Microsoft Fabric Licensing Overview
Microsoft Fabric Licensing Overview
Admin reference — covers SKUs, capacity, per-user licenses, workspace types, and key admin tasks.
Source: Microsoft Learn – Understand Fabric Licenses (updated Feb 2026)
How Fabric Licensing is Structured
Fabric licensing has two layers that work together:
- Capacity license — the compute pool your org purchases (F SKU). Powers all Fabric workloads.
- Per-user license — what individual users need to create/share content (Free, Pro, or PPU).
Both are required for a functional Fabric deployment.
Core Building Blocks
Tenant
- Your Microsoft Entra tenant (tied to your M365/Entra subscription)
- One org can have one or more tenants
- Fabric must be enabled by a Fabric admin in the tenant before users can use it
Capacity
- A dedicated resource pool inside a tenant
- Sized by SKU → measured in Capacity Units (CUs)
- Multiple capacities per tenant are allowed (e.g., geo-split, department split)
- Capacity is what you pay for — it's the core cost driver
Workspace
- Lives inside a capacity
- Where Fabric items live (lakehouses, reports, notebooks, pipelines, etc.)
- Every user has a personal "My Workspace" (runs on shared capacity)
- Shared workspaces must be assigned to a capacity by an admin or workspace admin
F SKU Reference Table
| SKU | Capacity Units (CUs) | Legacy Power BI Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| F2 | 2 | — |
| F4 | 4 | — |
| F8 | 8 | EM1 / A1 |
| F16 | 16 | EM2 / A2 |
| F32 | 32 | EM3 / A3 |
| F64 | 64 | P1 / A4 ← key threshold |
| F128 | 128 | P2 / A5 |
| F256 | 256 | P3 / A6 |
| F512 | 512 | P4 / A7 |
| F1024 | 1024 | P5 / A8 |
| F2048 | 2048 | — |
| Trial | 64 (free, 60 days) | — |
⚠️ F SKUs do NOT include storage — OneLake storage is billed separately.
The F64 Threshold — Why It Matters
F64 is the critical dividing line for Power BI licensing:
| Capacity | Free Users Can View Power BI? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| F2–F32 | ❌ No | Need Pro, PPU, or trial to view PBI content |
| F64+ | ✅ Yes | Free license + Viewer role = can view PBI |
| P1+ (old) | ✅ Yes | Same as F64+ behavior |
This affects cost planning significantly — small capacities force per-user Pro licenses for every viewer.
P SKU Retirement (Important — Jan 2025)
Microsoft retired Power BI Premium P SKUs:
- New customers: Cannot purchase P SKUs (since July 2024)
- EA customers: Can renew until agreement ends, then must migrate
- All others: Should have transitioned by Feb 1, 2025
P → F equivalents:
| Old SKU | New SKU |
|---|---|
| P1 | F64 |
| P2 | F128 |
| P3 | F256 |
| P4 | F512 |
| P5 | F1024 |
All P SKU capabilities are available in equivalent F SKUs, plus Fabric adds workloads beyond Power BI.
Per-User Licenses
| License | Cost | What It Does | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free (Fabric) | Free | Auto-assigned on first Fabric portal sign-in. Create non-PBI Fabric items on F/Trial capacity. | Cannot create/share Power BI content outside My Workspace. Cannot view PBI on <F64 capacity. |
| Power BI Pro | ~$10/user/mo | Create + share Power BI content. Required for PBI collaboration in Pro workspaces. | No Fabric-only workloads (lakehouses, etc.) — need F capacity for those |
| Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) | ~$20/user/mo | Most PBI Premium features per-user (48 refreshes/day, >1GB models, XMLA endpoint) | Does NOT provision a Fabric capacity. No Fabric non-PBI workloads (lakehouses, warehouses, notebooks) without an F capacity |
⚠️ PPU ≠ Fabric capacity. PPU users on PPU workspaces cannot create lakehouses, warehouses, or notebooks — those require an F or Trial capacity.
