Comparison
Nova vs Power BI Copilot
Power BI Copilot helps report authors inside the Power BI service. Nova brings governed answers from the same semantic models to everyone in Microsoft Teams, without extra capacity requirements. Here is how they compare, and when to use which.
Side by side
Both work from your governed Power BI semantic models and respect existing permissions. They differ in where they live, who they serve, and what they do beyond Q&A.
Where your team asks questions
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Commercial model
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Getting started
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Works from your governed Power BI semantic models
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Respects Power BI permissions and row-level security
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Audience safety checks in shared channels and group chats
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Scheduled insights delivered into Teams
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Board pack and document review alongside model data
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Model health audit with prioritised findings
Power BI Copilot
Nova
BA artefacts: requirements, user stories, delivery docs
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Report creation
Power BI Copilot
Nova
Comparison reflects publicly documented Power BI Copilot capabilities and Nova's intended product design as of August 2026. Microsoft Copilot capabilities evolve; verify current details against Microsoft documentation. Power BI, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Fabric, and Copilot are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
When to use which
Power BI Copilot fits when…
- Report authors want AI assistance while building and editing reports inside the Power BI service.
- Your organisation already runs on Copilot-enabled Microsoft Fabric capacity.
- The people asking questions work in Power BI every day and are comfortable there.
Nova fits when…
- Finance, operations, and leadership need answers where they already work: Microsoft Teams.
- You want governed Q&A for the whole team on usage-based pricing, without new capacity commitments.
- You need more than Q&A: scheduled insights in Teams, board pack and document review, model health audits, and BA artefacts.
They are not mutually exclusive. Many teams keep Copilot for report authors inside Power BI and add Nova so everyone else can ask governed questions in Teams. Nova works with the semantic models and permissions you already have, so trying it does not change your Power BI setup.
Try Nova free in Microsoft Teams today
Nova is available now in Microsoft Marketplace. Activate with $69 free usage credit. No card required. Same feature set on every plan: semantic Q&A, board packs, document intelligence, channel safeguards, and portal governance.
$69 free usage credit on activation · No card required · View in Microsoft Marketplace