Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) alternatives: 7 tools compared (October 2026)

Tellius is an AI analytics platform for large companies that answers business questions in plain language across connected data. Its finance solution helps FP&A teams explain budget variances, monitor cost centers and draft P&L commentary for management and board reporting.

Key functions

• Kaiya answers natural language questions across all connected data
• Breaks revenue and cost variances into price, volume, mix and timing drivers
• Agents monitor cost centers and flag variances before quarterly reviews

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Strong in the same markets as Microsoft Power BI (Copilot): United States.

Check before buying: Tellius publishes no prices, and single sign-on, APIs, automated machine learning and customer cloud or on-premises deployment are reserved for Enterprise. The privacy policy says data may be processed in the United States or other countries, so ask where your data will be stored and request a data processing agreement if EU personal data is involved. Budget time for the semantic layer over ERP and planning data, since answers depend on clean definitions.

ThoughtSpot is an analytics platform where business users ask questions about company data in plain language. Its AI analyst Spotter breaks questions down, checks results and builds dashboards, grounded in a governed semantic layer.

Key functions

• Spotter answers questions with multi-step analysis and traceable queries on a semantic layer
• SpotterViz creates dashboards from data
• SpotterModel automates semantic modeling

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Names 2 security certificates, Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) 0.
• Starts higher: from $25 per user/month, Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) from $14 per user/month.
• Strong in the same markets as Microsoft Power BI (Copilot): United States.

Check before buying: Check the Spotter query limits in your plan and the row limits of Essentials and Pro. The trust center does not name hosting regions publicly, so ask where data and prompts are processed and which language model provider is used.

Genie is the AI experience on the Databricks data platform. Business users ask questions in plain language and get answers from company data governed in Unity Catalog, while data teams define which datasets and metrics Genie may use.

Key functions

• Genie One answers data questions in natural language grounded in your own data
• Genie Agents: data teams define trusted datasets and metrics
• Genie Code is an AI coding assistant in the workspace

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Different pricing model: usage-based instead of per user.
• Strong in the same markets as Microsoft Power BI (Copilot): United States.

Check before buying: Genie requires data on Databricks, so it fits companies that already use the platform or plan to. Budget for usage by service principals and for Genie Code beyond the free allowance, and track the end of the free period in January 2027. Ask which model providers process prompts and in which region.

Wren AI is an open-source text-to-SQL engine that answers questions about company databases in plain language. A semantic layer describes tables and metrics so that the generated SQL follows business definitions. It suits data teams that want to run the engine themselves.

Key functions

• Turns natural language questions into SQL through a semantic layer
• LLM-agnostic, you can connect your own models
• MCP server and CLI for AI agents

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Strong in the same markets as Microsoft Power BI (Copilot): United States.

Check before buying: Running the open-source edition means your team handles hosting, updates and model costs. Decide which language model receives table names and questions, since schema information leaves the database. The license file notes that future modules may use AGPL-3.0, so check the license of each component you deploy.

Data analysts use this tool to process multi-sheet Excel and CSV files, generate charts, and trace results back to their source cells.

Key functions

• Analyzes Excel and CSV workbooks
• Works across multiple sheets and separate tables
• Creates bar, line, area, pie, and heatmap charts

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Different pricing model: freemium instead of per user.
• Strong in the same markets as Microsoft Power BI (Copilot): United States.

Rows is a spreadsheet for teams with a built-in AI data analyst. Users describe what they need, and the AI analyzes data, merges tables, builds reports and pulls figures from PDFs, which suits small teams without a data department.

Key functions

• AI Analyst analyzes data from natural language instructions
• Builds reports and merges datasets
• Extracts data from PDFs and business documents into tables

Compared with Microsoft Power BI (Copilot)

• Can store data in the EU; Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) states no EU option.
• Headquartered in Germany, Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) in United States.
• Starts lower: from $6 per user/month, Microsoft Power BI (Copilot) from $14 per user/month.

Check before buying: Check how many AI tasks your team needs per month, since each plan has a fixed allowance. According to the privacy policy, the platform runs on Google Cloud in the EU or EEA, while the AI Analyst sends data to OpenAI and Groq; OpenAI may keep data for up to 30 days. Clarify what the move to Superhuman means for contracts and data processing.

Web tool that answers questions about Excel and CSV workbooks in plain English, draws charts and shows the source rows behind each number.

Key functions

• Finds tables in multi-sheet workbooks, including several tables on one sheet
• Answers questions about the data in chat with text and a chart
• Shows the sheets read, calculation steps and rows behind each chart