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Business Intelligence · head to head

Anaplan vs Steampipe

Anaplan logo

Anaplan

Business Intelligence

Connected planning platform with an in-memory calculation engine for large multidimensional models

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit AnaplanFull review
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
Visit SteampipeFull review

The short version

  • Steampipe starts at $49/mo; Anaplan prices on request.
  • Only Anaplan lists hyperblock calculation engine; only Steampipe lists SQL over live APIs.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Anaplan and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Anaplan and Steampipe differ
AttributeAnaplanSteampipe
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelQuoteOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOSmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

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 Anaplan

  • Hyperblock calculation engine
  • Connected planning
  • Scenario and versioning
  • Model builder
  • Anaplan PlanIQ
  • Workflow and approvals
  • Application lifecycle management
  • Data integration

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.

Anaplan

  • Sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediatelynot Steampipe
  • Demand and supply planning at SKU and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of itemsnot Steampipe
  • Workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business unitsnot Steampipe
  • Replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for Excel to open reliablynot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Anaplan

  • Workspace is licensed by memory consumed, so a model that grows as the business adds SKUs, regions or scenarios generates a bill increase without a single new user being added, and teams end up optimising models for licence cost rather than clarity
  • Model building requires certified Anaplan modellers using a proprietary formula language, and the labour market for that skill is small, so most customers stay dependent on a systems integrator long after go-live
  • Thoma Bravo took the company private in 2022 in a $10.7bn deal, and customers have since reported firmer renewal terms; a private-equity owner optimising for cash flow is a real factor in a multi-year planning contract
  • Native reporting and visualisation are weak for anything beyond planning grids, so most customers push data out to Power BI or Tableau for executive reporting, adding another tool and another latency point
  • Implementations are long. A connected planning programme across finance and supply chain routinely runs six to eighteen months before the first production plan, which is difficult to justify when the business wants a forecast this quarter

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

Anaplan

On request
  • AnaplanOn request
    • Licensed by user tier and by workspace capacity
    • Workspace charged on memory consumed by models, independent of user count
    • Multi-year enterprise agreements are the norm

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/mo
    • Three users
    • 2,000 compute minutes
    • 20GB storage
  • Pipes Enterprise$249/mo
    • Three users
    • 10,000 compute minutes
    • 100GB storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Anaplan if

  • You need hyperblock calculation engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS.
  • You also want connected planning.
Anaplan review

Choose Steampipe if

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

Questions people ask

Is Anaplan or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Anaplan starts at On request and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Anaplan or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Anaplan and Free for Steampipe.
Does Anaplan or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Anaplan runs on Web, iOS. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Anaplan starts at On request.
What is Anaplan best used for?
Anaplan is most often used for sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately, demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items, workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business units, replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for excel to open reliably. Of those, sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately and demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Anaplan do that Steampipe cannot?
Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Connected planning, Scenario and versioning, Model builder. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Anaplan: Why is Anaplan expensive even when user counts are low?

Because workspace is licensed on the memory your models consume as well as on users. Large models cost money regardless of how many people log in.

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.

Anaplan: Do we need a systems integrator?

Almost always for the first implementation. The proprietary modelling language and the scale of typical models make an experienced partner or an internal certified team effectively mandatory.

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.

Anaplan: Who owns Anaplan?

Thoma Bravo, which took it private in 2022 for $10.7bn.

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.

Anaplan: Can it replace our BI tool?

No. It is a planning and calculation platform; most customers still export to Power BI or Tableau for reporting and dashboards.

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.

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