No new SSRS with SQL Server 2025: what SSRS shops should plan now
Microsoft is making Power BI Report Server the default reporting solution for SQL Server 2025 and will not ship a new SSRS version. What changes, what stays, and how to plan.
SQL Server Reporting Services will not get a new version. Microsoft announced today on the SQL Server blog that Power BI Report Server will be the default reporting solution for SQL Server 2025, and that no new version of SSRS will be released alongside it.
For a lot of organisations, SSRS is the quiet workhorse behind invoices, operational lists and the monthly PDF that lands in someone's inbox at 6 in the morning. It has shipped with SQL Server for about two decades. So this is not a small change, even if the reports themselves keep working.
Here is what was announced, what it means in practice, and how I would start planning.
What Microsoft announced
The announcement covers the reporting and analytics tools around SQL Server 2025. For reporting, the key points are:
- Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) becomes the default reporting solution for SQL Server 2025.
- Microsoft will not release a new version of SSRS for SQL Server 2025.
- Support remains in place for SQL Server 2025 and all in-market versions of SQL Server.
- At general availability, any customer with a paid SQL Server license will have access to Power BI Report Server.
That last point is the real news for many shops. Until now, PBIRS has been limited to Enterprise edition customers with Software Assurance. Many SSRS installations run on Standard edition, and those customers simply did not have PBIRS as an option. With SQL Server 2025, that barrier goes away.
Microsoft has also published a Reporting Services consolidation FAQ on Microsoft Learn, which describes the move as consolidating on-premises reporting under PBIRS.
Why PBIRS and not a new SSRS
The reasoning is straightforward. PBIRS can do everything SSRS does with paginated RDL reports, and adds interactive Power BI reports (PBIX), data modelling, visual interactivity and custom visuals. The FAQ describes SSRS as a subset of PBIRS.
There is one difference I would not overlook: the lifecycle. SSRS follows the fixed lifecycle of a SQL Server version. PBIRS follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy and gets regular releases. That means more frequent updates, and also that you need a habit of staying current rather than installing once and leaving the server alone for years.
What stays the same
The good news is that your report estate is not thrown away. According to Microsoft, most RDL report assets created in SSRS are fully compatible with PBIRS. Paginated reports, row-level security and RDL authoring are all there.
Existing SSRS installations also do not stop working. SSRS 2022 follows the SQL Server 2022 lifecycle, where extended support runs until January 2033. If you are on SSRS 2022, you have time. If you are on an older version, your clock is set by that version's lifecycle, not by this announcement.
What actually changes
The move from SSRS to PBIRS is a migration, not an upgrade. The documentation is explicit that there is no in-place upgrade from SSRS to Power BI Report Server. You back up the encryption key, back up the ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB databases, restore them for the new instance, install PBIRS and point it at the restored catalog with Report Server Configuration Manager.
A few details from the migration guide are worth noting:
- Migrations from SQL Server 2022 Reporting Services and later require Power BI Report Server (May 2025) or later.
- SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services and later are supported as migration sources.
- SharePoint-integrated mode is harder. You need tools such as rs.exe to copy the content, and other SharePoint assets have to be handled separately.
None of this is new or exotic. But it is a project with a cutover, and it should be planned as one.
What to do next
After two decades in data, my experience is that reporting platforms are rarely retired because of a deadline. They are retired when someone finally has a clean inventory. So start there.
- Inventory your SSRS servers: version, edition, native or SharePoint-integrated mode, and which SQL Server licence covers them.
- List your reports, subscriptions, data sources and any custom extensions or assemblies. Flag the reports nobody has opened in a year.
- Install the free trial of PBIRS on a test server and migrate a copy of one catalog. Test your most complex reports, your subscriptions and your security setup.
- Check how your licensing will look with SQL Server 2025, and talk to whoever handles your licence agreements before you assume anything.
- Add the move to PBIRS to your SQL Server 2025 upgrade plan. Microsoft recommends exactly that for anyone testing the preview.
- Decide on the patch rhythm. PBIRS on the Modern Lifecycle Policy needs a regular update routine.
There is also a bigger question hiding in step 2. Microsoft positions PBIRS as a bridge to the cloud, and it has guidance on migrating SSRS reports to the Power BI service. If a large part of your estate is already heading towards Power BI or Fabric, it may make sense to move some paginated reports straight to the service instead of moving everything to a new on-premises server first. If you need to stay on-premises, PBIRS is now the clear target.
What I would not do is panic. Nothing breaks today, SSRS 2022 is supported for years, and the reports themselves move across. The risk is drifting: staying on an old SSRS version until a server upgrade forces a rushed migration.
Takeaway
SSRS is not disappearing overnight, but its road ends with SQL Server 2022. Power BI Report Server is the path forward on-premises, and with SQL Server 2025 it opens up to far more customers than before. Use the time to clean up your report estate and run a test migration while there is no pressure.
How many SSRS servers are you still running, and do you know which of those reports anyone actually reads?
Sources
Enjoyed this? Get the next one by email
Occasional emails about Microsoft Fabric, SQL Server, Power BI and Synapse.