# Microsoft Power BI vs Charm Pulse

The clearest difference is update cadence: Microsoft Power BI at fortnightly against Charm Pulse's every 56 months. Microsoft Power BI also leads on chart position (#156 vs unranked). Charm Pulse's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

Microsoft Power BI ships an update fortnightly, Charm Pulse every 56 months. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Microsoft Power BI | Charm Pulse |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (98K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/microsoft-power-bi/id929738808/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **98K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 46.8% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 56 months |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | **#156** | — |
| Size | 218 MB | 11 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Microsoft Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/298856275) | [Opilio Software LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/375973691) |

## What reviewers say

### Microsoft Power BI

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/microsoft-power-bi/id929738808)

**Currently charting:** #156 Top Free · Business (US App Store)

Access and analyze your business data from anywhere. View, filter, and share reports, set alerts for real-time notifications, and gain insights using natural language queries. Securely connect to your data sources for informed decision-making on the go.

**Highlights:** Mobile data access, Interactive report exploration, Annotation and sharing, Real-time data alerts, Natural language Q&A, Secure on-premises data access

**Features:** Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent mobile app experience
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Powerful data visualization capabilities
- 🚀 Fast and efficient for viewing reports
- 👍 Helpful for on-the-go business insights

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Stability issues and crashes
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate complex reports
- 🔍 Limited functionality compared to desktop version
- 🔍 Clunky filtering and slicer interactions
- 🔍 Inconsistent data refresh and update issues

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### Charm Pulse

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/charm-pulse/id1044665390)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Microsoft Power BI free?

Microsoft Power BI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Charm Pulse free?

Charm Pulse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Microsoft Power BI or Charm Pulse have ads?

Neither Microsoft Power BI nor Charm Pulse shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Microsoft Power BI or Charm Pulse?

Microsoft Power BI ships an update fortnightly, and Charm Pulse every 56 months. Most recently, Microsoft Power BI was updated on November 12, 2026 and Charm Pulse on November 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*