Two meters, not one
Power BI/Fabric bills on both a per-user licence AND (optionally) a per-capacity SKU, and they interact:
| Per-user licence | What it lets the user do |
|---|---|
| Free | Build/use content in their OWN personal workspace; VIEW shared content ONLY under the capacity rule below |
| Pro | Share content, and consume shared content in Pro/shared workspaces; the standard creator+consumer licence |
| Premium Per User (PPU) | Pro + premium features (larger models, more refreshes, some Fabric-adjacent capabilities) for that individual |
| Capacity (F-SKU) | What it changes |
|---|---|
| F2–F32 | Dedicated compute; but consumers of that content still need Pro/PPU |
| F64 and above | The threshold: free users may VIEW content in workspaces on F64+ capacity, with the Viewer role — no per-user Pro needed |
The F64 decision (the one everyone asks)
The classic pattern: license the SMALL creator group with Pro/PPU, and put the content a BROAD audience consumes on an F64-or-larger capacity so those viewers need no per-user licence. Below F64, every viewer needs Pro — so the maths is 'F64 capacity cost vs (viewer count × Pro cost)'. Large viewer audiences flip to F64+ quickly; small ones stay on Pro-per-viewer. Getting this wrong is the #1 Power BI cost mistake in either direction.
Where licence meets capability
What a user can DO depends on their licence AND where the content lives (shared vs capacity-backed workspace). 'I can't share this' / 'they can't open it' is almost always a licence×location mismatch, not a permission bug — check both before touching workspace roles.
What to watch (proofs)
- Licence census:
Get-MgUserLicenseDetailfor the Power BI/Fabric service plans (Free/Pro/PPU) — who holds what; the input to the F64 maths. - Capacity inventory: the Fabric admin portal capacities page — which SKUs exist, their size, and which workspaces they back (the free-viewer eligibility map).
- The cost model on one page: viewer count per content set × Pro cost vs the F64+ capacity cost — the reallocation decision, quantified.
- Consumption reality: capacity metrics app — are you paying for F-SKU headroom you don't use, or throttling on one too small?