Power BI API Limits

Question

The Power BI plan comparison and limits table at the URL below states maximum total data sizes limit (1GB free or 10GB paid) and maximum streaming throughput limits (10k rows per hour free or 1 million rows per hour paid). https://powerbi.com/dashboards/pricing/ Specific questions are: (1) How are the data size limits measured? Is this the size of the raw data or the size of the compressed tabular model? The page isn't specific about what the size limit applies to. (2) Do the throughput limits apply ONLY when using the Azure Stream Analytics preview connector or do they also apply when using the REST API? e.g. if using the free Power BI tier (and assuming I don't go over the 1GB total size limit), is the maximum number of rows I can submit per hour limited to 10k (e.g. 2 calls within an hour of 5k rows each or 4 calls of 2.5k rows each, etc)?

Answer 1

Good questions.

The data limit is based on the size of data sent to the Power BI service. If you send us a workbook the size of the workbook is counted against your quota. If you send us data rows, the size of the uncompressed data rows is counted against your quota. Our service is in preview right now so there might be tweaks to the above as we move forward. You can keep up to date on the latest guidelines by referring to this page: https://www.powerbi.com/dashboards/pricing/

The limits apply to any caller of the Power BI API. The details on the limits are listed at the bottom of this article: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/dn950053.aspx. The usage is additive in that if you posted 5K rows, then you'd be able to post an addition 5K rows within the hour.

Appreciate your using Power BI.

Lukasz P.

Power BI Team, Microsoft