Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

RoboForm vs Steampipe

RoboForm logo

RoboForm

Cybersecurity

Password manager and form filler

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: RoboForm free plan is restricted to a single device; syncing across multiple devices requires the Premium plan; 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 RoboForm and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where RoboForm and Steampipe differ
AttributeRoboFormSteampipe
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWebmacOS, 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 RoboForm

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.

RoboForm

  • Auto-filling passwords across multiple devices and websitesnot Steampipe
  • Sharing family passwords securely with household membersnot Steampipe
  • Receiving alerts when credentials appear in data breachesnot Steampipe
  • Granting emergency access to trusted contacts for account recoverynot Steampipe
  • Enforcing multi-factor authentication across online accountsnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

RoboForm

  • Free plan is restricted to a single device; syncing across multiple devices requires the Premium plan
  • Premium's advertised $2.49 per month rate is a first-year discount that renews at $29.88 per year
  • Family plan covers only up to 5 accounts and likewise renews at a higher $47.75 per year after the first-year discount

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

RoboForm

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited passwords on single device
    • Advanced 2FA
    • Password breach monitoring 5 emails
  • Premium$2.49/month
    • Billed annually
    • All Free features
    • Unlimited devices
  • Family$3.98/month
    • Billed annually
    • Up to 5 Premium accounts
    • 30-day money-back guarantee

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 RoboForm if

  • You want to start without paying.

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.

Questions people ask

Is RoboForm or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. RoboForm 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, RoboForm or Steampipe?
RoboForm starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does RoboForm or Steampipe run on more platforms?
RoboForm runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use RoboForm for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is RoboForm best used for?
RoboForm is most often used for auto-filling passwords across multiple devices and websites, sharing family passwords securely with household members, receiving alerts when credentials appear in data breaches, granting emergency access to trusted contacts for account recovery. Of those, auto-filling passwords across multiple devices and websites and sharing family passwords securely with household members are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can RoboForm do that Steampipe cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RoboForm: How much does RoboForm cost?

Premium plan is $2.49 per month when billed annually ($29.88/year renewal rate). Family plan supports up to 5 Premium accounts at $3.98 per month annual. Free plan is available with basic password management.

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.

RoboForm: Is there a money-back guarantee?

Yes, RoboForm offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

Other head to heads