Power BI or Microsoft Power BI is business analytics and data visualization software that helps you seamlessly visualize, understand and analyze data.
The tool is essential for businesses, companies, and enterprises because it allows them to generate actionable insights from facts and numbers. Thus, with Power BI, business owners and executives can make better decisions strategically.
Hence, if you plan to pursue a career in business intelligence, Power BI is undoubtedly an essential skill that you need to master.
Fortunately, Power BI is not too difficult to learn. You can become a Power BI expert by taking online courses. However, not every Power BI course online is worth taking. Some of them are more or less a cash grab that does not help you build your skillsets at all.
Since numerous Power BI courses are available, searching for the right one can be tedious. That is why I have put together a list of the best Power BI courses according to my research so that you can select the right course and start learning right away.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post from Victory Tale contains affiliate links. If you purchase courses through them, we will receive a small commission from those e-learning platforms.
Nevertheless, we always value integrity and prioritize our audience’s interests. You can then rest assured that we will present each course truthfully.
Things You Should Know
Prerequisites
All Power BI courses require students to have robust prior knowledge of Microsoft Excel. Specifically, you should be able to use functions to organize and analyze data and create basic pivot tables to perform data analysis.
Important Note: You will need to have a computer with Windows installed. All courses are not for Mac users at the moment.
In addition, to take the lessons seamlessly, you will need a work or school email address to access the Power BI service. In other words, you cannot use your Gmail, Outlook, or any other personal email address.
Criteria
Below are the criteria for the best Power BI courses:
1. Data Analysis and Visualization with Power BI
If you are looking for an all-in-one course for Power BI, this Nanodegree program from Udacity is one of the best available online. You will learn the fundamentals of the software and grasp the steps to use it to perform data preprocessing, data analysis, and data visualization tasks.
Course Content
This program comprises three minor courses as follows:
1. Introduction to Preparing and Modeling Data – The first course will introduce you to data preprocessing and data modeling with Power BI.
Using ETL tools and Power Query, you will structure data from various data sources and clean them to align with reporting needs.
The second part of the course will drill deep into DAX (Data Analysis Expressions). You will select the appropriate relationships for your data models and leverage them in DAX functions.
2. Creating Visualizations with Power BI – The second course will be all about creating data visualizations that tell a compelling story to the audience.
You will start with basic data visuals such as line charts, bar charts, cards, and tables and later move forward to more advanced ones such as scatter plots and bubble maps.
The second part of the course will discuss Power BI features, steps, and methods to create compelling reports. Furthermore, you will learn about the techniques that make your reports more engaging, such as applying design principles to highlight specific stories and eliminate distractions.
3. Advanced Data Analysis – The final course will guide you through all Power BI tools, along with techniques and tips for data analytics with Power BI.
You will use different methods such as predictive analysis and historical analysis to perceive the relationship between data, draw conclusions, and forecast future outcomes.
Subsequently, you will learn more about Power Query transformations and DAX functions. Finally, you will create advanced data visualizations to analyze data and generate actionable insights.
Unlike most other Power BI courses, each minor course has its own large-scale, real-world project. For instance, you will create a report for a pet smart device company in Course 2 and a market analysis report for a national clothing chain in Course 3.
These projects will provide you with opportunities to use what you have learned right away (so you will not forget) and necessary hands-on experience. Both are highly beneficial for students who are learning Microsoft Power BI for the first time.
Regarding the pace, Udacity recommends five hours per week for three months. Nonetheless, this program is self-paced. Hence, you can create your study schedule independently. Just keep in mind that the more time you spend on the program, the higher the tuition fees (see #pricing below).
Student Support
Online courses rarely provide adequate student support. That is not the case with Udacity. Once you enroll in the program, you will gain access to three types of such support as follows:
Technical Mentor Support – If you encounter any technical issues or just get stuck in a complicated assignment, you can reach the mentors at any time (24/7) through the chat interface available on Student Hub. Hence, you can be confident that you are in good hands.
According to Udacity, students receive a reply in less than an hour, which is far swifter than other platforms that may take days, weeks, or even months.
Project Reviews – Udacity projects are typically challenging. However, with this support, you can request experts to review your work at any time (without the need to reach any specific milestone). Also, there is no limit to requests. Hence, you can receive unlimited feedback that can significantly assist your learning.
Career Services – Once you have completed the program, you can request the Udacity team to review your resume, LinkedIn profile, and Github portfolio (if available) to ensure that they are up to professional standards.
This support will be beneficial if you pursue a lucrative but highly competitive career in data science or business intelligence, such as data scientists, data analysts, business analysts, etc.
Pricing
Udacity uses a subscription-based pricing structure. This program costs $399 per month. However, you can purchase a 3-month bundle and receive a 15% off, lowering tuition fees to $339 monthly.
If you are interested in enrolling, I suggest creating an account (like I did below) to access additional discounts, which can be as high as 75% off.
You can even use this discount to buy a bundle and pay only $100 or even lower per month for this program.
