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Developer Tools · head to head

Prettier vs Steampipe

Prettier logo

Prettier

Developer Tools

Opinionated code formatter

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: Prettier inflexible style rules that cannot be customized significantly, forcing teams to accept opinionated defaults; 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 Prettier and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Prettier and Steampipe differ
AttributePrettierSteampipe
Pricing modelfreeOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsCLI, Editor Plugins, Build ToolsmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
Founded2016Unknown

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 Prettier

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.

Prettier

  • Automatically formatting TypeScript files to project style standardsnot Steampipe
  • Enforcing consistent HTML indentation across component filesnot Steampipe
  • Removing style-related comments from pull request reviewsnot Steampipe
  • Formatting GraphQL queries with consistent indentationnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Prettier

  • Inflexible style rules that cannot be customized significantly, forcing teams to accept opinionated defaults
  • Developers must format entire files rather than selective line ranges in some contexts
  • Limited language support compared to some alternatives, though it covers major languages

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

Prettier

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prettier 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 Prettier if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on CLI, Editor Plugins, Build Tools.
Prettier 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 Prettier or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Prettier 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, Prettier or Steampipe?
Prettier starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Prettier or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Prettier runs on CLI, Editor Plugins, Build Tools. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Prettier for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Prettier best used for?
Prettier is most often used for automatically formatting typescript files to project style standards, enforcing consistent html indentation across component files, removing style-related comments from pull request reviews, formatting graphql queries with consistent indentation. Of those, automatically formatting typescript files to project style standards and enforcing consistent html indentation across component files are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Prettier do that Steampipe cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Prettier: Is Prettier free and open source?

Yes, Prettier is completely free and open source, available as an npm package with no licensing costs or subscriptions.

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.

Prettier: Can Prettier be integrated with ESLint?

Yes, Prettier integrates with ESLint by disabling ESLint formatting rules via eslint-config-prettier, allowing both tools to work together with Prettier handling formatting and ESLint handling code quality.

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.

Prettier: Does Prettier support configuration customization?

Prettier is intentionally opinionated with limited configuration options to enforce consistency. You can create a .prettierrc file for basic customization, but Prettier does not support extensive rule customization like ESLint.

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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