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Business Intelligence · head to head

Holistics vs Steampipe

Holistics logo

Holistics

Business Intelligence

Self-service BI for data teams

From
$800/month
Free plan
No
Visit HolisticsFull 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

  • Holistics is a self-service business intelligence platform.
  • Steampipe has a free plan, then $49/mo; Holistics starts at $800/mo.
  • Only Holistics lists data Modeling; only Steampipe lists SQL over live APIs.
  • Where Holistics falls short: the entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Holistics and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Holistics and Steampipe differ
AttributeHolisticsSteampipe
Starting price$800/monthFree
Pricing modelSubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

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 Holistics

  • Data Modeling
  • Version Control
  • Scheduling
  • Caching
  • Embedding
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake
  • Redshift

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.

Holistics

  • Modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with Git version controlnot Steampipe
  • Self-service exploration and dashboards for non-SQL usersnot Steampipe
  • Embedding analytics into a customer-facing productnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Holistics

  • The entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool
  • Every plan includes only the first 10 users, with additional users charged at $15 per month each on Entry and Standard and $18 on the Security Compliance Suite
  • The Entry plan caps reports at 100, and each additional 100 reports costs $120 per month
  • Google SSO requires the Standard plan at $1,200 per month; enterprise SSO with SAML and SCIM provisioning requires the Security Compliance Suite at $2,400 per month
  • Row-based access control, IP whitelisting, pass-through authentication and user activity monitoring are all Security Compliance Suite features
  • Connecting Git version control to your own repository requires Standard; Entry only gets Holistics-hosted Git
  • White labelling, dynamic row-level permissions and unlimited dashboard viewers for embedded analytics are Custom Plan only, with no published price
  • Bank payments and custom payment terms are Custom Plan only, and custom infosec or legal paperwork is Enterprise plan only
  • The two months off discount requires yearly billing

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

Holistics

$800/month
  • Entry$800/mo
    • 100 reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Core self-service analytics
  • Standard$1,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Custom charts
  • Security Compliance Suite$2,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Granular access controls

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 Holistics if

  • You need data modeling.
  • You also want version control.
Holistics 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 Holistics or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Holistics starts at $800/month and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Holistics or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $800/month for Holistics and Free for Steampipe.
Does Holistics or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Holistics runs on Web. 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. Holistics starts at $800/month.
What is Holistics best used for?
Holistics is most often used for modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with git version control, self-service exploration and dashboards for non-sql users, embedding analytics into a customer-facing product. Of those, modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with git version control and self-service exploration and dashboards for non-sql users are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Holistics do that Steampipe cannot?
Holistics covers Data Modeling, Version Control, Scheduling, Caching. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Holistics: How much do additional Holistics users cost?

Additional users cost $12.50 per month (yearly billing) or $15 per month (monthly billing) for Entry/Standard plans, and $15-18 per month for Security Suite.

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.

Holistics: Can I purchase additional reports on Holistics?

Yes, additional 100-report blocks cost $100 per month (yearly) or $120 per month (monthly billing).

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.

Holistics: Does Holistics support multiple data centers?

Yes, Holistics supports multiple data centers in US, EU, and APAC regions with pricing available for embedded analytics with unlimited dashboard viewers.

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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