Softwr

Web Development · head to head

.NET vs Steampipe

.NET logo

.NET

Web Development

Free, cross-platform, open source developer platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Each has a real cost: .NET .NET 8 and .NET 9 both reach end of support on 10 November 2026, per dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy (Aug 2026), forcing an upgrade to .NET 10 by that date; 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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which .NET and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where .NET and Steampipe differ
Attribute.NETSteampipe
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools

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

Nothing recorded that Steampipe does not also cover.

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.

.NET

  • Web development with ASP.NET Core and Entity Frameworknot Steampipe
  • Cloud-native application development for Azurenot Steampipe
  • Mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI cross-platform frameworknot Steampipe
  • AI and machine learning applications using C#not Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

.NET

  • .NET 8 and .NET 9 both reach end of support on 10 November 2026, per dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy (Aug 2026), forcing an upgrade to .NET 10 by that date
  • Standard Term Support releases get only 2 years of patches versus 3 years for Long Term Support releases, per Microsoft's own support policy page, so teams on an STS release face a shorter upgrade cycle

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

.NET

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the .NET 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 .NET if

  • You want to start without paying.
.NET 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 .NET or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. .NET 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, .NET or Steampipe?
.NET starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does .NET or Steampipe run on more platforms?
.NET runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use .NET for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is .NET best used for?
.NET is most often used for web development with asp.net core and entity framework, cloud-native application development for azure, mobile and desktop apps with .net maui cross-platform framework, ai and machine learning applications using c#. Of those, web development with asp.net core and entity framework and cloud-native application development for azure are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can .NET do that Steampipe cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

.NET: Is .NET free to use?

Yes. .NET is completely free and open-source, available on GitHub.

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.

.NET: What platforms does .NET support?

.NET supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and Docker. A single C# codebase can run across multiple platforms including iOS, Android, and cloud environments.

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.

.NET: How large is the .NET ecosystem?

NuGet provides 390,000+ unique packages with 50,000+ new packages added annually. .NET has 474K+ GitHub stars and active community support across multiple platforms.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on .NET

More on Steampipe

Keep looking

Other head to heads