Home › Power BI Report Testing Tools › Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector)

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) review

#5 in Power BI Report Testing ToolsScore 7.9/10Checked Nov 15, 2026By BestSoftwareGuides Editorial Team

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) is an open-source, rules-based tester for Power BI reports and other Microsoft Fabric items, run locally or in CI/CD pipelines. It ranks #5 of 7 in our power BI report testing tools list (7.9/10). Best for power BI developers enforcing report standards in Azure DevOps or GitHub pipelines.

Also ranked in BI Report Testing Tools (#7, 7.9/10).

Price: Free plan.

Visit Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector)Full pricingAlternatives

What Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) is

Fab Inspector checks Power BI report definitions (PBIR format) and other Fabric items against declarative JSON rules, and can also run DAX and T-SQL queries as rule conditions. It ships as a CLI, a cross-platform desktop app and a Docker image, and writes results in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions formats.

Pros and cons

Where it wins
  • Free and open source (MIT license)
  • Outputs Azure DevOps task commands or GitHub Actions annotations for pipeline gating
  • Rules can include DAX query and T-SQL query conditions, not only layout checks
  • Runs against local item folders or published Fabric workspaces
Where it falls short
  • Community project, not supported by Microsoft
  • Does not read PBIX files; reports must be saved as PBIP / PBIR folders
  • Rules are written as JSON, which takes time to learn; base rules focus on report visual quality

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) pricing

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) pricing plans
PlanBilled annuallyBilled monthlyAnnual savingNotes
Open sourceFreeFree—MIT license; free

USD, per user per month unless noted. "—" means the price is not published or we could not confirm it. Last checked Nov 15, 2026. Status: verified on Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector)'s pricing page.

Key facts

Free planYes. Open source (MIT), self-hosted CLI, desktop app and Docker image
Free trialNot advertised
Paid fromSee vendor
Minimum seats1
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Docker
IntegrationsPower BI (PBIR), Microsoft Fabric workspaces; Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions output formats
SupportGitHub issues, Docs, Wiki
Power BIYes
Report data validated against sourceNot confirmed
Report regression testingNot confirmed
Report performance testingNot confirmed
CI/CD integrationYes
Facts checkedNov 15, 2026 · verified on the vendor's own site (source)

Also ranked in

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) is ranked in 2 of our lists: #5 of 7 in Power BI Report Testing Tools, and:

#7 of 9 in BI Report Testing Tools
Score 7.9/10

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) alternatives

iceDQ 8.2/10
Enterprise QA and data teams testing ETL pipelines, migrations and BI reports
SemanticOps 9.4/10
Power BI developers who edit semantic models with AI assistants and want regression tests
Datagaps BI Validator 8.6/10
Enterprise BI teams testing Power BI, Tableau or Oracle Analytics releases and migrations
QuerySurge 8.1/10
Enterprise QA and data teams testing data warehouses, migrations and BI reports
Tricentis Data Integrity 7.8/10
Enterprises already using Tricentis Tosca, especially for SAP and ERP migrations
Wiiisdom 7.8/10
Large organizations governing Power BI or Tableau estates, especially in regulated industries

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) compared

Frequently asked questions

How much does Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) cost?

Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) has a free plan. Prices last checked Nov 15, 2026.

Is Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) free?

Yes. Open source (MIT), self-hosted CLI, desktop app and Docker image

What are the best Fab Inspector (formerly PBI Inspector) alternatives?

SemanticOps (9.4/10), Datagaps BI Validator (8.6/10), iceDQ (8.2/10) are the highest-scoring alternatives in our power BI report testing tools ranking.

Sources