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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cyfe vs Steampipe

Cyfe logo

Cyfe

Business Intelligence

All-in-one business dashboard

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit CyfeFull 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

  • Cyfe is an all-in-one business dashboard application.
  • Free plans on both; paid from $29/mo and $49/mo.
  • Only Cyfe lists pre-built Widgets; only Steampipe lists SQL over live APIs.
  • Where Cyfe falls short: dashboards are the billing unit, at 2 on the $29 Starter plan and 5 on the $39 Standard plan.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cyfe and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Cyfe and Steampipe differ
AttributeCyfeSteampipe
Pricing modelSubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, TV and consolemacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Steampipe.

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 Cyfe

  • Pre-built Widgets
  • Custom Metrics
  • Historical Data
  • White-labeling
  • Embedding
  • Google Analytics
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

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.

Cyfe

  • Building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sourcesnot Steampipe
  • Displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public URLsnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Cyfe

  • Dashboards are the billing unit, at 2 on the $29 Starter plan and 5 on the $39 Standard plan
  • Users are capped separately, at 1 on Starter and 2 on Standard, so a two person team needs the second tier for seats alone
  • Unlimited users only appears on the $119 Premier plan
  • Additional dashboards beyond a plan are $5 each
  • The Agency plan includes 10 clients with further clients at $19 each

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

Cyfe

Free
  • Starter$29/mo
    • 2 Dashboards
    • 1 User
    • 14-day free trial
  • Standard$39/mo
    • 5 Dashboards
    • 2 Users
    • 14-day free trial
  • Pro$65/mo
    • 10 Dashboards
    • 5 Users
    • 14-day free trial
  • Premier$119/mo
    • 20 Dashboards
    • Unlimited Users
    • Additional dashboards available at $5 per dashboard

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 Cyfe if

  • You need pre-built widgets.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console.
  • You also want custom metrics.
Cyfe 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 Cyfe or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Cyfe starts at Free and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cyfe or Steampipe?
Cyfe starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Cyfe or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Cyfe runs on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Cyfe for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cyfe best used for?
Cyfe is most often used for building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sources, displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public urls. Of those, building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sources and displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public urls are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Cyfe do that Steampipe cannot?
Cyfe covers Pre-built Widgets, Custom Metrics, Historical Data, White-labeling. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cyfe: How much does Cyfe cost?

Cyfe offers five subscription plans: Starter at $29/month (2 dashboards, 1 user), Standard at $39/month (5 dashboards, 2 users), Pro at $65/month (10 dashboards, 5 users), Premier at $119/month (20 dashboards, unlimited users), and Agency at $190/month (100 dashboards, 15 users, 10 clients).

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.

Cyfe: What features are included in all Cyfe plans?

All Cyfe tiers include unlimited history, TV mode for dashboard displays, public shareable URLs, custom logos and themes, custom SSL domain support, unlimited data exports, and embedded analytics capabilities. The 14-day free trial is available for every plan.

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.

Cyfe: What is included in Cyfe's Agency plan?

The Agency plan at $190/month includes 100 dashboards, 15 users, and 10 clients. Additional clients cost $19 each. The plan provides 100% white label branding, branded widgets, custom CSS, and full client management features.

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.

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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