Developer Tools · head to head
GitLab CI/CD vs Steampipe
GitLab CI/CD
Developer Tools
Automatically build, test, deploy, and monitor your applications with GitLab CI/CD
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Steampipe
Developer Tools
Query cloud APIs, SaaS tools and code with SQL, with no extract or load step
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: GitLab CI/CD compute minute quotas for Premium and Ultimate tiers not disclosed in documentation; 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 GitLab CI/CD and Steampipe actually diverge.
| Attribute | GitLab CI/CD | Steampipe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | Open source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes |
| Platforms | Web | macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer 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 GitLab CI/CD
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.
GitLab CI/CD
- Reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discountsnot Steampipe
- Enforcing monthly CI/CD spending limits and quota notificationsnot Steampipe
- Allocating compute minutes to open source contributors affordablynot Steampipe
- Forecasting CI/CD spending patterns across multiple projectsnot Steampipe
- Providing private runners for cost control without owning infrastructurenot Steampipe
Steampipe
- Security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly exportnot GitLab CI/CD
- Compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is askednot GitLab CI/CD
- Inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one querynot GitLab CI/CD
- Engineers who would rather write SQL than learn each provider command line toolnot GitLab CI/CD
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
GitLab CI/CD
- Compute minute quotas for Premium and Ultimate tiers not disclosed in documentation
- Additional compute minutes beyond quota incur charges; exact pricing not specified
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
GitLab CI/CD
Free- FreeFree
- 400 compute minutes per month for free tier namespaces
- Linux x86-64 runners at 1x cost factor
- Premium$null/tiered
- Higher monthly compute minute quotas than free tier
- Additional compute minutes available for purchase
- Ultimate$null/tiered
- Highest monthly compute minute allocations
- Additional compute minutes available for purchase
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 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.
Questions people ask
- Is GitLab CI/CD or Steampipe better?
- Neither clearly leads. GitLab CI/CD 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, GitLab CI/CD or Steampipe?
- GitLab CI/CD starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
- Does GitLab CI/CD or Steampipe run on more platforms?
- GitLab CI/CD runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
- Can I use GitLab CI/CD for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is GitLab CI/CD best used for?
- GitLab CI/CD is most often used for reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discounts, enforcing monthly ci/cd spending limits and quota notifications, allocating compute minutes to open source contributors affordably, forecasting ci/cd spending patterns across multiple projects. Of those, reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discounts and enforcing monthly ci/cd spending limits and quota notifications are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
- What can GitLab CI/CD do that Steampipe cannot?
- Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
GitLab CI/CD: How many GitLab CI compute minutes does the free tier include?
The free tier of GitLab CI includes 400 compute minutes per month for free tier namespaces on GitLab.com.
SourceSteampipe: 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.
GitLab CI/CD: What is the cost factor for different GitLab CI runner types?
Linux x86-64 small runners cost 1x; medium runners cost 2x; large runners cost 3x. macOS and Windows runners have cost factors of 6-12x and are in beta status.
SourceSteampipe: 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.
GitLab CI/CD: Do public open-source projects get discounts on GitLab CI compute minutes?
Public open-source projects receive a 0.5x discount on compute minutes. Public forks of GitLab open-source projects receive a 0.008x discount.
SourceSteampipe: 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.
Related pages
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