About this article
Official Microsoft information was verified as of September 17, 2026, to clarify the positioning of Power BI Pro and M365 E3/E5.Verification status: 📘 Verified with official Microsoft information, actual device not tested
Power BI Pro is a user license used to publish and share reports in the Power BI service and collaborate with other Pro users. According to official Microsoft documentation,one Power BI Pro license is included with each Microsoft 365 E5 subscription.Since E3 does not receive the same treatment, separate licensing or capacity planning must be verified for sharing purposes.
Do not confuse Free, Pro, PPU, and Capacity
While Free users can create and view content for personal use, standard sharing and collaboration require Pro or PPU. Conversely, content placed in an appropriate capacity, such as Fabric F64 or higher, can sometimes be viewed by Free users. It is important to consider not only the license but also which workspace or capacity the content is placed in.
Try this first: Read-only DAX
Create a measure in the sample model that sums an existing sales column.
Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])
Check this here
Place Total Sales in a card visual and verify that it matches the detail total.
Change one thing
Add a single date slicer and verify that the measure responds to the filter when changing the period. Do not update or delete the source data.
For professional use
Rather than simply replacing Excel distribution, define metric definitions, update responsibilities, workspaces, and sharing targets. The design changes depending on whether you are sharing among Pro users or distributing broadly using Fabric capacity.
Administrator checklist
Check Pro/PPU assignments, Fabric capacity, workspace roles, external sharing, data source credentials, gateways, RLS, auditing, and the migration status from P SKUs to Fabric F SKUs.
Official Microsoft information
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-purchasing-power-bi-pro
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/fundamentals/service-features-license-type
The fact that E5 includes Pro is separate from whether all users can unconditionally share and view all reports. Consider user licenses and capacity together.
