Public Power BI reports are usually shared using “Publish to Web“, which is a simple but unsecured method of sharing Power BI reports. Because it is unsecured, it’s only suitable for open data or demonstration reports with dummy data. In contrast, this example uses Power BI Embedded, which is a secure way to embed data analytics into websites or applications.
Power BI Embedded allows businesses to integrate interactive reports and dashboards directly into their platforms, with full control over the design and user experience. This makes it feel like the reports are a natural part of your website or app.
This page shows a securely embedded Power BI report with Row-Level Security (RLS), meaning each user only sees the data they’re allowed to access. For example, a salesperson might see data for their country only, while a manager can view data from all countries. The setup uses the “embed for your customers” model (also called “app owns data”). In this model, your website manages authentication behind the scenes. Users don’t need a Power BI account and may not even realize Power BI is being used—it just looks like part of your site. A key benefit is that users don’t need Power BI Pro licenses or even Microsoft accounts; your website handles login and access. This can lower licensing costs and make the experience simpler for users (e.g., your customers).
To try it out, just “log in” by picking a dummy username. For this demo, no password is required. I’ve simplified the login process by skipping real security steps (like passwords and multi-factor authentication) to make the demonstration easier to follow.
This embedded Power BI report can be viewed in full-screen mode—just click the button. You can also print the report using the print button. The checkbox controls report bookmarks and allows hiding the red “Row-Level Security” note, demonstrating how an external web page or app controls internal report elements.
It’s possible to embed not just the entire report but individual visualizations. For example, this bar chart is also embedded, and Row-Level Security applies here as well—different users see different data.
It’s possible to export the data—just click the button.
Power BI Embedded is supported by Fabric Trial (free), Fabric F2 (the least expensive paid capacity), and higher capacity tiers (F, A, EM, P). The required capacity tier depends on the complexity of the semantic models, user activity, and other factors.
Power BI Embedded requires a broader set of skills for implementation beyond standard Power BI report development: security configuration in Power BI and Azure, web development (secure authentication, Power BI REST API, Power BI JavaScript API). This means higher development costs but with the potential benefits of lower licensing costs and a better user experience integrated into your website or application.
The Power BI Embedded examples presented on my website were embedded using a WordPress plugin that I developed specifically for my website. It allows embedding reports and specific visuals, supports row-level security, data export, and other features. The reports reside in a workspace with Fabric Trial capacity.
While the demo report above is static (dummy data), the currency exchange report is refreshed daily (it queries data from the Fixer.io API). This is not the most efficient way to show currency exchange rates on a website, just a demonstration of how your data can become a part of your website or application. This embedded Power BI report highlights your country’s currency in yellow and shows it at the top of the list (assuming you’re not using a foreign VPN and your country and currency was detected correctly by the script).
While the main purpose of Power BI Embedded is secure report embedding, it can also be used to embed public (open data) reports with more control over the report than Publish to Web provides.
Here are examples of websites that use Power BI Embedded to share public reports (not necessarily using all available features and demonstrating the advantages of Power BI Embedded over Publish to Web).
Estonian Ministry of Education and Research: https://haridussilm.ee/en/node/18 (most of the pages on this website are nothing more than just a Power BI report embedded into the page; export to PDF is available).
New South Wales (Australia) Government: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/programs/walking-and-cycling-program/walking-and-cycling-counts.
Central Bank of Iceland: https://databank.is/report/inflation (multiple pages on this website contain embedded Power BI reports).
Additionally, there are more reports embedded using Power BI Embedded on my website, among them:
– The widget with currency exchange rates in the sidebar ➡️
– Report embedded in PowerofBI.IBCS: IBCS-guided data visualizations in your Power BI reports page, with navigation buttons on top of the report. A Fabric notebook exports each visible report page as a PNG via the Power BI REST API, then POSTs each PNG to WordPress. WordPress saves PNGs to its media library. The report embedding plugin generates a navigation menu by creating a button for each visible report page. Thumbnails are embedded in the navigation buttons.