Compare annual cost of running Microsoft Fabric Planning vs. Pigment.
| Role | # Users | Fabric PlanningReserved capacity $/user/mo † (/yr) | PigmentNet rate you pay · $/user/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planners / AdminsBuild & maintain models | Planner $89.93/mo $1,079 / yr | Editor (builder) $ | |
| Stakeholders / ContributorsEnter values, approve, comment | Stakeholder $17.83/mo $214 / yr | Contributor $ | |
| Read-only / ViewersConsume plans & reports | Viewer $3.88/mo $47 / yr | Explorer (viewer) $ | |
| User licensing (annual) | — | — | — |
| Additional cost lines: your actual incurred costs for Pigment | |||
| Platform feePigment's base platform fee for core access, typically $30K–50K/yr on top of seats. | $ | $ | |
| Other resources / infra overheadFabric: capacity reserved for OneLake, Fabric SQL & Power BI XMLA, as a % of licensing (30% default). Pigment: integration / hosting resources, annual $ amount. | % | $ | |
| Premium support optionalVendor premium / enterprise support tier, if quoted separately. | $ | $ | |
| Module add-onsPigment prices planning modules (workforce, sales, scenario) separately, typically $20K–60K each. Fabric Planning has no separate module fees. | $ | $ | |
| Annual cost (Year 1) | — | — | |
| Cost per user / year— total users · all-in figure; sensitive to deployment size and Pigment's fixed platform/module fees. | — | — | |
† Fabric Planning is metered per session. One session = 730 hours (~30-day month). The $/user/mo figure is the per-session Reserved Capacity rate. CU consumption per role is set by Microsoft and is uniform across regions. The dollar cost per CU varies by Azure region (US West 2 reference shown); see the capacity estimator.
Pigment rates are estimates; enter your actual negotiated rate per seat adjusted for any discounts. Lines below the licensing subtotal are fixed / usage fees, not per-seat.
Fabric Planning runs on a Microsoft Fabric capacity (an F-SKU). When committed annually, the reserved pricing is roughly 41% below pay-as-you-go pricing, and this is the standard procurement model for large organizations. Crucially, the capacity isn't single-purpose: any compute your planning workloads don't consume is available to your other Fabric workloads, such as Power BI, data engineering, real-time analytics, data science. So reserved capacity is not stranded spend. It's also MACC-eligible, drawing down existing Microsoft Azure commitments. Pigment seats, by contrast, are dedicated to Pigment.
| One-time / annual increase | Fabric Planning | Pigment |
|---|---|---|
| TrainingOne-time enablement for your team. | $ | $ |
| Implementation timeMonths to go live. Drives time to value. | mo | mo |
| Implementation costOne-time services / build cost. | $ | $ |
| Annual price increase (CPI / renewal)Added to Years 2–3 of the TCO. Pigment contracts commonly carry 8–12% escalation. | % | % |
| Component | Fabric Planning | Pigment |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost (3 yrs, incl. uplift) | — | — |
| Training (one-time) | — | — |
| Implementation (one-time) | — | — |
| 3-year TCO | — | — |
Years 2–3 apply the renewal uplift: Yearn = Year 1 × (1 + uplift)n−1. Fabric Reserved defaults to 0% (flat annual commitment); Pigment defaults to 10%. All figures in USD.
| Component | Fabric Planning | Pigment |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost (3 yrs, incl. uplift) | — | — |
| Training (one-time) | — | — |
| Implementation (one-time) | — | — |
| 3-year TCO | — | — |
Years 2–3 apply the renewal uplift: Yearn = Year 1 × (1 + uplift)n−1. Fabric Reserved defaults to 0% (flat annual commitment); Pigment defaults to 10%. All figures in USD.
Pigment connects to your source systems and centralizes data in its own hub, a separate platform alongside your data foundation. Even with real-time connectors, your data is synced into Pigment and plan results flow back out to your BI tools for reporting.
Fabric Planning is delivered as a Microsoft Fabric workload on the same foundation that already powers your reporting and AI, so the parallel platform and its cost disappear.
This page offers directional comparison, not a quote. Figures are illustrative under the stated assumptions; actual costs depend on contract terms, region, persona mix, and utilization.
Lumel is a strategic ISV of Microsoft and the development partner behind Microsoft Fabric Planning.
This page is an overview of Microsoft's Fabric Planning pricing. It should not be relied upon for decision-making without verifying with Microsoft and is subject to your license agreement or any other agreement with Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy and possible future developments for Fabric Planning are subject to change by Microsoft at any time for any reason without notice.
This document is provided without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Lumel assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document, except in cases of intentional misconduct or gross negligence by Lumel.
Pigment estimates are directional and not affiliated with or endorsed by Pigment. Microsoft and Microsoft Fabric are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Learn how Microsoft Fabric's native Forecasting Engine uses ETS and ARIMA models to deliver accurate forecasts for smarter, data-driven planning.
