M 
Microsoft Power BI
Cheap, bundled, and now with a natural-language layer built in.
NOT REALLY
why this verdict
Keep paying — Microsoft has not replaced it
Microsoft's version overlaps, but does not finish the data & BI job, so this one still earns its $14/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Copilot made it stronger rather than weaker. Microsoft, January 15, 2024 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 2 of 2 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Metabase and Looker Studio.
- What the call is worth $168/yr
- $14/mo at the entry paid tier — $168 a year per seat.
Reason composed from the fields above missing: announcement linked recorded: free replacement listed recorded: two or more escape hatches
- Threatened by
- Microsoft
- Since
- January 15, 2024
- List price
- $14/mo
- Per year
- $168
The backstory
Power BI was already winning on price and Office integration. Copilot inside it lets business users ask questions in plain English against governed semantic models — which is the safe version of what people try to do by pasting spreadsheets into chat windows. Microsoft turned the threat into a feature.
Escape hatches
M 
Metabase Open-source alternative.
metabase.com open_in_new L 
Looker Studio Free Google BI.
lookerstudio.google.com open_in_new2 of 2 replacements have a usable free tier.