Short answer
Microsoft Power BI has the highest-ranked free plan among the business intelligence tools we rank (92/100): Free plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features. 4 of the 7 tools in our business intelligence tools ranking list a free plan.
Every tool here comes from our main business intelligence tools ranking, which scores business intelligence tools on 6 weighted criteria. This page keeps only the tools whose pricing page lists a free plan (not just a time-limited trial), in the same order, and shows what each free plan includes and where paid plans start.
The shortlist
- 1
Microsoft Power BI
Free plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features92/100Details - 2
Metabase
Free plan (open source, self-hosted, unlimited users); 14-day trial of Cloud plans81/100Details - 3
Zoho Analytics
Free plan (2 users, 10,000 rows); 15-day trial, no card80/100Details - 4
Data Studio
Free plan (no charge for creators and report viewers)78/100Details
Free plans compared
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid plans from | Score |
|---|
| 1 | Microsoft Power BI | Free plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features | $14/user/mo
Pro, paid yearly; Premium Per User $24 | 92/100 |
| 2 | Metabase | Free plan (open source, self-hosted, unlimited users); 14-day trial of Cloud plans | $100/mo
Starter Cloud, 5 users included, $6 per extra user ($1,080 a year billed annually); Pro $575 | 81/100 |
| 3 | Zoho Analytics | Free plan (2 users, 10,000 rows); 15-day trial, no card | $24/mo
Basic, billed annually, 2 users and 0.5 million rows; Standard $48 for 5 users and 1 million rows | 80/100 |
| 4 | Data Studio | Free plan (no charge for creators and report viewers) | $9/user/mo
Data Studio Pro, per user per project; the standard version is free | 78/100 |
Starting prices are the cheapest paid plan on each vendor's pricing page on Nov 3, 2026. Units differ: Power BI and Data Studio Pro charge per user; Tableau per user by role (Creator, Explorer, Viewer), billed annually only; Metabase, Zoho Analytics and Qlik charge a monthly plan price that includes a set number of users or data; Domo is credit-based. Zoho Analytics prices are from its help center and its own plan comparison, because its pricing page loads prices dynamically. Data Studio was called Looker Studio until 2026.
The free plans
Free plan: Free plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features.
When you outgrow it: paid plans start at $14/user/mo (Pro, paid yearly; Premium Per User $24).
Microsoft Power BI is a BI platform with a free Windows app, Power BI Desktop, for modeling data and building reports, and a cloud service for publishing and sharing them. The free account is for personal analysis; Pro ($14 per user a month, paid yearly) adds publishing and sharing, with a 1 GB model memory limit and 8 refreshes a day; Premium Per User ($24) raises that to 100 GB and 48 refreshes a day and adds advanced AI, dataflows and XMLA read/write. Fabric capacity plans let viewers use reports without a per-user license from F64 up.
Strengths
- Pro at $14 a user a month, included in Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5
- Free Power BI Desktop for modeling and building reports
- Premium Per User raises model size from 1 GB to 100 GB for $24
Watch-outs
- Every viewer needs Pro to see shared content, unless you buy F64 or larger Fabric capacity
- Power BI Desktop runs on Windows only
- Capacity and Embedded pricing is variable and quoted separately
Read our full Microsoft Power BI review →
Free plan: Free plan (open source, self-hosted, unlimited users); 14-day trial of Cloud plans.
When you outgrow it: paid plans start at $100/mo (Starter Cloud, 5 users included, $6 per extra user ($1,080 a year billed annually); Pro $575).
Metabase is an open-source BI tool for asking questions of a database with a click-based query builder or SQL, then saving them to dashboards. The open-source edition is free to self-host with unlimited users; Starter ($100 a month for 5 users, then $6 a user) adds Metabase Cloud hosting and support; Pro ($575 a month for 10 users, then $12 a user) adds row- and column-level permissions, SSO, usage analytics, auditing and multi-tenant embedded analytics. Enterprise starts at $20,000 a year.
Strengths
- Free open-source edition with unlimited users
- Row-level permissions, SSO and multi-tenant embedding on Pro
- Simple click-based questions alongside SQL
Watch-outs
- SSO and row-level permissions need Pro ($575 a month)
- Users of your embeds count toward the user total
- Smallest G2 review base here (147 reviews)
Read our full Metabase review →
Free plan: Free plan (2 users, 10,000 rows); 15-day trial, no card.
When you outgrow it: paid plans start at $24/mo (Basic, billed annually, 2 users and 0.5 million rows; Standard $48 for 5 users and 1 million rows).
Zoho Analytics is a self-service BI tool that connects to databases, files and business apps, with reports, dashboards, data storytelling and AI credits on paid plans. Free covers 2 users and 10,000 rows; Basic (from $24 a month billed annually) covers 2 users, 0.5 million rows, 2 business app connectors and a daily refresh; Standard ($48) covers 5 users and 1 million rows with 50+ connectors and 8 refreshes a day; Premium (about $115) covers 15 users and 5 million rows.
Strengths
- Free plan for 2 users and 10,000 rows
- Paid plans from $24 a month billed annually
- 50+ business app connectors from Standard
Watch-outs
- Plans cap rows: 0.5 million on Basic and 1 million on Standard
- Basic allows only 2 business app connectors and 1 refresh a day
- Lowest G2 rating here (4.2/5)
Read our full Zoho Analytics review →
Free plan: Free plan (no charge for creators and report viewers).
When you outgrow it: paid plans start at $9/user/mo (Data Studio Pro, per user per project; the standard version is free).
Data Studio, called Looker Studio until 2026, is Google's report and dashboard builder. The standard version is free for creators and report viewers and connects to Google Sheets, Google Ads, BigQuery and Google Analytics, plus over 1,300 community connectors. Data Studio Pro ($9 per user per project a month) puts content in a Google Cloud project owned by your organization, with team workspaces, project-level permissions, Google Cloud support and customer-managed encryption keys.
Strengths
- Free for creators and report viewers
- Native Google Analytics, Ads, Sheets and BigQuery connectors
- Pro adds organization-owned content and team workspaces for $9 a user
Watch-outs
- Limited data modeling compared with Power BI or Tableau
- Many non-Google sources rely on community connectors
- Admin controls and Google Cloud support need Pro
Read our full Data Studio review →
FAQ
What are the best free business intelligence tools?
Microsoft Power BI (Free plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features) ranks highest among the business intelligence tools we rank that offer a free plan. Metabase, Zoho Analytics, Data Studio also have free plans.
Is there a completely free option?
Yes, each tool on this page lists a free plan on its pricing page. Free plans have limits, shown in the table above, and paid plans add more users, usage and features.
What do free plans usually leave out?
Free plans typically cap users, records or monthly usage and leave out advanced automation, reporting and admin controls. Check each tool's limits against your team size before you commit.
When should I move to a paid plan?
When you hit a limit in the free plan or need a feature it leaves out. The table shows where each tool's paid plans start; our full business intelligence tools ranking compares the paid tiers.
Vettlo Editorial TeamResearched and written by the Vettlo editorial team using our methodology. Prices and plan details come from each vendor's public pricing page.