Power BI user licenses and catalog tiers
This page is for report authors who use Icon Map Pro or Icon Map Slicer on a per-user license from Microsoft AppSource, and who have just been told that a catalog dataset needs a higher tier. It explains what your license includes, what the other tiers cost, and the quickest ways to get the dataset onto your map.
For a description of the four dataset tiers on their own, see Access Tiers.
The short version
Every dataset in the Icon Map Catalog has one of four levels: Basic, Standard, Premium or Commercial.
- Basic datasets are free to use with every license: every per-user license (Basic, Plus and Premium) and every usage plan license key. Existing per-user licenses are Basic.
- Standard datasets need the Plus user plan, or a usage plan license key entered in the visual (0.25 credits per layer session).
- Premium datasets need the Premium user plan, which also includes every standard dataset, or a usage plan license key (0.5, 2 or 4 credits per layer session, depending on the dataset).
- Plus and Premium are coming to Microsoft AppSource as user plans. Until they are on sale, a usage plan license key is the way to use standard and premium datasets. Your user license still covers the visual, and the dataset is paid for in credits from the key.
- Commercial datasets are not part of any license. They are bought separately in the Icon Map data store.
- You can browse, preview and configure any dataset without a higher license. The license is checked when you add the layer to your report.
The three per-user license tiers
Icon Map Pro and Icon Map Slicer per-user licenses come in three tiers. Each tier includes everything in the tier below it.
| License tier | Catalog datasets included | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Basic datasets | Every per-user license today |
| Plus | Basic datasets, plus every standard-tier dataset | Coming to Microsoft AppSource |
| Premium | Basic and standard datasets, plus the premium datasets | Coming to Microsoft AppSource |
A few things are worth knowing before you plan around this:
- Existing licenses are Basic. If you bought Icon Map Pro or Icon Map Slicer on AppSource, your license includes basic datasets and nothing above them, until you move to a higher tier.
- A tier is one grade per user, not an add-on. Plus and Premium are sold as their own user plans on AppSource, with the base license included in the price. Moving a user to Plus means assigning the Plus plan to that user in place of their current plan, not as well as it.
- Plus and Premium are not on sale yet. They will be listed as user plans for Icon Map Pro and Icon Map Slicer on Microsoft AppSource. Until they are, use a usage plan key (below) for any standard or premium dataset you need.
- Commercial datasets are never included in a user license, whatever its tier.
The four dataset tiers and what they cost
Every dataset in the catalog has one of four tiers. The catalog dialog shows each dataset's tier and its price wherever the dataset appears, for example "Standard · 0.25 credits per session".
| Dataset tier | Included in user license tier | Cost on a usage plan |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Basic, Plus and Premium | Free |
| Standard | Plus and Premium | 0.25 credits per layer session |
| Premium | Premium | 0.5, 2 or 4 credits per layer session, depending on the dataset |
| Commercial | Not included in any license | Bought separately in the Icon Map data store |
What a layer session is. One catalog dataset shown in one session of a report. A dataset is charged once per session, however much the viewer pans, zooms or filters, and two datasets on the same map are two layer sessions.
Premium prices vary by dataset. Premium datasets are priced in three bands: 0.5, 2 or 4 credits per layer session. The price shown against the dataset in the catalog dialog is the one that applies.
Commercial datasets are licensed from third-party data providers and sold in the Icon Map data store, by area or as a whole dataset. In the Power BI visuals, what you hold is used from the catalog: a whole dataset, or the version of just your area that Icon Map prepares. In the current visual versions, a license key with one area purchase draws that area; a key with several area purchases, or with an area and a whole dataset, needs the next visual update to draw them all. Every commercial dataset has a free preview of a sample area, shown in full detail inside that area and with nothing outside it, so you can judge the data before you buy. Customers with any paid Icon Map plan get 30% off data store prices.
Browse freely, license when you add
You do not need a higher license to explore the catalog. Anyone can search, preview and configure every dataset in the catalog dialog:
- Standard and premium datasets preview in full, on the dialog's map.
