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Cloud · head to head

K3s vs Steampipe

K3s logo

K3s

Cloud

Lightweight certified Kubernetes distribution in a single binary

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Steampipe logo

Steampipe

Developer Tools

Query cloud APIs, SaaS tools and code with SQL, with no extract or load step

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: K3s the SQLite default is single-server only; highly available control planes need etcd or an external datastore, which removes much of the simplicity; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: K3s covers Single binary, Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which K3s and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where K3s and Steampipe differ
AttributeK3sSteampipe
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsLinux, ARM, Self-hostedmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryCloudDeveloper 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 K3s

  • Single binary
  • SQLite by default
  • Certified conformant
  • Batteries included
  • Low resource footprint
  • Simple install

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.

K3s

  • Kubernetes on edge sites and IoT hardware where full clusters will not fitnot Steampipe
  • Development and CI clusters that must start fast and cost nothingnot Steampipe
  • Small production clusters where full Kubernetes is more operations than the workload justifiesnot Steampipe
  • Teaching and learning Kubernetes without cloud spendnot Steampipe

Steampipe

  • Security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly exportnot K3s
  • Compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is askednot K3s
  • Inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one querynot K3s
  • Engineers who would rather write SQL than learn each provider command line toolnot K3s

Where each one falls short

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

K3s

  • The SQLite default is single-server only; highly available control planes need etcd or an external datastore, which removes much of the simplicity
  • Bundled components such as Traefik are opinionated defaults that larger teams often strip out and replace
  • Removed in-tree cloud provider integrations mean cloud-specific features need external controllers
  • Aimed at small and edge clusters, so very large deployments are better served by a standard distribution

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

K3s

Free
  • K3sFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

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 K3s if

  • You need single binary.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, ARM, Self-hosted.
  • You also want sqlite by default.
K3s 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 K3s or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. K3s 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, K3s or Steampipe?
K3s starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does K3s or Steampipe run on more platforms?
K3s runs on Linux, ARM, Self-hosted. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use K3s for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is K3s best used for?
K3s is most often used for kubernetes on edge sites and iot hardware where full clusters will not fit, development and ci clusters that must start fast and cost nothing, small production clusters where full kubernetes is more operations than the workload justifies, teaching and learning kubernetes without cloud spend. Of those, kubernetes on edge sites and iot hardware where full clusters will not fit and development and ci clusters that must start fast and cost nothing are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can K3s do that Steampipe cannot?
K3s covers Single binary, SQLite by default, Certified conformant, Batteries included. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

K3s: Is K3s free?

Yes. K3s is open source with no licence fee. SUSE sells commercial support around Rancher separately.

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.

K3s: Is K3s real Kubernetes?

Yes. It is CNCF-certified conformant, so standard manifests, kubectl and Helm charts work without modification.

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.

K3s: Why is K3s smaller than Kubernetes?

It strips legacy, alpha and in-tree cloud provider code, packages everything as one binary, and defaults to SQLite instead of etcd.

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.

K3s: Can K3s run in production?

Yes, and it does, particularly at the edge and for small clusters. For a highly available control plane you need to move off the SQLite default to etcd or an external datastore.

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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