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Developer Tools · head to head

RubyMine vs Steampipe

RubyMine logo

RubyMine

Developer Tools

JetBrains IDE for Ruby and Ruby on Rails development

From
$24/month
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

  • Only Steampipe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: RubyMine no permanently free tier for commercial use; requires an ongoing subscription.; 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: RubyMine covers Rails-aware coding assistance, 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 RubyMine and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where RubyMine and Steampipe differ
AttributeRubyMineSteampipe
Starting price$24/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
Platformswindows, mac, linuxmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
Founded2000Unknown

Identical on both: 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 RubyMine

  • Rails-aware coding assistance
  • Integrated debugger
  • Test runner integration
  • Database tools
  • Version control integration
  • Docker support

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.

RubyMine

  • Building and maintaining Ruby on Rails applicationsnot Steampipe
  • Debugging Ruby web applicationsnot Steampipe
  • Running and managing RSpec or Minitest suitesnot Steampipe
  • Working across Ruby, JavaScript, and SQL in one projectnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

RubyMine

  • No permanently free tier for commercial use; requires an ongoing subscription.
  • More resource-intensive than lightweight editors such as Sublime Text.
  • Focused primarily on Ruby, so polyglot teams may prefer IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate with plugins instead.
  • Startup time can be slower than simpler text editors on older hardware.

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

RubyMine

$24/month
  • Individual$24/month
    • Personal use license
    • Access to RubyMine
    • Free for students and open-source maintainers
  • Organization$34/month
    • Business use license
    • Access to RubyMine
    • Volume and renewal discounts

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 RubyMine if

  • You need rails-aware coding assistance.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want integrated debugger.
RubyMine 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 RubyMine or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. RubyMine starts at $24/month and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, RubyMine or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $24/month for RubyMine and Free for Steampipe.
Does RubyMine or Steampipe run on more platforms?
RubyMine runs on windows, mac, linux. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RubyMine starts at $24/month.
What is RubyMine best used for?
RubyMine is most often used for building and maintaining ruby on rails applications, debugging ruby web applications, running and managing rspec or minitest suites, working across ruby, javascript, and sql in one project. Of those, building and maintaining ruby on rails applications and debugging ruby web applications are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can RubyMine do that Steampipe cannot?
RubyMine covers Rails-aware coding assistance, Integrated debugger, Test runner integration, Database tools. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RubyMine: How much does RubyMine cost?

RubyMine is sold as a JetBrains Toolbox subscription starting around $24/month for individuals and $34/month for organizations, with free licenses available for students and open-source maintainers.

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.

RubyMine: Is there a free trial?

JetBrains provides a free trial period for RubyMine so developers can evaluate it before purchasing a subscription.

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.

RubyMine: What platforms does RubyMine support?

RubyMine runs as a desktop application on Windows, macOS, and Linux via JetBrains Toolbox.

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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