Difference between Power BI Web service and Power Bi Report server

[sonalidhar87]

Hi,

What is the major difference between Power BI Web service and Power Bi Report server. Which one is ideal for using .rdl reports which can be shared with different business users without any individual license purchase.

Thanks,

Sonali Dhar

[v-luwang-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @sonalidhar87 ,

Power BI Report Server is an on-premises report server with a web portal in which you display and manage reports and KPIs.
Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to turn your unrelated sources of data into coherent, visually immersive, and interactive insights.

Power BI Report Server and the Power BI service have many similarities and some key differences.

For more details, you can read related document:

Comparing Power BI Report Server and the Power BI service - Power BI | Microsoft Docs

And they all support Paginated reports ,so they all could use rdl.When you use paginated reports on power bi service，At least you need A Power BI Pro license, or Premium Per User (PPU) license, and write access to a workspace in a Power BI Premium capacity.(refer it)

And about share on PowerBI Service ,there are some requirement.

Hope to help you understand the difference between them.

Best Regards

Lucien

[d_gosbell]

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@v-luwang-msft wrote:

When you use paginated reports on power bi service，you need at least Power BI Pro license.(refer it)

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This is incorrect. You need some sort of premium capacity to run paginated reports.

So either:

• a Pro License with write access to a Premium Capacity
• or a Premium Per User license (in which case you can only share with other users with Premium per User licenses)

[v-luwang-msft]

Hi @d_gosbell ，

Thank you very much for pointing this out, it has been corrected. Thank you.

Best Regards

Luciedn

[d_gosbell]

The difference between these 2 offerings is documented here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/compare-report-server-service both of them allow for report consumers to access reports without additional licensing costs. In both scenarios it is only people that publish Power BI reports that require Power BI Pro licenses.