[sc name=”udacity” ][/sc]Pros & Cons
Pros
- Learn from a team of leading experts from various industries (finance, healthcare, and education)
- Unarguably one of the best PowerBI courses available online
- Well-structured curriculum
- In-depth and informative lessons
- Project-based learning (students will work on three real-world projects) + Unlimited project reviews
- Timely mentor support
- Career services are a big plus.
Cons
- Far costlier than other alternatives
- Udacity’s projects can be too challenging for some students.
2. Fundamentals of Data Visualization with Power BI
This edX program is a solid option if you want to learn Power BI in a more formal, university-like environment. You will learn from two faculty members from Davidson college and perceive how to create fully-functional Power BI reports.
Note: You will use the R programming language in this program. However, prior knowledge of R is not required.
Course Content
This program consists of two minor courses as follows:
1. Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI – This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of Power BI. You will learn to import and prepare business-oriented data sets. Later, you will visualize that data and create compelling Power BI reports and dashboards.
The second part of the course will discuss Power BI Service and Power BI Mobile. You will grasp how to use them to facilitate the data analytics process.
You will work with data sets from various industries, including sports, economics, and finance, in this course.
2. Essentials of Data Literacy – The second course will develop your data skills. You will learn how to code in R, perceive the concept of the data lifecycle, and subsequently analyze and manage data using R.
The best part of this program is that you will learn through various case studies and contexts, which will build robust skillsets for performing data analysis for different industries.
Davidson recommends spending 8-15 hours on the courses, and you will complete it in two months. Still, you can create your study schedule since this program is self-paced.
Regarding pricing, you can audit all the courses in the program for free. However, if you want to access graded assignments and a digital certificate, you will need to enroll in the verified track, which costs $358 (one-time)
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Well-structured Curriculum
- Bite-sized lessons
- Learn from various case studies
- Easy-to-read transcripts
- Free auditing
Cons
- The quizzes are not very challenging.
- Do not include advanced tips and techniques
3. Microsoft Power BI – A Complete Introduction [2023 EDITION]
Suppose you want to learn Power BI in a more informal environment. In this case, this Udemy course from Manuel Lorenz and Maximilian Schwarzmüller (Max) is the one you may want to consider.
I took a few courses with Max and appreciated the teaching style and comprehensiveness. Hence, I do not hesitate to recommend him to you.
Course Content
Below is a summary of topics that you will learn in the course.
- Introduction to Power BI Desktop (Installations, Query Editor, Data Model, etc.)
- Deep dive into the Query Editor
- The Data Model: Relationships, DAX Syntaxes, Operators, Functions, Columns vs. Measures
- Create visuals in the Report View
- Introduction to Power BI Service
- Create custom visuals (for developers)
- Outdated features (This section comes from an old course that Manuel and Max created. You can take them as well. However, the content is not up-to-date)
The video content is 14 hours long (not including the outdated section). You will start with the basics and proceed to the advanced content step-by-step.
One of the reasons I like this course is that it provides a detailed section on Power BI for Developers. This section will be handy for those who know some programming (primarily JavaScript) since you will be comfortable creating custom visuals using D3.js.
Reviews: 4.6/5.0 from 200000+ students (the most popular Power BI training courses on Udemy)
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent Power BI course for developers
- Through and straightforward explanations of Power BI features
- In-depth, informative lessons
- Overall, the instructor’s teaching flow is consistent and easy to follow.
- Lifetime Access + 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive ($20 or lower when on sale)
Cons
- The course content focuses extensively on the technical perspective while barely touching on use cases and real-world applications.
- A few students believed that some lessons were pretty repetitive.
4. Microsoft Power BI Desktop for Business Intelligence
If you think the previous course is too lengthy, I suggest taking this Udemy course from Chris Dutton and Aaron Parry. Both are veteran BI trainers specializing in business and marketing analytics with over a decade of experience.
Course Content
Below is a summary of what you will learn from this 10.5-hour course.
- Getting Started with Power BI Desktop
- Power Query and Data Connectors
- Transform data, Merge/Append Queries, Group/Aggregate Records in Power BI
- Create Table Relationships & Data Models
- Analyze Data with DAX Calculations
- Data Visualization with Power BI
- AI Visuals
- Additional Pro Tips & Techniques
Apart from the video lessons, the instructors will provide you with quizzes and assignments for every lesson. Once you complete the assignment, you can watch video solutions that will guide you through the entire process step-by-step.
Reviews: 4.6/5.0 from 183000+ students
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Learn from two experienced BI trainers with exceptional teaching skills
- Well-structured curriculum
- Clear explanations of all Power BI tools, features, and functionalities
- Include helpful tips & techniques
- Lifetime Access + 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive ($20 or lower when on sale)
Cons
- Some of the course content is now outdated. A few students noted that sometimes it was pretty challenging to follow along.
- Several students believe that the DAX part is insufficient to help them understand thoroughly.
5. DA-100 Certification: Analyzing Data with Microsoft Power BI
This Udemy course by Phillip Burton aims to prepare students for the DA-100 Certification Exam. Still, absolute beginners can also take it to develop or enhance their Power BI skills.
