Is Celonis or Power BI better?

Neither clearly leads. Celonis starts at On request and Power BI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Celonis or Power BI?

Power BI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Celonis and Free for Power BI.

Does Celonis or Power BI run on more platforms?

Celonis runs on Web. Power BI runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.

Can I use Power BI for free?

Yes. Power BI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Celonis starts at On request.

What is Celonis best used for?

Celonis is most often used for process mining and analytics. Of those, process mining and analytics is not what Power BI is typically brought in for.

What can Celonis do that Power BI cannot?

Power BI covers AI-powered Insights, Natural Language Queries, Real-time Dashboards, Paginated Reports.

Business Intelligence · head to head

Celonis vs Power BI

Celonis

Business Intelligence

German process mining platform that analyzes, designs and operates AI-driven business processes

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Power BI

Business Intelligence

Business analytics by Microsoft

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Power BI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Celonis celonis does not publish pricing on their pricing page or website; Power BI free tier cannot publish or share reports; Pro tier required for collaboration
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Celonis and Power BI actually diverge.

Attributes where Celonis and Power BI differ
Attribute	Celonis	Power BI
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	Unknown
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	Web, Desktop, Mobile
Founded	Unknown	1975

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Celonis

Nothing recorded that Power BI does not also cover.

Only in Power BI

AI-powered Insights
Natural Language Queries
Real-time Dashboards
Paginated Reports
Mobile Apps
Excel
Azure
Dynamics 365

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Celonis

Process mining and analyticsnot Power BI

Power BI

Self-service analyticsnot Celonis
Data explorationnot Celonis
Ad-hoc reportingnot Celonis
Collaborative analysisnot Celonis
Embedded analyticsnot Celonis

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Celonis

Celonis does not publish pricing on their pricing page or website
Company directs customers to contact sales team for pricing information
No indication of pricing tiers, starting prices, or quote-based model on public pages
Pricing inquiry requires using a contact form or reaching out directly

Power BI

Free tier cannot publish or share reports; Pro tier required for collaboration
Free tier cannot schedule automatic data refreshes
Offline capabilities limited to local Power BI Desktop; cloud service always requires internet
Data refresh capped at 8 times per day on Pro tier without Premium Per User

Pricing, plan by plan

Celonis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Celonis review.

Power BI

Free

FreeFree
- Local report creation in Power BI Desktop
- Cannot publish or share
- No scheduled refreshes
Power BI Pro$14/user/month
- Publish and share reports
- Up to 8 scheduled refreshes/day
- Collaborate with other Pro users
Premium Per User$24/user/month
- All Pro features
- Up to 48 scheduled refreshes/day
- Copilot integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Celonis if

Nothing in the data separates Celonis from Power BI on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Celonis review

Choose Power BI if

You need ai-powered insights.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
You also want natural language queries.

Power BI review

Questions people ask

Is Celonis or Power BI better?: Neither clearly leads. Celonis starts at On request and Power BI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Celonis or Power BI?: Power BI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Celonis and Free for Power BI.
Does Celonis or Power BI run on more platforms?: Celonis runs on Web. Power BI runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
Can I use Power BI for free?: Yes. Power BI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Celonis starts at On request.
What is Celonis best used for?: Celonis is most often used for process mining and analytics. Of those, process mining and analytics is not what Power BI is typically brought in for.
What can Celonis do that Power BI cannot?: Power BI covers AI-powered Insights, Natural Language Queries, Real-time Dashboards, Paginated Reports.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Celonis: How much does Celonis cost?

Celonis does not publish pricing on their website. The company offers process mining and analytics solutions but requires customers to contact their sales team or use the Get in touch form on their pricing page to receive custom pricing quotes.

Source

Power BI: Can I use Power BI Desktop offline?

Power BI Desktop runs locally and can edit reports offline, but publishing to the service and refreshing cloud data sources requires internet connection. Offline reports show cached data from the last refresh.

Source

Celonis: What is Celonis' pricing model?

Celonis' pricing model and pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed. Customers must request pricing information directly from Celonis through their sales contact channels.

Source

Power BI: What are the data refresh limits for each tier?

Power BI Premium Per User allows up to 48 scheduled refreshes per day, while Pro tier is limited to 8 scheduled refreshes per day. Free tier cannot schedule automatic refreshes.

Source

Celonis: Does Celonis offer a free trial or demo?

Celonis offers resources through Celonis Academy for training and has specialized programs (Academic Alliance, Aspire, Labs), but specific pricing for trials or demos is not disclosed. Contact Celonis directly for information on trial availability and pricing.

Source

Power BI: Can I use Power BI Free with shared data sources?

Free tier users can create local reports in Power BI Desktop but cannot publish to the Power BI Service for collaboration. Publishing requires Power BI Pro ($14/user/month).

Source

Power BI: Is SSO available and on which plan?

SSO is available on Power BI Premium Per User ($24/user/month) and Fabric capacity plans through Azure AD integration.

Source

Power BI: What does Copilot require in Power BI?

Copilot for natural language queries and automatic report generation requires Power BI Premium Per User or Fabric capacity pricing, not available on Pro or Free tiers.

Source

Celonis vs Power BI

Celonis

Power BI

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Celonis

Only in Power BI

What people use each for

Celonis

Power BI

Where each one falls short

Celonis

Power BI

Pricing, plan by plan

Celonis

Power BI

Which should you pick?

Choose Celonis if

Choose Power BI if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Celonis

More on Power BI

Keep looking

Other head to heads