Power BI Report Builder vs. Power BI Desktop: Which Tool Should You Use?
Power BI is a powerful business intelligence tool that provides various options to create and share interactive reports and dashboards. However, with so many different tools available within Power BI, it can be challenging to determine which one to use for your specific needs. In this blog post, we'll compare Power BI Report Builder and Power BI Desktop, two commonly used tools within Power BI, to help you decide which one is the best fit for your reporting requirements.
Power BI Report Builder:
Power BI Report Builder is a web-based tool that allows you to create paginated reports that are optimized for printing or generating PDFs. It provides a drag-and-drop interface for adding tables, matrices, charts, and other visuals to your report. With Report Builder, you can connect to a wide range of data sources, apply filters and parameters, and customize report layouts and styles. You can also publish your report to the Power BI service and share it with others.
Power BI Desktop:
Power BI Desktop is a Windows-based application that provides more advanced reporting capabilities compared to Report Builder. It allows you to create interactive reports and dashboards that can be viewed on desktop and mobile devices. With Desktop, you can connect to various data sources, transform and model data, create calculated columns and measures, and add custom visuals using the Power BI marketplace. You can also publish your reports to the Power BI service and share them with others.
Now, let's compare the two tools based on different parameters:
Data Sources: Both Report Builder and Desktop support a wide range of data sources, including Excel, SQL Server, Oracle, and others. However, Desktop provides more advanced data modeling capabilities, such as creating relationships between tables, applying data transformations, and using DAX formulas.
Visuals and Interactivity: Report Builder provides basic visuals such as tables, matrices, and charts, but it lacks advanced visualizations and interactive features. Desktop, on the other hand, provides a vast library of visuals and the ability to create custom visuals using the Power BI marketplace. It also allows for advanced interactivity such as drill-down, drill-through, and cross-filtering.
Reporting Types: Report Builder is designed specifically for creating paginated reports, which are optimized for printing or generating PDFs. Desktop, on the other hand, provides more flexibility in terms of creating different types of reports, including interactive dashboards, paginated reports, and mobile reports.
Ease of Use: Report Builder has a simple drag-and-drop interface that is easy to use for creating basic reports. Desktop, on the other hand, requires more advanced skills for data modeling, creating calculations, and designing complex reports.
In conclusion, both Power BI Report Builder and Power BI Desktop are powerful tools for creating reports and dashboards. The choice between the two depends on your specific reporting requirements, data modeling skills, and level of interactivity needed. If you need to create paginated reports for printing or generating PDFs, then Report Builder is the best option. However, if you need to create interactive dashboards, explore data relationships, and use advanced visualizations, then Power BI Desktop is the way to go.