Since this course is 27-hour long, it may be the best option for those who want to learn all aspects of Power BI in detail.
Course Content
The following are all the topics that you will learn in this course:
- Introduction to Power BI Desktop
- Create and format a table visualization
- Matrices & Bar Charts
- Add text boxes, images, shapes to visualizations, Advanced Filtering, Slicers
- Other visualizations (Ribbon, Waterfall, Scatter, Bubble charts)
- Mapping
- Performance measurement (using KPIs, gauges, and cards)
- Deep dive into data transformation (Menu, Texts & Numbers, Dates & Time, Columns, Menus)
- Create a data model
- DAX Functions (Statistical, Mathematical, Text, Information, Filter and Value, Time Intelligence)
- Deep dive into Power BI Service (Power BI Pro & Adding users, Row and Object Level Security, Power BI Dashboards, Datasets Management, Workspace Management)
- and many more
I like how the instructor structures the curriculum. All lessons are bite-sized (almost none exceeds 8 minutes in length), which is highly beneficial for reviewing.
Furthermore, each section is also packed with a practice activity and a video solution. Hence, you will have high-quality quizzes and assignments to practice and get hands-on experience.
Reviews: 4.6/5.0 from 34000+ students
Pros & Cons
Pros
- According to student reviews, many students managed to pass the DA-100 certification exam by taking this course alone.
- Comprehensive curriculum, best for detail-oriented students
- Bite-sized, informative lessons
- Practice activities are available for every section
- Lifetime Access + 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive ($20 or lower when on sale)
Cons
- A few students noted that the way the instructor spoke and moved the cursor sometimes confused and distracted them.
- Contain several minor mistakes and errors
6. Microsoft Power BI – The Complete Masterclass [2023 EDITION]
If you are looking for a Power BI course that focuses on data analytics, this one by Nikolai Schuler is a promising option that may be worth your consideration. You will learn from a data scientist and a BI consultant with years of experience in the field.
Course Content
Below is a summary of what you will learn from this course:
- Introduction to Power BI Desktop
- Deep dive into Data Transformation (Query Editor, Mathematical Operations, M Formula Language)
- Create a data model (explore relationships)
- Deep dive into data visualizations with Power BI
- Python in Power BI
- DAX Topics – Essentials, Functions, and Time Intelligence
- Power BI Service
- Row-Level Security
- Connect different data sources (with MySQL and PostgreSQL)
- and many more
Compared to other courses, this curriculum covers all aspects that beginners need to know to use Power BI professionally, plus advanced topics such as Python and SQL to help you perform advanced tasks with ease.
Hence, if you have some programming or data science background, this course is an apparently solid choice to enroll.
Reviews: 4.6/5.0 from 7000+ students
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Learn from an experienced data scientist
- Well-structured curriculum
- In-depth and informative lessons with clear explanations and practical examples
- One of the few courses that teach how to use Python and SQL with Power BI
- Lifetime Access + 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive ($20 or lower when on sale)
Cons
- Fewer exercises and assignments than other courses
- Explanations can go a little too technical for some students.
7. Advanced DAX for Microsoft Power BI Desktop
If you have problems with DAX or still fail to use it correctly in your projects, you may want to take this Udemy course from Aaron Parry (one of the instructors of the #4 course)
Unlike other courses featured in the article, this one requires you to have prior knowledge of Power BI and DAX. In other words, you should complete at least one Power BI course before taking it.
Course Content
This course content is 11.5 hours long, consisting of the following topics:
- Data Modeling in Power BI and DAX Review
- DAX Formula & Storage Engines
- Scalar Functions
- Advanced CALCULATE Functions
- Table & Filter Functions
- Relationship and Iterator Functions
- Advanced Time Intelligence
- Additional Tips & Best Practices
Apart from the lessons, the instructor provides you with assignments (with video solutions) in every section. Therefore, you have adequate resources to master DAX and its functions in no time.
Reviews: 4.6/5.0 from 22500+ students
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Learn from an experienced BI trainer
- In-depth lessons covering DAX and its functions extensively
- Clear explanations with examples
- Active Q&A Forum
- Lifetime Access + 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive ($20 or lower when on sale)
Cons
- A few video solutions appear to be confusing for some students.
- The instructor is sometimes repetitive.
Other Free and Paid Microsoft Power BI Courses
Below are other courses that you may be interested in. However, I chose not to include them in the list because of the reasons explained below.
Microsoft Learn for Power BI – Microsoft has created a free online training course for Power BI. I found this tutorial informative and easy to follow. However, all the lessons are text-based, in which some are pretty wordy, which makes me bored and fail to stay concentrated.
Datacamp – This online data science school offers Power BI training for all premium subscribers. Its interactive learning approach is beginner-friendly and helps you quickly grasp core Power BI features.
However, the course is pretty short and does not drill deep into advanced concepts. You will need another course if you want to master Power BI.
Related Courses
- Tableau – Another popular data analytics and data visualization software used by companies and enterprises globally: another crucial skill set that business analysts should master.
- Data Analytics
