Power BI vs Excel Dashboards - And the winner is...

An unbiased comparison between Power BI and Excel for building dashboards, including comparisons between key features and pros and cons of each, so you can make an educated decision on which is best for your needs.

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0:00 Introduction
0:42 Learning Curve
1:57 Chart Selection
2:33 Interactivity
2:45 Power BI Slicers
3:16 Excel Slicers
3:47 Power BI Cross Filter & Highlight
4:12 Excel Cross Filter & Highlight
4:31 Power BI Drilldown
4:42 Excel Drilldown
4:59 Drill Through
5:39 Flexible Analytics
5:58 Power BI Matrix Tables
6:07 Power BI Decomposition Tree
6:26 Power BI Insights (in Preview)
6:46 Power BI Key Influencers
7:06 Excel Pivot Tables
7:42 Excel Ideas - Natural Language Questions
7:57 Sharing & Security
9:02 Data Sources
9:33 Data Size
10:46 Cost

[tikiecue]

I noticed myself only using PowerBI if the data source doesn't need further massaging. I just add it to a model and I am running. On the other hand, Excel is king if you need to "build" your data. If the requester wants a certain view but gives me data clearer than mud, then Excel it is. I can build and adjust data that I trust, and I can apply changes anytime the requirements change. Sometimes, when the data becomes too big, I might mirror my Excel dashboard in PowerBI. The only thing I really appreciate with PowerBI is that when using the desktop version, the users can actually drill and see records associated to the graph elements. In Excel your users pretty much need to know how to filter the data or calculate the measures themselves to get to the list you are presenting. And if they are not Excel savvy enough, you might be called on to find a way to present the data that represent the graph elements because they "cannot click to see"...

[faisalislam]

Just watched the comparison between Power BI and Excel. It saved me many hours of research and helped to make a decision right away regarding which platform to use for my project. great job!

[bntenza]

I use both excel and Power BI to create dashboards. However, I am leaning more towards the BI due to visual compared to excel and ability to create your app in BI is a huge plus. Great video and unbiased comparisons

[kcizzlewilson]

My thoughts are power bi is more built for corporate individuals who need to see dynamic data without opening a file or reading an email. Excel is more for the lower level deep diving type information where a person is trying to analyze a specific group of people. Both are good and worth learning both given the opportunity. Great vid.

[ferozkibria]

Great Great Great Presentation. Big Big Big Thanks to Mynda Treacy for this exclusive comparison and super-duper excellent highlights.

[imconfused]

Excellent comparison Mynda! I think you’ve just about nailed it: ultimately, it’s ‘horses for courses’ and it really depends on individual use case and business context. A key word you used was “adhoc” and that really describes the key differential for me: Excel is my daily driver, I’ll use it for quick analysis and tactical solutions. On the other hand, Power BI is the tool I will use to construct firmer, more strategic solutions which have a longer shelf life.

From a personal perspective, I like how Power BI tidies my workspace; instead of 6 or 7 spreadsheets my data is consolidated within the engine. Clearly source files are still referenced but these can exist elsewhere and aren’t a distraction. One drawback is probably performance: Excel is rapid whereas Power BI can get a little sluggish. That can be frustrating, but again it’s about aligning the right tool for the right objective.

Great vid and thank you so much for making it 😊

[YashuCosGaming]

Your 11 min video saved my 8 hrs of learning Power BI, I have already learnt lots on Excel ranging from complex formulae, pivot & dashboards. Learning the same on a different software with much less flexibility and unfamiliarity is only going to be much frustrating, time consuming & less output. I will instead hone my skills on Excel further with VBA. Many thanks.

[vijayarjunwadkar]

Wow! I had gone through numerous comparisons between Power BI and Excel, but this video has put it succinctly! Thanks for clearing the confusion in such an easy manner and to the point! 😊👍

[edgargarcia]

You are the master and I send everyone I know with excel questions to your channel.

[sameerjain]

Really good comparison where we actually talk about when and why to use the specific tool needed.

[Riri-qifu]

Awesome! My manager just approved for me to go ahead with your powerBi course. I am thinking to do it during the Christmas break.

[ricos]

Very comprehensive video, thanks. The biggest difficulty I've found with power bi is getting people to use it! I wish they'd designed it more tightly with Excel too, with new features released to both at the same time and aligned in terms of presentation and function (slicers especially!). I like the functionality of power pivot for example, but it's ugly and uninviting. In my opinion they should have integrated with power query into a single interface and made it look like the power bi experience. It would reduce the learning curve between the two. Similarly, data connections should be exactly the same whether using bi or Excel, shareable between the two. The only difference should be whether the users choose to use Excel or power bi to present their data. You're right about Excel formulae being more advanced, however without the ability to integrate with data in the data model, they're not that flexible for working with dashboards created using it. I've often found myself creating a convoluted Dax measure that would be extremely simple in Excel just to utilise the slicer.

[IvanCortinas_ES]

Brilliant and accurate analysis Mynda. Thank you very much for sharing your professional experience.

[barttitulaerexcelbart]

Very very good! one small remark: True that the visuals in Excel don't interact. But I realy like the fact that if you use multiple slicers for one table to explore the data, these slices do interact. After selecting one or more options from one slicer, you can see which options of the other slicer are available. I heard that this option is quite memory intensive by the way....

[cherianiype]

@MyOnlineTrainingHub & @Mynda --- Another awesome video! This is a fair & authoritative review of both the fantastic tools - XL and PBI! Super cool that you were able to give the pros & cons of both systems, and also wear the right T-shirts! Appreciate this! Take care and stay safe!

[kingamalik]

Porównanie możliwości i zastosowania Excel i Power Bi bardzo przydatne w podejmowaniu decyzji o wyborze programu do przedstawiania wyników. Dzięki za tak dokładne porównanie.👍

[jmo]

The learning curve is really amazing charting. If presentation in form of slides other than video, it would save us more time to read through...

[PavanKumarNarbolikar]

With work around

In excel we can restrict data using VBA or Power Query for users.

Ex: Fetch the Employee ID of the user at workbook open event and filter the data. If the data is in sheet it can be very hidden.

[DrAmgadSquires]

Very helpful and concise highlight of each tool’s features. Thank you!

[shetkar]

"Thank you so much, for sharing this concise and informative Power BI video. It has the potential to make a significant impact on both my personal and professional life. I truly appreciate your contribution!"