Text, HTML & AI · Microsoft

Word Cloud: pricing, limits and alternatives

Free✓ Microsoft-certifiedFree (MIT)

Word Cloud is Microsoft's free, certified visual that sizes words by frequency or by a measure. You can break text into words or keep phrases whole, remove stop words, and allow rotation within chosen angles.

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

Skip to: build your own version →

Facts as of November 4, 2026

Word Cloud facts
Listing name	Word Cloud (Microsoft Marketplace)
Publisher	Microsoft
Category	Text, HTML & AI
Licence model	Free
Price	Free (MIT)
Certified	Yes
Latest version	2.3.4.0 · released December 23, 2024
Source code	github.com/microsoft/PowerBI-visuals-WordCloud

Pricing

Word Cloud is free: the listing has no paid plan.

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

Strengths

Word breaking on or off: count words in free text, or size whole values by a measure.
Stop-word removal and rotation settings.
Free, certified, MIT-licensed.

Limits

Marketplace build last released December 2024; GitHub has later fixes.
Word clouds are hard to read precisely; pair with a bar chart for ranking.

Certification and tenant notes

Microsoft-certified on the check date.

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 word cloud. A sorted bar chart of the top terms is the more accurate native alternative.

Alternatives to Word Cloud

HTML ContentDaniel Marsh-Patrick · Free (MIT) · not certified
Render your own text layouts from DAX.
Text Enhancer (MAQ)MAQ Software · Free · certified
Styled static or dynamic text.
DenebDaniel Marsh-Patrick · Free (MIT) · certified
Vega has a word cloud transform.
Generate your own 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 Word Cloud 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 Word Cloud is used for; edit it to match your report, then send it to the generator.

Generator prompt

260/2,000 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.

Word Cloud 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.
Generate when you need brand colours by category, fixed word positions or a different layout.

FAQ

Is the Power BI Word Cloud free?

Yes, it is a free, certified Microsoft visual with its source on GitHub.

How do I remove common words?

Turn on stop words in the formatting pane to drop common terms.

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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