Flow & network · Microsoft

Sankey Chart (Microsoft): pricing, limits and alternatives

Free✓ Microsoft-certifiedFree (MIT)

Microsoft's Sankey Chart is the standard free way to draw flows in Power BI: link widths are proportional to quantity, and clicking a node or link cross-filters the report. It is certified and open source (MIT). Power BI's core visuals still include no Sankey, so this is the usual starting point.

By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated November 4, 2026

Skip to: build your own version →

Facts as of November 4, 2026

Sankey Chart (Microsoft) facts
Listing name	Sankey Chart (Microsoft Marketplace)
Publisher	Microsoft
Category	Flow & network
Licence model	Free
Price	Free (MIT)
Certified	Yes
Latest version	3.4.5.0 · released June 6, 2025
Source code	github.com/microsoft/powerbi-visuals-sankey

Pricing

Sankey Chart (Microsoft) is free: the listing has no paid plan.

Checked on November 4, 2026. Prices change; confirm with the vendor before you buy.

Strengths

Free, certified and open source.
Cross-highlighting and filtering from nodes and links.
Simple data shape: Source, Destination, Weight.

Limits

Marketplace build last released June 2025.
Styling options are basic compared with paid flow visuals.

Certification and tenant notes

Microsoft-certified on the check date. Source on GitHub (microsoft/powerbi-visuals-sankey).

Microsoft certifies visuals whose code it has reviewed and that make no external calls; certified visuals work in PowerPoint/PDF export and email subscriptions, and admins can restrict a tenant to certified visuals only (Microsoft Learn). To see whether your tenant allows it in the service, Desktop, exports and subscriptions, run the free custom visual tenant check.

When native Power BI is enough

Our take: There is no native Sankey. The decomposition tree shows a breakdown path for one measure, but not flows between stages.

Alternatives to Sankey Chart (Microsoft)

Drill Down Network PROZoomCharts · Quote (30-day trial) · certified
Network graph with expand/collapse; quote pricing.
Network Graph (Powerviz)Powerviz (TRUVIZ) · Free 30 days; priced by designers + viewers · certified
Node–link graph with clusters; 30-day trial then per-user.
DenebDaniel Marsh-Patrick · Free (MIT) · certified
Free; Vega can draw custom Sankey layouts.
Generate your own sankey diagram with VizForgeOne-off credits · you own the code · not certified
A visual built to your brief from a plain-English prompt. Trade-offs are listed in the panel below.

Build your own version

Generate a visual that does the part of Sankey Chart (Microsoft) you need

VizForge writes a Power BI custom visual from a plain-English brief and gives you the .pbiviz and its TypeScript source. The brief below is a starting point based on what Sankey Chart (Microsoft) is used for; edit it to match your report, then send it to the generator.

Generator prompt

307/2,000 characters

Sign in or sign up free (5 credits on signup); the prompt is saved for 30 minutes and opens in the workspace once you're in.

What it costs

One generated visual costs 1–5 credits, once. The smallest pack that covers it is the Starter Pack: $9.99 for 10 credits, which leaves room for a few refinements. No per-user or annual fee: the file is yours.

Sankey Chart (Microsoft) itself is free, so generate only if you need something it doesn't do.

Honest trade-offs

Not Microsoft-certified: Power BI only shows certified custom visuals in PowerPoint/PDF exports and email subscriptions, and tenants that allow certified visuals only will block it unless an admin deploys it as an organizational visual.
You own the .pbiviz and its TypeScript source, so there is no per-user licence and nothing expires; you also maintain it yourself when Power BI changes.
Worth it when you need what the free visual doesn't do (gradient links, stage labels, sorting, value-and-percent labels), described once in the prompt.

FAQ

Does Power BI have a built-in Sankey chart?

No. As of Nov 2026 the core visuals have no Sankey; Microsoft's free Sankey Chart custom visual on Marketplace is the usual option.

Is the Power BI Sankey visual free?

Yes. It is free, certified and open source under the MIT licence.

What data does the Sankey visual need?

A source category, a destination category and a weight measure. Multi-stage flows are rows whose destination is another row's source.

Sources

All sources read on November 4, 2026. VizForge is not affiliated with Microsoft; product names identify the products only. Corrections are welcome.

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