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Web Development · head to head

Radix UI vs Steampipe

Radix UI logo

Radix UI

Web Development

Unstyled, accessible React component primitives

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: Radix UI you write all the styling, so time to a finished interface is much longer than with a styled library; 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: Radix UI covers Unstyled primitives, 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 Radix UI and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Radix UI and Steampipe differ
AttributeRadix UISteampipe
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper 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 Radix UI

  • Unstyled primitives
  • Accessibility built in
  • Composable API
  • Controlled or uncontrolled

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.

Radix UI

  • Design systems that need correct accessibility without inherited visual opinionsnot Steampipe
  • Replacing hand-built dropdowns and dialogs that have accessibility bugsnot Steampipe
  • Teams with a designer whose output should not be constrained by a library’s themenot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Radix UI

  • You write all the styling, so time to a finished interface is much longer than with a styled library
  • Composable part-based APIs are more verbose than a single component with props
  • Covers primitives rather than complex widgets, so data grids and date pickers come from elsewhere

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

Radix UI

Free
  • Radix UIFree
    • Full functionality
    • Commercial use permitted
    • 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 Radix UI if

  • You need unstyled primitives.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want accessibility built in.
Radix UI 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 Radix UI or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Radix UI 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, Radix UI or Steampipe?
Radix UI starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Radix UI or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Radix UI runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Radix UI for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Radix UI best used for?
Radix UI is most often used for design systems that need correct accessibility without inherited visual opinions, replacing hand-built dropdowns and dialogs that have accessibility bugs, teams with a designer whose output should not be constrained by a library’s theme. Of those, design systems that need correct accessibility without inherited visual opinions and replacing hand-built dropdowns and dialogs that have accessibility bugs are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Radix UI do that Steampipe cannot?
Radix UI covers Unstyled primitives, Accessibility built in, Composable API, Controlled or uncontrolled. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Radix UI: Is Radix UI free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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.

Radix UI: Why use unstyled components?

Because accessibility is the hard part and visual design is the part teams want to own. Radix gives the first and stays out of the second.

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.

Radix UI: What is the relationship with shadcn/ui?

shadcn/ui is built on Radix primitives, adding Tailwind styling and copy-paste distribution on top.

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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