Knowing when to use SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) over Power BI can ensure that you are using the tools most efficiently to help drive your business.
Many organizations see Power BI as a replacement for SSRS due to a lack of major advancements in the SSRS space however while similar they both fill different key needs for organizations and the BI team at Microsoft has invested a lot of time into improving the SSRS offering.
SSRS is better for "Pixel perfect" reports that you can design exactly to your specifications, whereas most Power BI visualizations only have a finite amount of visual tinkering possible.
SSRS provides a stronger ability when it comes to static representational reports, like invoices, monthly reports, mailing lists...
Power BI however is better for a dynamic interrogation of data as it currently stands so this can allow power users to drill into live data to identify trends.
| Feature | Power BI | SSRS |
|---|---|---|
| Printing | - | ✅ |
| Mobile app | ✅ | - |
| Connectors | ✅ | ✅ |
| Language support | ✅ | ✅ |
| Realtime data filters | ✅ | - |
| Report parameters | - | ✅ |
| Embedding support | ✅ | - |
Figure: Power BI/SSRS feature comparison
