Technology / Data

Microsoft Fabric vs. Power BI: When to Use Each Tool

Microsoft Fabric vs Power BI: When to Use Each Tool
Follow us
Published on December 26, 2024

Quick Answer: Microsoft Fabric combines analytics, data engineering, and integration into a single platform. Power BI takes data and creates visualizations and business intelligence reports. Most organizations pair these tools: Power BI builds dashboards while Fabric manages the data processing behind them.

Most Microsoft users who work in data analytics know about Power BI, but Microsoft Fabric is newer to the scene. Discussions can quickly degenerate into a “Microsoft Fabric vs. Power BI” debate, but we’ll learn why this is probably the wrong way to think about these two products.

If you are wondering if you should pick one over the other, you might be surprised to find that that isn’t the right frame of reference. The truth is that these tools complement each other with different capabilities. 

Power BI (Part of Microsoft’s Power Platform) shows you what your data means through charts and graphs, while Fabric does the heavy data lifting in the background. Let’s answer some of the questions that get asked most often about when each tool should be used.

What is Microsoft Fabric, and When Should You Use It?

Microsoft Fabric brings together data tools that used to be spread across different Azure services like Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Power BI. It's built to make data handling simpler, but there are some limitations you should know about before jumping in for yourself. 

Microsoft Fabric vs. Power BI: The Good Parts

Microsoft Fabric is really useful when you're juggling data from everywhere and anywhere. It lets you combine data from SAP, Jira, and all those other systems that have different data and structures. Fabric handles all the messy data cleanup work in the background before your reports are generated, which saves a lot of time. Another advantage of using Fabric is that you can use a single application to handle your data instead of relying on third-party tools.

Real World Performance

It’s not all good news, though. Companies using Fabric have found some interesting quirks worth noting:

  • Data sets bigger than 100GB can slow things down

  • Some basic features aren't available yet since it's still new

  • Really big data jobs (we're talking terabytes) might need a different solution

  • You pay based on what you use, which sounds great until usage spikes lead to a surprise bill 

A Word About Storage

Storing data in Fabric costs less than using Dataverse, making it attractive if you're watching your budget. But like anything cloud-based, keep an eye on those usage meters–costs can creep up if you're not careful.

When Fabric Fits Best

We know what Fabric does, but how would you know if it was the right solution for your analytics workflows? Fabric is for you if you need to: 

  • Combine data from different systems into one place

  • Run complex calculations before showing results

  • Build data pipelines that feed into Power BI

  • Set up automated data processing jobs

Best Ways to Use Fabric

Fabric makes sense for certain setups. Here's where it tends to work best:

  • New data projects where you can grow alongside the platform

  • Data jobs under 100GB (anything bigger and you'll start seeing some slowdown)

  • Teams already running Microsoft tools

  • Projects needing both storage and data processing in one place

Companies using Fabric can use it to handle all their customer data. This could be everything from sales info to help desk tickets. But there's a catch. You’ll have to plan carefully to keep those bigger data sets from bogging down the system.

Quick Tips for Success

If you want the best chance of success with Fabric, you’ll need to consider specific use cases and not throw it at every task. Keep a close eye on your data volumes and make sure your team knows their Microsoft tools inside and out. 

Always leave yourself room to tweak performance, and keep an eye on your dataset size. When those massive datasets grow beyond the 100GB range, you'll want that flexibility to scale without having to tear everything down and start over.

What is Power BI, and How Does It Fit into the Microsoft Ecosystem?

Power BI has made a name for itself by making data easy to understand. Microsoft Fabric is still relatively new, but Power BI is more established and more mature in the market. Whether you are a tiny startup or a big enterprise, everyone seems to find a use for it.

