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Design · head to head

Rive vs Steampipe

Rive logo

Rive

Design

Create interactive animations for any platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit RiveFull 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

  • Rive is a real-time interactive design and animation tool.
  • Free plans on both; paid from $9/mo and $49/mo.
  • Only Rive lists vector animation; only Steampipe lists SQL over live APIs.
  • Where Rive falls short: limited ecosystem of plugins and third-party templates compared to established tools like After Effects.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rive and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Rive and Steampipe differ
AttributeRiveSteampipe
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Game enginesmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryDesignDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Rive, 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 Rive

  • Vector animation
  • State machines
  • Skeletal animation
  • Code export
  • Real-time preview
  • Flutter
  • React
  • iOS SDK

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.

Rive

  • UI animationsnot Steampipe
  • Interactive graphicsnot Steampipe
  • Game animationsnot Steampipe
  • Micro-interactionsnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Rive

  • Limited ecosystem of plugins and third-party templates compared to established tools like After Effects
  • Not ideal for simple looping animations or static graphics that do not require interactivity
  • Production use can expose bugs and rough edges in the editor and runtime
  • No support for 3D animations; limited to 2D vector-based graphics

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

Rive

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Design and animate
    • Team collaboration
    • Cannot export or ship
  • Cadet$9/mo
    • Export and ship animations
    • Up to 1 team member seat
  • Voyager$32/mo
    • Multiple team member seats
    • Advanced features
    • Priority support
  • Enterprise$120/mo
    • Custom solutions
    • Dedicated 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/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 Rive if

  • You need vector animation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Game engines.
  • You also want state machines.
Rive 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 Rive or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Rive 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, Rive or Steampipe?
Rive starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Rive or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Rive runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Game engines. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Rive for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Rive best used for?
Rive is most often used for ui animations, interactive graphics, game animations, micro-interactions. Of those, ui animations and interactive graphics are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Rive do that Steampipe cannot?
Rive covers Vector animation, State machines, Skeletal animation, Code export. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rive: Does Rive replace Adobe After Effects?

No. After Effects creates video files ideal for broadcast, explainers, and YouTube content. Rive creates interactive runtime files that respond to user input in real-time. Use After Effects for video production and Rive for app UI, micro-interactions, and responsive animations in web and mobile products.

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.

Rive: What platforms can I export Rive animations to?

Rive exports to Web, iOS, Android, macOS, and game engines (Unity, Unreal, Defold). It also integrates with frameworks like React, React Native, Flutter, and no-code builders like Framer, Webflow, and Wix Studio.

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.

Rive: Is Rive free to use?

Yes, Rive offers a free plan that allows you to design, animate, and collaborate for free. Paid plans (Cadet $9/mo, Voyager $32/mo, Enterprise $120/mo) are required to export animations and ship them to production environments.

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.

Rive: Does Rive work with React, Vue, and other web frameworks?

Yes. Rive provides official runtimes and libraries for React, React Native, and Flutter. The Rive Renderer is GPU-accelerated and runs at 120fps with MIT-licensed runtimes you can contribute to and modify.

Source
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.

Rive: Can I create 3D animations with Rive?

Rive is a 2D vector animation tool focused on interactive vector graphics. For 3D design and animation, consider Spline or Blender. Rive excels at UI animations, micro-interactions, and responsive 2D graphics.

Source
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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