Power BI: Desktop vs. Online — Pros and Cons

Power BI Desktop, also known as the Power BI Designer, is the on-premise (Windows) version of Power BI.

It’s the free version which has data analysis and reports creation capabilities.

With Query Editor, you can use it to connect to lots of data sources and transform the data into a model.

Also, you primarily don’t need the internet for the desktop version to work. You would only need to hop online for publishing the reports to the online version.

Some of the features unique to Power BI Desktop include:

• Data transformation, modeling, and shaping
• Calculated columns
• Python and DAX
• RLS creation

If your intention is to try out Power BI’s capabilities, the Power BI Desktop is the version you could easily get.

Aside from that, if you’re familiar with Microsoft Office 365 products, understanding the desktop version’s interface is easy.

As you can see, the ribbon has the same feel to it as with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

One problem with BI solutions is that, modifying your data is difficult. Often, you would have to go back to your spreadsheet, make the changes, and reconnect the data.

In Power BI Desktop, that’s not that case. There’s a Power Query Editor you can open to make some changes to your data.

Data modeling is also easy. With Power BI Desktop, you can specify the relationship of the different values.

You could also see the existing relationships of your data at a glance with Power BI Desktop’s model view.

For example, here’s the data model for Microsoft’s free retail analysis sample:

By design, Power BI Desktop wasn’t made for sharing and collaboration.

The only function in Power BI Desktop that’s related to sharing is it’s ‘Publish’ function which makes your report available in Power BI Service.

Also, Power BI Desktop doesn’t have a dashboard feature.

A Power BI dashboard is a 1-page canvas where you can pin visualizations from the reports.

Power BI Service, which is also called Power BI Online and Power BI Portal, is the cloud-based service.

It’s designed for light report editing and collaboration.

Unlike in Power BI Desktop, data modeling in Power BI Service is very limited.

However, this isn’t one to take lightly. In its own way, Power BI Service is also powerful and useful.

Obviously, there’s no way you can share your findings with others without it.

Some of the features unique to Power BI Service include:

• Dashboards
• Sharing
• RSL management
• Gateway connections

Though made for light editing, there’s nothing light with Power BI Service’s report editing.

It’s true, there are some features and functions you can also use and do in the desktop version. However, unless your dataset demands it, you can barely feel the difference.

Plus, you can pin these visualizations into dashboards. To create a Power BI dashboard, all you have to do is select a visual on a report page and pin it on a dashboard.

The area where the Power BI Service shines the most is on sharing and collaboration.

For example, sharing a report is a no-brainer. All you have to do is press a button and Power BI will assist you all the way.

Also, you can create a Power BI workspace in the online version. A workplace is a space where you and your colleagues can work together creating dashboards and reports.

Again, just press a button and Power BI Service will assist you all the way.

The first thing you notice is that you need to use your work email to try out the online service.

If you need to share and collaborate with others, you would need a Power BI Pro license. This is the next tier after the free plan in Power BI pricing.

Also, data transformation and modeling in Power BI Service is super limited that you can barely feel it.

You can’t do a single basic action like adding a row or column.

The basic differences between Power BI Desktop and Service can be summarized with these few questions:

• Are you a report author or a data model author?
• Do you need to show your findings to others?
• Do you need a free solution?
• Are dashboards important to you?
• Are you collaborating with others?

Power BI Desktop is the way to go if you want a free solution and there’s no one you should show your reports with.

Use the desktop version for modeling and creating Power BI reports.

Power BI Service is what you use if you need to share and collaborate with others. There’s just no other way around this.

It’s more appropriate to think of Power BI as an umbrella of products. You can’t do everything with just one product. You can’t transform and model data with only the online version. Likewise, you can’t share and collaborate with only the desktop version.