Comparison

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports vs Microsoft Power BI

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports

Access and interact with business reports on your mobile devices for informed decision-making. Gain trusted insights visually, online or offline, and stay productive anywhere. Easily sync content from various sources.

Highlights
  • Offline and online access to reports
  • Visual and rich user experience
  • Sync reports via iTunes, email, or server
  • Push notifications for new report versions
  • Touch-friendly prompts and pop-ups
  • Schedule and deliver content
  • Annotate and share comments
Features
Read full description

Experience information like never before with IBM Cognos Analytics Reports. Access and interact with all of the rich reports you need to make the smartest business decisions, all on your mobile devices. Gain trusted insight through a rich and visual experience whether you are offline or online to ensure you remain productive wherever you are. Easily sync your IBM Cognos Analytics content through iTunes, from email attachments or directly from your Cognos Analytics server. With the IBM Cognos Analytics mobile reports app, you can easily sync reports between your Cognos server and your user’s mobile devices. Both Active Reports and standard Reports can be delivered automatically or on-demand to your users’ mobile devices. Features: - Built on Cognos’s industry-leading governance architecture. - Connected and disconnected experience - Receive push notifications when new report versions are available - All prompts and pop-ups are automatically converted to be touch-friendly - Schedule and deliver content to your mobile device - Browse your Cognos Analytics server and run new reports - Manage your bandwidth by selectively downloading content - Annotate and share your comments with your colleagues

About

Microsoft Power BI

Access and analyze your business data from anywhere with powerful mobile tools. Visualize key metrics, filter information, and share insights on the go. Get real-time notifications and ask questions of your data with a virtual analyst.

Highlights
  • View data in one place
  • Explore, filter, and focus data
  • Annotate and share reports
  • Set data alerts and notifications
  • Q&A virtual analyst for insights
  • Secure on-premises data access
  • Scan barcodes/QR codes for data
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Access your data from anywhere. Get notifications, annotate and share, and dive deep into your data with powerful features for decision making on the go.    Highlights:    • View all your important data in one place    • Tap to explore, filter, and focus on what’s most important     • Easily annotate and share reports and visualizations      • Set data alerts and get real-time notifications     • Ask questions in your own words and get meaningful insights into your data with the Q&A virtual analyst    • Securely access your on-premises data     • Scan barcodes and QR codes to easily track inventory and get real-world data in context    • Start exploring your Power BI data instantly, with no setup needed    Get the full Power BI suite and never miss a beat with Power BI Desktop, the Power BI web service, and Power BI Mobile! By installing this app, you agree to the terms at: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2178902

Screenshots

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports3 screens
Microsoft Power BI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Microsoft Power BI at 4.7 against IBM Cognos Analytics Reports's 3.0. Microsoft Power BI also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (97K vs 3). IBM Cognos Analytics Reports's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 47%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Microsoft Power BI holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft Power BI has 97K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of IBM Cognos Analytics Reports's written reviews are positive against 47% of Microsoft Power BI's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports ships an update every 3 months, Microsoft Power BI fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
IBM Cognos Analytics Reports versus Microsoft Power BI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIBM Cognos Analytics ReportsMicrosoft Power BI
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (3 ratings)4.7 (97K ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better46.6% of reviews
Number of ratings397K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#153 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB215 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIBMMicrosoft Corporation

Customer experience

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

Microsoft Power BI

All ratings97,052 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews369 reviews
Positive46.6%
Neutral10.8%
Negative42.5%

Bugs and requests

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Microsoft Power BI

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent login issues and SSO problems
  • Visualizations not rendering correctly
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between reports
  • Drill-through functionality not working as expected
  • Scaling and layout issues on iPad and larger devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to refresh data and reports remotely
  • Enhanced navigation and bookmarking features
  • Improved support for touch-based interactions
  • Better optimization for smaller mobile screens
  • Integration with other Microsoft 365 apps

In-app purchases

None

IBM Cognos Analytics Reports

No in-app purchases

None

Microsoft Power BI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is IBM Cognos Analytics Reports free?
IBM Cognos Analytics Reports is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Microsoft Power BI free?
Microsoft Power BI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, IBM Cognos Analytics Reports or Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI is rated higher. IBM Cognos Analytics Reports averages 3.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Microsoft Power BI averages 4.7 from 97K ratings.
Do IBM Cognos Analytics Reports or Microsoft Power BI have ads?
Neither IBM Cognos Analytics Reports nor Microsoft Power BI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, IBM Cognos Analytics Reports or Microsoft Power BI?
IBM Cognos Analytics Reports ships an update every 3 months, and Microsoft Power BI fortnightly. Most recently, IBM Cognos Analytics Reports was updated on October 22, 2026 and Microsoft Power BI on October 23, 2026.

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