Inquiry Power BI Embedded

Youssef Emad 0 Reputation points
2026-04-28T12:49:49.19+00:00

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am currently working on developing a public website that will display interactive dashboards similar to data portals such as the World Bank. I am using Power BI and would like to ensure I am selecting the correct architecture and licensing model.

I would appreciate your guidance on the following points:

  1. I currently have a Power BI Pro license. Is this sufficient for report development while using Power BI Embedded for public access?
  2. For a public-facing website where users will access dashboards without logging in, is Power BI Embedded (A SKU) the correct solution?
  3. Would starting with an A1 capacity be appropriate for a small to medium number of users?
  4. Are there any limitations or best practices I should be aware of when embedding dashboards for external users?
  5. Do I need to consider Microsoft Fabric for this use case, or is it not required?

My goal is to build a secure, scalable, and interactive platform for general users without requiring them to have Power BI accounts.

I would greatly appreciate your recommendations on the optimal setup and any documentation or resources you can share.

Thank you very much for your support.

Kind regards,

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For business | Windows

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  1. AI answer

    2026-04-28T12:50:05.6033333+00:00
    1. A Power BI Pro license is sufficient for developing and publishing reports into a workspace that backs an embedded solution. For using REST APIs and managing workspaces/capacities, a Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) license or a service principal is required. End users of the embedded solution do not need Pro/PPU licenses when using the embed for your customers pattern.
    2. For a public-facing website where users access dashboards without signing in, the correct architectural pattern is Power BI embedded analytics – Embed for your customers (app owns data). This pattern:
      • Targets external users.
      • Uses non-interactive authentication via a service principal or master user.
      • Does not require app users to have Power BI licenses. Power BI Embedded with A SKUs (Azure-based capacity) is associated with this embed for your customers solution.
    3. Starting with an A1 capacity is a common approach for small to medium usage because Power BI Embedded capacity is billed hourly and can be scaled up or down. Customers may change usage on an hourly basis and there is no monthly or annual commitment. Billing continues while the capacity is active, so pausing the resource is required to stop billing.
    4. Key limitations and best practices for embedding for external users:
      • Capacity requirement for production: For production use, a dedicated capacity (A, P/EM, or F SKU) is required. Free embed trial tokens are limited to development testing only; until a capacity is purchased, a Free trial version banner appears on embedded content.
      • Licensing for app users: In embed for your customers, app users do not need Power BI licenses; only the developer/admin side needs Pro/PPU or a service principal for REST APIs and workspace management.
      • Row-level security (RLS): When different external users should see different subsets of data, configure RLS on the semantic model and integrate it with the app’s identity/authorization logic.
      • Unsupported visuals: R and Python visuals are not supported in embed for your customers scenarios.
      • Client integration: Use the Power BI client APIs (JavaScript/TypeScript) to tightly integrate navigation, filters, slicers, layout, and bookmarks into the web application.
    5. Microsoft Fabric is not required for this scenario. For embed for your customers in production, a capacity-based product is required, and Power BI Embedded (A SKUs) is the Azure offer specifically associated with this pattern. Fabric (F SKUs) is another capacity option but is not mandatory if the requirement is simply to embed Power BI content for external users.

    Overall, the optimal setup for a secure, scalable, interactive public data portal is:

    • Use Power BI Pro (or PPU) for development and administration.
    • Implement Power BI embedded analytics – Embed for your customers with A SKU capacity (starting with A1 and scaling as needed).
    • Authenticate via a service principal or master user; do not require end users to sign in with Power BI accounts.
    • Apply RLS and other security controls at the data/model level as needed.

    References:

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