file, it doesn't refresh on a schedule, and nobody controls who sees which numbers. Fine for a one-off look at something. Not how you'd run a monthly management pack.
There's one exception to the "free can't view" rule. If the content sits on a Fabric capacity of F64 or larger, people on the free licence can view it. That's a capacity purchase priced for much bigger organisations than most of my clients, and I've covered where that line falls in what Power BI licensing actually costs in the UK, so I won't repeat it here.
What does Power BI Pro add, and who needs it?
Pro is the licence that turns Power BI from a personal tool into a shared one. Microsoft Learn describes it as letting users "create, read, and interact with content that others publish", publish to shared workspaces, share dashboards and subscribe to reports. Its key sentence for buyers: "Only Power BI Pro users can publish, share, or consume other Pro users' content unless it resides in a Power BI Premium capacity."
That last word, consume, is the one that surprises people. Pro isn't only for the person who builds the report. In an ordinary workspace, everyone who opens it needs a paid licence too. So the count you need is builders plus readers.
A worked example, as arithmetic rather than a statistic. Take a 30-person business on Business Standard where two people build reports (say the finance director and a finance assistant) and eight managers read the monthly pack:
- Licences needed: 2 + 8 = 10 Power BI Pro
- Monthly cost: 10 × £10.80 = £108, excluding VAT
- Yearly cost: £108 × 12 = £1,296, excluding VAT
- The other 20 staff: nothing changes, they keep their Business Standard licence as it is
Pro sits on top of whatever Microsoft 365 plan you already have. Microsoft's pricing page says it's available "for self-service purchase and through the Microsoft 365 admin center", so whoever looks after your Microsoft 365 billing can add it in the same place as everything else.
What about Premium Per User at £18.50? It's Pro plus larger models, more frequent refreshes and some other premium features. It has one catch: content in a PPU workspace can only be opened by other PPU users, so the upgrade spreads to your whole audience. Most small businesses don't need it on day one. If you're already on E5, Microsoft sells a step-up to PPU at £10.80 per user per month, paid yearly.
Is it worth moving to E5 to get Power BI included?
Almost never for Power BI alone. Again, this is arithmetic you can redo with your own headcount.
Take a 40-person business on Business Premium, where 10 people need Power BI:
- Business Premium for 40 people: 40 × £16.90 = £676 a month
- Plus 10 Power BI Pro licences: 10 × £10.80 = £108 a month
- Total: £784 a month
Moving everyone to Microsoft 365 E5 instead:
- 40 × £51.60 = £2,064 a month
That's £1,280 a month more, £15,360 a year, all excluding VAT, to have Pro "included" for ten people. To be fair to E5, it buys a lot more than Power BI: Microsoft lists advanced identity and threat protection, compliance tools and Teams Phone among its highlights. If you need those for their own sake, Pro comes along with them and that's a genuine saving. If Power BI is the only reason anyone mentioned E5, it isn't.
Does Copilot come with Power BI?
No. A Copilot licence and a Power BI licence are separate things, and the "with Copilot" business plans in the table above don't include Power BI Pro.
Copilot inside Power BI is a third thing again. Microsoft Learn says "a Power BI Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) license alone isn't sufficient", because Copilot needs organisational capacity: a paid Fabric capacity (F2 or larger) or Power BI Premium capacity, billed separately (Copilot for Power BI overview, as of October 2026). Microsoft is also previewing a version of its main Copilot that can answer questions from Power BI reports, for people with a paid Copilot licence, switched off by default while it's in preview. Either way, the answers are only as good as the definitions inside your reports, which is a bigger question than licensing.
Where should a small business start?
In this order, spending as little as possible until you know it's worth it.
- Try it free. Install Power BI Desktop and point it at an export from your main system. If you want to test sharing before paying, Microsoft Learn says a free user can upgrade to a 60-day trial of the paid features (Power BI licensing guide, as of October 2026), if your admin allows self-service trials.
- Count builders and readers. That number times £10.80 is your monthly licence bill. Write it down before anyone suggests a bigger plan.
- Get one report right before you build ten. One report that ties to the ledger does more for trust than a dozen that nearly do.
That third step is what my First Report is for: one system you already run (Xero, Sage 50, Sage 200, QuickBooks Online, Business Central, HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 Sales or a folder of spreadsheets), one report answering one written question, the headline number reconciled back to the source to the penny, live in your own Power BI workspace within ten working days of the data arriving, for £1,950 fixed. Power BI licences aren't included in that price, so budget £10.80 a month for each person who'll open it. If you'd rather talk through how many licences you actually need first, book a free 20-minute call.
Common questions
Is Power BI free with Microsoft 365?
Partly. Power BI Desktop is a free download and anyone with a work account can use the free Power BI licence to build reports for themselves. Sharing reports, publishing to shared workspaces and opening reports colleagues have shared need Power BI Pro, which isn't included in Business Basic, Standard or Premium.
Does Microsoft 365 Business Premium include Power BI Pro?
No. As of October 2026, Microsoft's UK pages list Power BI Pro as included in Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5, not in any of the business plans. Business Premium users can buy Pro as an add-on at £10.80 per user per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT.
Which Microsoft 365 plans include Power BI Pro?
Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5 include it, and Microsoft 365 E7 includes everything in E5. Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, their "with Copilot" versions and Microsoft 365 E3 don't. On those plans you add Pro for the people who need it.
Do people who only view reports need a Power BI licence?
Usually, yes. In an ordinary workspace, everyone who opens a shared report needs Power BI Pro (or Premium Per User), not just the person who built it. The exception is content on a Fabric capacity of F64 or larger, where free users can view, but that capacity is sized and priced for much larger organisations.
Is Power BI Desktop free?
Yes. Microsoft lists Power BI Desktop as a free download, and it's the full tool for building reports, not a trial. What costs money is sharing what you build through the Power BI service.
How much does Power BI Pro cost in the UK?
Microsoft UK lists Power BI Pro at £10.80 per user per month and Premium Per User at £18.50 per user per month, both paid yearly and excluding VAT, as of October 2026. Add 20% VAT if your business can't reclaim it.
Can we try Power BI Pro before buying it?
Yes. Microsoft Learn describes a 60-day trial of Power BI's paid features that a free user can start from inside the Power BI service, as long as your Microsoft 365 admin hasn't switched self-service trials off. When it ends, the user drops back to the free licence.