Workspace Types
Power BI Workspace Types (Power BI only)
| Type | Access Requirement | Fabric Items? |
|---|---|---|
| Power BI Pro | Pro, PPU, or trial | ❌ No |
| Power BI PPU | PPU license | ❌ No |
| Power BI Embedded (A SKU) | Pro/PPU to create/share | ❌ No |
Fabric Workspace Types (Full Fabric)
| Type | Access Requirement | Fabric Items? |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric (F SKU) | Free license + viewer role (F64+), Pro/PPU for smaller | ✅ Yes — all Fabric workloads |
| Fabric Trial | Free Fabric license | ✅ Yes — 60 days |
| Power BI Premium (P SKU) | Free to view, Pro/PPU to create | ✅ Yes (if Fabric is enabled on capacity) |
Copilot & AI Features
As of FabCon 2025:
- Copilot and AI capabilities available on ALL paid F SKUs, including F2 and F4
- Previously limited to F64+
- Still need Fabric enabled + appropriate capacity assigned
Trial Capacity
- Free 60-day trial
- Equivalent to F64 (64 CUs)
- Activated by individual users (not org-wide provisioned)
- Admin can control trial availability via Tenant Settings → Users can try Microsoft Fabric paid features
- Trial capacity appears as "Trial" in workspace assignments
Common Licensing Scenarios
| Goal | What You Need |
|---|---|
| Use Fabric workloads (lakehouses, notebooks, pipelines) | F capacity (any size) + Free user license |
| View Power BI reports without Pro license | F64+ capacity, user has viewer role |
| Share/create Power BI content | Pro or PPU license + Pro workspace OR F capacity |
| Power BI Premium features for small team (<250 users) | PPU licenses (cost-effective) — but no Fabric non-PBI items |
| Full Fabric platform, large org | F64+ capacity recommended (eliminates per-user PBI viewer costs) |
| Embed Fabric/PBI in apps (external users) | Any F/A/P SKU, service principal auth, end users unlicensed |
Admin Tasks & Portal
Fabric Admin Portal: app.fabric.microsoft.com/admin-portal
Key Admin Responsibilities
Enable Fabric in your tenant
- Admin Portal → Tenant Settings → "Users can create Fabric items" → Enable
- Optionally scope to specific security groups
Enable trials
- Admin Portal → Tenant Settings → Help and Support Settings → "Users can try Microsoft Fabric paid features"
Manage capacities
- Admin Portal → Capacity Settings
- Add capacity admins (can manage capacity, assign workspaces)
- Resize capacity (scale up/down)
- Monitor CU utilization
Assign workspaces to capacity
- Workspace Settings → Premium tab → Capacity assignment
- Requires: Capacity Contributor role + Workspace Admin role
- Or: Fabric Admin can assign any workspace
Manage per-user licenses
- Done via Microsoft 365 Admin Center (not Fabric admin portal)
- Assign Free / Pro / PPU per user
Roles
| Role | Can Do |
|---|---|
| Fabric Admin | Full tenant-level control, all capacity settings |
| Capacity Admin | Manage specific capacity, assign workspaces to it |
| Workspace Admin | Manage workspace, assign it to a capacity (need Capacity Contributor role too) |
Key "Gotchas" for Admins
- Free ≠ nothing — Fabric Free licenses auto-assign. Users can do a lot on F/Trial capacity without you provisioning anything.
- PPU workspaces ≠ Fabric — PPU users can't create Fabric items unless there's also an F capacity.
- Small F SKUs still need Pro for PBI viewing — if budget is tight, factor in per-user Pro costs for viewers on F2–F32.
- F SKUs have no included storage — OneLake storage is separate and metered.
- P SKUs are dead — if you inherit an environment still on P SKUs, plan migration to F equivalent.
- Trial is per-user, not org-wide — each user who starts a trial gets their own 64 CU pool. This can stack for testing but doesn't substitute for org capacity.
- Capacity assignment ≠ automatic — workspaces don't move to your F capacity automatically. Each workspace must be explicitly assigned.