Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

1Password vs Steampipe

1Password logo

1Password

Cybersecurity

The world's most-loved password manager

From
$2.99/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Steampipe logo

Steampipe

Developer Tools

Query cloud APIs, SaaS tools and code with SQL, with no extract or load step

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Steampipe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 1Password no free tier; all plans require paid subscription; Steampipe aGPL-3.0 across all four engines is a procurement blocker at organisations that ban the licence outright, and the network clause reaches any internal portal or service that puts a web interface in front of it.
  • They diverge on capability: 1Password covers Password generator, Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 1Password and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where 1Password and Steampipe differ
Attribute1PasswordSteampipe
Starting price$2.99/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsmacOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, WebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 1Password

  • Password generator
  • Autofill
  • Secure notes
  • Credit card storage
  • Document storage
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Watchtower security alerts
  • Travel mode

Only in Steampipe

  • SQL over live APIs
  • Wide plugin set
  • Embedded Postgres
  • Compliance benchmarks
  • Joins across providers
  • Hosted option

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

1Password

  • Password managementnot Steampipe
  • Secure document storagenot Steampipe
  • Team credential sharingnot Steampipe
  • Identity protectionnot Steampipe
  • Compliance managementnot Steampipe

Steampipe

  • Security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly exportnot 1Password
  • Compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is askednot 1Password
  • Inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one querynot 1Password
  • Engineers who would rather write SQL than learn each provider command line toolnot 1Password

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

1Password

  • No free tier; all plans require paid subscription
  • Offline access requires prior device sync; cannot add new passwords while offline
  • Enterprise plan does not include free trial access

Steampipe

  • AGPL-3.0 across all four engines is a procurement blocker at organisations that ban the licence outright, and the network clause reaches any internal portal or service that puts a web interface in front of it.
  • Dashboards, benchmarks and mods were removed from Steampipe entirely at version 1.0 in October 2024 and now live in a separate product, so pre-2024 documentation and tutorials describe commands that no longer exist.
  • Live querying is bound by cloud provider API rate limits and keeps no persistent store by default, which is why a separate DuckDB-backed product exists for log volumes and why large accounts return slowly.
  • The company is fifteen people and bootstrapped, maintaining four command line tools plus a hosted service plus two further products, and the newer tools have thin community traction relative to that surface area.
  • Hosted tiers include only three users regardless of tier, with additional Enterprise users charged separately, so a team of thirty costs an order of magnitude more than the headline figure before compute and storage are counted.

Pricing, plan by plan

1Password

$2.99/month

No published plan breakdown. See the 1Password review.

Steampipe

Free
  • Steampipe CLIFree
    • AGPL-3.0
    • All plugins
    • No user or query limits
  • Pipes DeveloperFree
    • One user
    • 400 compute minutes
    • 3GB storage
  • Pipes Team$49/month
    • Three users
    • 2,000 compute minutes
    • 20GB storage
  • Pipes Enterprise$249/month
    • Three users
    • 10,000 compute minutes
    • 100GB storage

Which should you pick?

Choose 1Password if

  • You need password generator.
  • You work on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Web.
  • You also want autofill.
1Password review

Choose Steampipe if

  • You need sql over live apis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
  • You also want wide plugin set.
Steampipe review

Questions people ask

Is 1Password or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. 1Password starts at $2.99/month and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 1Password or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2.99/month for 1Password and Free for Steampipe.
Does 1Password or Steampipe run on more platforms?
1Password runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. 1Password starts at $2.99/month.
What is 1Password best used for?
1Password is most often used for password management, secure document storage, team credential sharing, identity protection. Of those, password management and secure document storage are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can 1Password do that Steampipe cannot?
1Password covers Password generator, Autofill, Secure notes, Credit card storage. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

1Password: Does 1Password offer a free tier?

No. 1Password offers no free tier as of July 2026, but provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required for all plans except Enterprise.

Source
Steampipe: When did Steampipe become AGPL?

May 2021, about four months after the project went public. It is a settled licence rather than a recent change, and predates the Business Source Licence wave it is often confused with.

1Password: Can I access 1Password offline?

Yes. The desktop app allows for offline access to your vault once you have synced your passwords to the device.

Source
Steampipe: Where did the dashboards and benchmarks go?

Into Powerpipe. They were deprecated in March 2024 and removed from Steampipe at version 1.0 in October 2024, so the check, dashboard, mod and variable commands are gone.

1Password: What is the pricing for individuals and families?

Individual plan costs 2.99 USD per month or 35.88 USD annually. Families plan costs 59.88 USD per year and includes five licenses with the ability to add more for 1 USD per month each.

Source
Steampipe: Is it fast on a large cloud estate?

Not always. Queries call provider APIs at request time, so rate limits rather than query planning set the pace, and there is no persistent store by default.

1Password: What platforms does 1Password support?

1Password is available on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, with browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Safari.

Source
Steampipe: Does the AGPL affect internal use?

Running it internally for your own analysis is fine. Putting a web interface in front of it that other people use is where the network clause becomes a question for your legal team.

Steampipe: Is a bootstrapped vendor a risk?

It cuts both ways. There is no investor pressure toward a licence change or an exit, and there are also fifteen people supporting a large product surface.

Share

Related pages

More on 1Password

More on Steampipe

Keep looking

Other head to heads