Wondering if you can try Microsoft Fabric for free and explore its features without committing to a paid license right away? Microsoft offers the Fabric trial capacity, allowing you to test the platform in real business conditions. It’s a great opportunity to understand how this platform differs from other data analysis tools and how it can help your company manage information more effectively.

Before we dive into the trial details, let’s briefly explain what Microsoft Fabric is and why it’s gaining popularity among organizations focused on data-driven strategies.

Microsoft Fabric – a powerful data analytics platform

Data is one of the most valuable business assets, which is why more and more companies are seeking comprehensive, flexible, and scalable tools for analysis. Microsoft Fabric addresses these needs with a modern SaaS (Software as a Service) analytics platform that integrates key components from Power BI, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Data Factory.

With Microsoft Fabric, organizations gain access to a unified environment for working with data – from ingestion and transformation to building advanced reports. Importantly, this tool is not designed solely for data analysts or IT professionals. Thanks to its intuitive interface and prebuilt components, business users can also successfully leverage the platform.

Microsoft Fabric allows for:

• integrating data from multiple sources without manual merging,
• building data models and reports in real time,
• enabling team collaboration within one environment, without technological barriers.

All this makes Microsoft Fabric a solid foundation for companies that want to make decisions based on reliable and up-to-date data.

Microsoft Fabric trial capacity – how does the free trial work?

Is Microsoft Fabric for free? Yes – with the Microsoft Fabric trial capacity option, you can explore the platform’s features entirely free for 60 days. This is a perfect chance to see how the platform can support your daily data work before deciding on a full implementation.

During the trial, users receive:

• 60 days of free access to the platform,
• full functionality of all Microsoft Fabric components (excluding Copilot, private link, and trusted workspaces),
• 64 capacity units (CU),
• up to 1 TB of storage in OneLake,
• the ability to create collaborative environments (workspaces) to build reports, semantic models, lakehouses, and other analytics assets,
• a license equivalent to Power BI Premium Per User (PPU), providing access to advanced Power BI features within the trial.

Additionally, Microsoft Fabric trial capacity enables team collaboration – you can create shared workspaces, invite colleagues, and develop projects together. It’s an ideal solution for companies that want to test the platform’s capabilities and see how it supports data analytics across the organization.

How to start using Microsoft Fabric for free?

Getting started with Microsoft Fabric doesn’t require complicated procedures or upfront investment. Thanks to the available Microsoft Fabric trial capacity, anyone can try out the full range of features for 60 days – completely free. There are several easy ways to start the trial:

• From the Account Manager – log in to the Fabric portal and select “Start trial” from the top menu. Once you accept the terms, the trial is activated.
• Automatic trial trigger – if you try to use a feature exclusive to Fabric (e.g. creating a lakehouse), the system will prompt you to start the trial.
• Join an existing trial – if a colleague has already started a trial and granted you permissions, you can join their workspace and use Fabric together.

Keep in mind that a Power BI license is required to activate the trial. If you don’t have one yet, you can start with the Power BI Free license. That’s enough to activate the Microsoft Fabric test version and begin creating your first projects.

Once the trial capacity is activated, the user becomes its administrator. This means the ability to:

• create workspaces,
• assign permissions to other users,
• manage access to data and reports.

It’s a flexible solution that supports both individual exploration and collaborative work in a secure, controlled environment.

What do you get with Microsoft Fabric trial capacity?

The Microsoft Fabric trial is more than just access to the platform – it’s a chance to evaluate how it can support your organization’s data strategy. Below are the key business benefits of using Microsoft Fabric for free.

Real-time data insights

One of Microsoft Fabric’s greatest strengths is working with real-time data. This means:

• reports and visualizations are always based on up-to-date information,
• business decisions can be made immediately after detecting changes or anomalies,
• data from various sources (e.g. ERP, CRM, IoT systems) is analyzed without manual updates.

This kind of real-time analytics supports agile business management and faster responses to market changes.

Collaborative work on data

Microsoft Fabric was built with collaboration in mind. Trial capacity allows for:

• creating shared workspaces for project teams,
• easily sharing reports, lakehouses, and data models,
• enabling multiple users to work on the same project without file transfers or version conflicts.

Shared workspaces make planning, analysis, and reporting easier and eliminate data silos within the organization.

Access to key Fabric components

With the free trial, users can explore Microsoft Fabric’s most important tools. It’s an excellent opportunity to test the entire analytics ecosystem in practice – with no cost. Here are the key components you can use during the trial:

• Power BI – in a version similar to Premium Per User (PPU), allowing advanced report creation, data modeling, role assignments, report subscriptions, and scheduled data refresh.
• Data Engineering – supports advanced data processing. Enables building data pipelines, integrating sources, and transforming data using SQL and Spark.
• Data Science – an environment for data science teams. Allows training machine learning models without leaving the platform. Integrated notebooks help document experiments and share insights.
• Data Factory – a no-code/low-code tool for building ETL/ELT pipelines. Automates data collection, transformation, and loading – even for non-technical users.

All these components operate in one unified Microsoft Fabric environment, eliminating the need for multiple tools. This simplifies analytics processes, reduces errors, and speeds up access to decision-critical insights.

What should you know before the trial ends?

The Microsoft Fabric trial capacity gives you a chance to test the platform under real conditions – without cost. However, the trial lasts 60 days, and afterward, access to some data and features becomes restricted.

• After the trial expires, data linked to non-Power BI components (e.g. lakehouses, notebooks, warehouses) is deleted unless moved to a supported Fabric capacity.
• Users can purchase a Fabric capacity to retain their environments, reports, and data.
• Alternatively, workspaces can be migrated to an existing capacity if the organization has a subscription.

Keep in mind:

• Microsoft Fabric trial capacity does not support autoscale (automatic adjustment of compute resources).
• Some advanced Premium features, such as Copilot, private link, or trusted workspace access, are not available in the trial version.

It’s worth planning your next steps before the trial ends – for example, migrating workspaces, purchasing a subscription, or moving analytics to an alternative environment.

Or try the free Power BI Desktop?

Not every organization immediately needs a full cloud analytics environment. For individuals creating internal reports or those not sharing content online, Power BI Desktop is the perfect solution.

This free desktop application enables:

• transforming data from various sources,
• building models and interactive reports,
• creating customized visualizations for business needs.

Power BI Desktop is ideal as a first step into the world of data analytics – without creating a cloud account or buying a license. And when your organization is ready, you can seamlessly upgrade to Power BI Pro or Microsoft Fabric.

Summary

Microsoft Fabric for free? Thanks to Microsoft Fabric trial capacity, absolutely. For 60 days, you can test Microsoft’s top analytics tools and see how they support your business in making smarter, data-driven decisions.

With the trial:

• you access Power BI, lakehouse, Data Engineering, and Notebooks,
• you analyze real-time data and collaborate with your team,
• you explore Microsoft Fabric’s full environment – at no cost.

It’s a perfect opportunity to see whether Microsoft Fabric meets your organization’s expectations.

Schedule a free consultation with EBIS experts and learn how to get started, avoid common pitfalls, and plan a successful platform rollout. We’ll help you build the data analytics of the future – tailored to your real needs. | CONTACT