What Makes Power BI Special

It might not have many of the advanced data options that Fabric has, but Power BI does a few things really well:

  • Anyone can build good-looking reports, even without coding skills

  • Works perfectly with Excel, SharePoint, and Teams (all Microsoft products)

  • Helps teams dig into their data quickly to find answers

  • Handles most business reports without breaking a sweat as long as you stay under 100GB

Real-Life Uses for Power BI

Here's what teams use it for every day:

  • Monthly money tracking and important stats

  • Finding out what customers are up to

  • Building dashboards that show how departments are doing

  • Making fancy reports that bosses actually understand

The Power BI Sweet Spot

Power BI works best when you:

  • Need to share data insights across your company

  • Want non-tech people to create their own reports

  • Have data spread across Microsoft tools

  • Need quick answers from your data

A Note About Performance

Power BI loves smaller datasets; anything under 100GB is ideal. Once you start pushing past that, you might need to consider breaking things up or looking at other options.

Watch Out for These Limits

Power BI is great, but it's not magic. Keep these points in mind:

  • Big data needs bigger licenses and sometimes extra tools

  • Some of the advanced features need tech skills to work properly

  • Heavy data cleanup might need Fabric or something similar upstream

Power BI does one thing really well: it shows data in ways that make sense to people who need quick answers without diving into code.

How Microsoft Fabric and Power BI Work Together

When you adjust your workflows correctly, you can set up your system so that Fabric gets your data ready while Power BI makes it look pretty.

The Data's Journey

Here's what happens to your data:

  1. Fabric grabs raw data from everywhere (SAP, Jira, databases)

  2. It cleans up the mess and gets everything organized

  3. Power BI taps into this clean data for reports

  4. Your team gets neat dashboards through Power BI

A Real World Example

Here's how an HR team could make this setup work:

They need to mix data from:

  • Their hiring system

  • Payroll records

  • Employee surveys

Fabric does the hard work:

  • Pulls all that data together

  • Keeps it fresh with updates

  • Makes sure nothing gets mixed up

Power BI steps in to show:

  • Hiring patterns

  • Pay analysis

  • How happy employees are

The HR team loves it because they can get all their answers without worrying about what's happening behind the scenes.

Tips From Teams Using Both Tools

People who've set up Fabric and Power BI have learned some valuable lessons:

  • Start small and build up slowly 

  • Watch how things run as your data grows

  • Build reports that focus on what matters most

  • Pay attention to when your data updates - it affects how fast reports load

Microsoft Fabric and Power BI Cost Considerations

The price tags on Power BI and Fabric look quite different. Since they're both Microsoft tools, you might think they are billed in the same way, but they aren’t. Here's what you need to know about each one.

Power BI Pricing

Power BI keeps things simple:

  • Power BI Pro runs $10 monthly per user

  • Power BI Premium costs more but gives you dedicated resources

  • Your bill stays pretty steady month to month

  • Bigger teams might need Premium features, which cost extra

What Fabric Costs

Fabric pricing needs more attention because you pay for what you use:

  • More data means higher storage costs

  • Heavy data processing costs extra

  • Moving data between services adds up

  • Big data sets (over 100GB) can get pricey

Performance vs. Price

You'll need to balance a few things:

  • Data over 100GB starts to slow down

  • Better performance means spending more

  • Live data updates cost extra

  • Test environments add to your bill

Managing Your Spending

Keep your costs under control by:

  • Starting with a small project

  • Watching your usage stats

  • Clearing out old data

  • Using cheaper storage for old files

  • Moving ancient data to archives

The Big Data Reality

When you're working with massive data:

  • The 100GB mark is where things get tricky

  • Terabyte-sized jobs might not work well

  • Private networks can run slow if not optimized for data pipelines

  • Bigger queries tend to time out if they are not optimized properly

What This Means for You

Planning to use Fabric? Remember:

  • Test small before going big

  • Have a Plan B for huge data sets

  • Expect some bumps in the road because it's still relatively new

  • Build a skilled team - you'll need them

Fabric is getting better all the time, but it's not perfect yet. If you're running big operations, take a good look at whether it fits your needs right now.

The Big Question: Is Fabric Really Enterprise-Ready?

Microsoft has big plans for this platform, but early adopters are discovering some interesting challenges when pushing it to its limits. Here's what you need to know: Fabric starts hitting some serious performance walls once you cross certain thresholds. 

