Bridge
Bridge vs Power BI

Power BI is built for analysts to explore. Bridge handles the ask your customer made.

Custom fields, dashboards, exports. Handled in chat by your CSM, on your API. No report to build.

Start free guided pilotSee the comparison

Free for 14 days on one of your customers. No card.

At a glance
Power BIBridge
Who it's for
Analysts and customers in the Microsoft stack
Your customer, through your CSM
What it builds
Reports and dashboards over your data
The one-off view a customer asked for
Who builds it
An analyst, in Power BI Desktop
Your CSM, in chat
Time to a new ask
A report build, scheduled against other work
Minutes
Custom fields
DAX measures an analyst writes
Calculated live on every record
Delivery
A report in the Power BI workspace
A white-labeled link, in the conversation
6 of 11 differences shownSee all

Why choose Bridge over Power BI.

Power BI is where analysts build reports customers explore. Bridge sits on your API and handles the one-off asks your customers make, in chat.

01Workflow

Handled in chat, not queued with the analysts.

Power BI is where an analyst builds a report your customers explore. Bridge sits on your API. The CSM types the customer's ask in chat, Bridge builds the view, the link goes back in the same conversation. No analyst pulled in.

See the full comparison
bridge_chat
live
Show every load 24h+ late, by carrier and lane.
calling /shipments · grouping by carrier · building view
late-loads.bridge.link/acme
shared
Sent back in the same conversation. No ticket opened.
02Custom dashboards

Built in chat, not authored in Desktop.

A new customer dashboard in Power BI is a report build: a model, DAX measures, a publish to the workspace. Bridge builds the one your customer asked for once, in chat against your API, scoped to that customer and shared as a white-labeled link they open themselves.

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late_loads_view
shared
loads late
42
carriers
7
avg delay
31h
late by lane
03Custom fields

Calculated live, not written in DAX.

Bridge adds calculated fields across every record without an analyst writing a DAX measure or publishing a model. No report build, no deploy queued. The field is live the moment the formula resolves.

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contacts
calculated
ContactActivity 90dchampion_strength
Acme Corp142 events92High
Globex88 events64Med
Initech31 events27Low
calculated live · no schema change
04Custom exports

In their format, not an Excel dump.

Bridge writes a CSV in the shape your customer asked for, with custom and calculated columns included. Saved as a view they can re-run. Their format becomes the default, not yours.

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export.csv
custom format
invoicedays_overduepriority_score
INV-204161High
INV-203834Med
INV-210212Low
custom + calculated columnsdownload
05Speed

Minutes, not a report sprint.

In Power BI, a custom ask becomes a task for the analyst team: a model, DAX measures, a publish. In Bridge, the CSM types the ask, Bridge calls your API and builds the view, and the link goes back in the same conversation.

Start a free pilot
time_to_delivered
measured
Bridge4 min
Power BIDays. Quarters.

from the moment the CSM relays the ask

Where they actually differ.

The capabilities that decide which tool fits the ask in front of you.

Power BI
Bridge
Built by your CSM, no analyst
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Installed on your API in minutes, no report to build
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Delivered in minutes, not a report sprint
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Custom dashboards, handled in chat
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Custom fields without writing DAX
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Custom exports in the customer's format
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Shared as a white-labeled link
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Customer stays in the conversation, no BI workspace
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Per-customer scoping from your API
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Unlimited CS seats, no paid license to share
Power BI: no
Bridge: yes
Self-serve interactive reports and exploration
Power BI: yes
Bridge: no
Customer drill-down and dashboards they slice
Power BI: yes
Bridge: no
Deep Microsoft 365, Excel, and Azure integration
Power BI: yes
Bridge: no
Scheduled reports and data-driven alerts
Power BI: yes
Bridge: no
Verified June 2026microsoft.com/power-bi

Should you choose Bridge or Power BI?

Bridge sits on your API and handles customer asks in chat. Power BI is where analysts build the reports your customers explore. They cover different jobs.

Best for most teams

Choose Bridge

  • Custom dashboards
    The one your customer asked for once, built in chat and scoped to them.
  • Custom fields
    Calculated across every record, live, with no DAX to write.
  • Custom exports
    A CSV in the customer's format, with calculated columns included.
  • One-off asks
    Anything that does not fit a report you already built, handled in minutes by your CSM.
Start a free pilot

14-day pilot. One customer. No card.

Different job

Choose Power BI only if

  • Your customers want to explore their own data in interactive reports.
  • You need drill-down and dashboards they slice themselves.
  • Your team lives in Excel, Teams, and the Microsoft stack.
  • You have analysts to build and maintain the reports.

Still deciding which tool fits the ask?

If your customers want to explore their own data in reports, that is Power BI. If you want a customer's one-off ask handled in chat, that is Bridge.

Start a free pilot
  • 14-day pilot on one customer
  • No card to start
  • Keep Power BI for self-serve reports

The questions we get most.

Yes. They cover different jobs, so you can run both. Power BI for the reports your customers explore on their own. Bridge for the one-off asks they make through your CSM.

Yes. They type the ask in plain English. Bridge calls your API, computes whatever needs computing, and builds the view. No DAX to write. No report to publish. No analyst pulled in.

No. Interactive reports, drill-down, and dashboards a customer slices on their own are Power BI's job, not Bridge's. Bridge builds the view from a single ask and shares it as a white-labeled link. If your customer wants to explore for an hour, give them Power BI.

Power BI is the right tool. Bridge generates a view from one ask. It does not replace report exploration. If your customer wants to pivot, filter, and slice on their own, that is Power BI.

Because Power BI covers the reports your analysts build in the Office stack. The one-off ask a customer makes still becomes a report build in the queue. Bridge takes that off the queue: the CSM handles it in chat, on your API, scoped to that customer.

Power BI is per user, billed yearly: $14 per user per month for Pro and $24 per user per month for Premium Per User. Authoring is free, but sharing a report needs a paid license, and Fabric capacity is sold separately. Bridge is $199/month for up to 5 connected customers, with unlimited CS seats. Past 5, pricing moves to enterprise and we size it with you. The pilot is free for 14 days, no card. Different models. See the Bridge pricing page for detail.

Only what your API exposes. Queries are authenticated per session. Per-customer activity logs are on by default. We do not train models on your data.

Still on the fence?Book 20 minutes with the founder

Start saying yes to custom asks without a report build.

14 days. One customer. Free. Then $199/month for up to five connected customers, enterprise past that.

Start free guided pilotSee pricing