Choose Power BI if
Someone in your business models data, you need reports across many sources and systems, your business already works in Microsoft 365, and you need it today.
Centilio InsightNight sight
CENTILIO INSIGHT / PLATFORM
A Power BI alternative for owners who would rather not build reports.
Power BI is a capable, widely used business intelligence tool, and it ships today. Insight is designed for a narrower job: the owner’s weekly view of a business that already runs on Centilio, with the reports built and the answers in plain language. Insight has not shipped, and every table on this page says so.
not shipped · wave 3facts as of research in 2026no competitor prices quotedcorrections welcome
Product design preview · Insight has not shipped. All features, screens and prices are proposals.
Insight has not shipped yet.
Insight has not shipped. What you see here — the console, the features, the plans and the prices — is the design, written down in full so you can judge it before it exists. It sits in the third wave of Centilio tools, with no app, no beta and no date yet; a first version is planned to arrive with Centilio One. Join the waitlist and you will be told before anyone else.
Side by side
Centilio Insight and Microsoft Power BI, side by side.
Facts as of research in 2026: what each tool is, who builds the reports and how it is priced — not list prices, which change. Check each vendor’s page for today’s detail, and tell us if anything here is out of date.
| Centilio Insight | Microsoft Power BI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Business analytics inside a business suite | Microsoft’s business intelligence service: Power BI Desktop to build reports, the Power BI service to share them |
| Built for | Owners and managers who want the whole business on one screen | Analysts and teams modelling data from many sources |
| Who builds the reports | Nobody, to start: the reports every business needs come built (designed) | You, or an analyst, in Power BI Desktop |
| Where the data comes from | Your Centilio tools, already joined; outside data through Loop and spreadsheets (designed) | Connectors to files, databases and cloud services |
| Plain-language questions | Celia answers in plain language, with sources; a person decides | Q&A visuals, and Copilot on eligible plans |
| Sharing | Read-only views, withdrawn at any time (designed) | Through the Power BI service, to licensed users or on capacity |
| Pricing model | Per business (proposed): Free, then ₹799 a month | Power BI Desktop free; sharing needs per-user licences or capacity |
| Availability | Not shipped — in design, wave 3 | Shipped and mature |
Choose
Which one to choose.
Choose Insight if
Your business runs on Centilio tools, you want the weekly view built for you rather than by you, one price for everyone who needs the numbers, and you can wait for wave 3.
Side by side, in practice
Use both, if your business has an analyst.
Insight is not trying to replace a data model someone has spent months on.
Power BI is built for people who model data. Insight is designed for people who need the answer by Monday. A business with a finance analyst may well keep Power BI for deep work and use Insight for the owner’s weekly view and each manager’s summary.
Insight is designed to export any view or answer as a spreadsheet, so a figure first seen in Insight can be taken elsewhere for a closer look.
If you switch, later
What moving from Microsoft Power BI would take.
- Keep the old dashboard running. Insight is designed to sit beside it, so nothing has to be switched off on the first day.
- Start with the weekly five. Pick the five numbers you check every Monday and see whether Insight shows them the way you expect.
- Bring the odd ones as spreadsheets. A figure that lives outside Centilio can come in as an import while Loop connectors are built.
- Compare for two weeks, then decide. When the two agree, keep the one that took less of your time.
Questions
About switching.
Is Power BI free?
Power BI Desktop is a free download, and sharing reports with others needs paid per-user licences or capacity, as of research in 2026. Check Microsoft’s page for today’s detail.
Does Insight need a data model?
No. Insight is designed to read Centilio records that are already joined — a deal, its invoice, its payment and its project — so there is no model to build before the first report.
Can Insight do what Power BI does?
Not all of it, and it is not meant to. Insight is designed for the weekly view of a growing business; custom data models and complex visuals across many systems are what Power BI is for.
Can I move my Power BI reports to Insight?
Not as files. Insight starts with its own reports from your Centilio records, and a figure you track elsewhere can be added as a saved question or a spreadsheet import.
Is Insight available now?
No. Insight is in the third wave of Centilio tools and has no launch date yet. Join the waitlist to be told first.
Can I use both?
Yes. Keep Power BI for analysis that needs a data model and use Insight for the owner’s weekly view; nothing has to be switched off.
Hear first when Insight opens.
Insight arrives in the third wave, reading from the tools that hold your numbers as each one ships. Join the waitlist and you will be told before the announcement; until then, Account, Sign and Drive are live and ready to use.