The breaking points we're seeing:

  • Performance drops noticeably around the 100GB mark

  • Query timeouts become a regular headache with larger datasets

  • Terabyte-level data needs to be split into smaller jobs

  • Network performance (especially those private endpoints) can become a bottleneck

The Reality Check

Fabric isn't a bad tool. But like any technology, it has its sweet spots and its pain points. To get the most out of it, you’ll need to learn where those boundaries are:

  • Processing Power: Fabric can handle moderate workloads well, but it's not quite ready for massive enterprise data processing

  • Cost vs Performance: Scaling up means significantly higher costs, and you might not get the performance boost you'd expect

  • Technical Overhead: You'll need a solid technical team to optimize and maintain larger implementations

Making It Work for Your Enterprise

Success with Fabric at scale requires some smart strategizing. Here's what works best:

  • Start small and scale gradually

  • Monitor performance metrics constantly

  • Keep your data architecture clean and efficient

  • Have backup plans for handling larger workloads

Bigger isn't always better with enterprise data. Smarter planning and optimizing is where you’ll find the best value with this product

Microsoft Fabric vs. Power BI: Which Tool to Use and When

Below are some examples of how to use either tool on its own or together:

Power BI Best Case Scenarios

Power BI's your friend when you need:

  • Quick dashboards that anyone can read

  • Simple data pulls from Excel or SharePoint

  • Giving teams direct access to their numbers

  • Easy-to-budget monthly costs

When Fabric Fits

Fabric jumps in when you're:

  • Mixing data from lots of places

  • Doing heavy data cleanup

  • Processing live data

  • Looking to trim down your tool count

Mixing It Up

Combining them both:

  • Fabric handles the heavy data work

  • Power BI makes pretty charts

  • Start with Power BI, and add Fabric later

  • Keep watching as both tools grow

Start somewhere that works for you and change it up as you need to.

Power BI

Fabric

Best For

Creating dashboards, visualizing data, sharing insights

Heavy data processing, combining multiple data sources, real-time analytics

Data Limits

Works smoothly up to 100GB

Can handle larger datasets but watch performance over 100GB

Pricing Model

Fixed monthly cost per user ($10 for Pro)

Pay for what you use (can get pricey with heavy processing)

Learning Curve

Easier to start, especially if you know Excel

Steeper curve, needs more technical expertise

Team Skills Needed

Basic data analysis, report building

Data engineering, integration experience

Learning Both Microsoft Fabric and Power BI Gives You a Competitive Edge

Microsoft is putting all its chips on Power BI and Fabric. Getting good at both can open some pretty sweet job opportunities.  Power BI skills are already sought after in the job market. If you can add some Fabric knowledge, then your opportunities will grow even more. 

Here's why:

  • Most companies start with Power BI and then grow into Fabric

  • Teams need people who are good at data crunching and making pretty charts

  • Knowing both helps you build better solutions

  • You'll spot the right tool for each job faster

Want to level up? Here's where to start:

  • Master Power BI first - it's been around longer and more places use it

  • Learn how Fabric plugs into Power BI

  • Practice with real problems, not just tutorials

  • Watch what Microsoft's launching next

Conclusion

Power BI and Fabric aren't rivals; they're partners. Power BI turns complex data into charts that make sense. Fabric does the hard work behind the scenes when you need more data-intensive operations.

The choice between Microsoft Fabric and Power BI isn't really a choice at all – they're designed to work as partners in your data strategy. Learning about both of these products can help you develop a career in data analytics or elevate your existing reporting skills.

Want to try a CBT Nuggets course? Get a free 7-day trial.


Download

By submitting this form you agree to receive marketing emails from CBT Nuggets and that you have read, understood and are able to consent to our privacy policy.


Don't miss out!Get great content
delivered to your inbox.

By submitting this form you agree to receive marketing emails from CBT Nuggets and that you have read, understood and are able to consent to our privacy policy.

Recommended Articles

Get CBT Nuggets IT training news and resources

I have read and understood the privacy policy and am able to consent to it.

© 2025 CBT Nuggets. All rights reserved.Terms | Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Sitemap | 2850 Crescent Avenue, Eugene, OR 97408 | 541-284-5522