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Cybersecurity · head to head

Ory Kratos vs Steampipe

Ory Kratos logo

Ory Kratos

Cybersecurity

Headless identity and user management API

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: Ory Kratos headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page; 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: Ory Kratos covers Headless API, 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 Ory Kratos and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Ory Kratos and Steampipe differ
AttributeOry KratosSteampipe
Pricing modelOpen-source self-hosted, with a paid managed networkOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hostedmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper 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 Ory Kratos

  • Headless API
  • Self-service flows
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Pluggable identity schemas

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.

Ory Kratos

  • Products needing complete control over the look and flow of authenticationnot Steampipe
  • Applications that must not hand user identity data to a third partynot Steampipe
  • Teams building identity as infrastructure across several servicesnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Ory Kratos

  • Headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page
  • More moving parts than a monolithic IAM: Kratos handles identity, and OAuth2 needs Ory Hydra alongside
  • Documentation assumes real familiarity with identity concepts and is not a gentle introduction
  • Self-hosting identity carries the security and availability burden that hosted providers absorb

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

Ory Kratos

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full identity server
    • All flows
    • 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 Ory Kratos if

  • You need headless api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want self-service flows.
Ory Kratos 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 Ory Kratos or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Ory Kratos 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, Ory Kratos or Steampipe?
Ory Kratos starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Ory Kratos or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Ory Kratos runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Ory Kratos for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Ory Kratos best used for?
Ory Kratos is most often used for products needing complete control over the look and flow of authentication, applications that must not hand user identity data to a third party, teams building identity as infrastructure across several services. Of those, products needing complete control over the look and flow of authentication and applications that must not hand user identity data to a third party are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Ory Kratos do that Steampipe cannot?
Ory Kratos covers Headless API, Self-service flows, Multi-factor authentication, Pluggable identity schemas. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ory Kratos: Is Ory Kratos free?

Yes, open source and free to self-host. Ory Network is a paid managed service.

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.

Ory Kratos: What does headless mean here?

Kratos provides identity flows as APIs and no user interface. You build the login, registration and recovery screens yourself.

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.

Ory Kratos: Does Kratos do OAuth2?

No. Kratos handles user identity; OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider functionality is Ory Hydra, a separate component.

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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