- Commercial datasets preview a sample area, as described above.
- Previews use no credits.
The license check happens when you add the layer to your report (or use a dataset as terrain). If your license does not cover the dataset, the dialog tells you so, shows the dataset's price, and offers the way to get access instead of adding it:
- For a standard or premium dataset, the message This dataset is not included in your license reads, for example: "You have a Basic user license. This dataset is a Premium dataset. To get access, either purchase a usage-based plan and enter the license key, or upgrade your user plan to Plus or Premium in Microsoft AppSource." It links to this page under About Power BI user licenses.
- For a commercial dataset, the message Purchase to use links to the Icon Map data store. See Buying commercial data.
Every time a report loads
Your license can change after a dataset was added to a report: a plan changes, a key's credits run out, or a commercial data license ends. So the visual checks every catalog dataset in the report each time the report loads.
- Datasets your license covers are drawn as usual.
- Datasets it does not cover are not drawn. The rest of the map and report keep working.
- One message, Some catalog layers in this report are not shown, lists the datasets that are missing and says what to do. A report author is told how to get access. A report viewer is asked to contact the report owner.
The message appears once per report session, however many datasets are affected.
Using a usage plan key alongside your user license
You do not have to wait for Plus or Premium. A usage plan license key can be entered in the visual alongside your per-user license, and the two work together:
- The visual stays covered by your user license. When Icon Map Pro or Icon Map Slicer finds your AppSource user license, the map itself is licensed by it, so loading and viewing the visual uses no credits from the key.
- Catalog datasets are paid for from the key. Once a key is entered, the visual uses the key for catalog datasets: basic datasets stay free, standard datasets cost 0.25 credits per layer session, and premium datasets cost their band price (0.5, 2 or 4 credits) per layer session.
- The key applies to the visual you enter it in. It is saved with that visual, so everyone who views the report through that visual uses the key for its catalog datasets.
- Credits run out. If the plan's credits are exhausted, datasets that cost credits are refused until more credits are available. Basic datasets keep working.
While a key is entered, the key pays for every standard and premium dataset in that visual, including any your user license tier already covers. A Plus user who only needs standard datasets should not enter a usage key, because the standard datasets would then draw credits from it.
To enter a key, see Icon Map license keys.
Worked example
Sam builds Power BI reports with an Icon Map Pro per-user license from AppSource, so Sam's license tier is Basic. Sam wants to add one premium dataset to a report. The catalog dialog shows it as "Premium · 2 credits per session". Sam's organization buys a Tier 1 usage plan and Sam enters its key in the visual.
| What happens | Covered by | Credits from the key |
|---|---|---|
| The Icon Map Pro visual loads and is viewed | Sam's Basic user license | 0 |
| A basic boundary dataset is shown on the same map | Basic tier, free for everyone | 0 |
| The premium dataset is shown | The Tier 1 usage key | 2 per layer session |
If viewers open the report in 50 sessions in a month and the premium dataset is shown in each one, that is 50 × 2 = 100 credits from the Tier 1 plan for the month. The visual itself costs nothing extra, because Sam and the report's viewers are already licensed on AppSource.
What to do next
If the dialog says a dataset needs a higher tier, you have these options:
- Upgrade your user plan on Microsoft AppSource. Move to Plus for standard datasets or Premium for premium datasets, once those plans are on sale.
- Buy a usage plan and enter its key. Usage plans are available today in the Icon Map portal. Enter the key in the visual as described in Icon Map license keys.
- Buy a commercial dataset in the data store. Commercial datasets are not part of any license. See Buying commercial data.
- Talk to us. If you are not sure which route fits, contact our sales team.
Related pages
- Access Tiers: the four dataset tiers in more detail.
- Icon Map license keys: where to find your key and how to apply it.
- Buying commercial data: the Icon Map data store.
- Renewal and expiry: what happens when a data license ends.