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Cybersecurity · head to head

Salient CompleteView vs Steampipe

Salient CompleteView logo

Salient CompleteView

Cybersecurity

Per-camera licensed video management software with unlimited client workstations

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
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
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Steampipe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Salient CompleteView the third-party integration ecosystem is much smaller than Milestone's, so a specialist analytics, LPR or access control requirement is more likely to need custom integration work.; 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: Salient CompleteView covers One licence per camera, Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Salient CompleteView and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Salient CompleteView and Steampipe differ
AttributeSalient CompleteViewSteampipe
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: 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 Salient CompleteView

  • One licence per camera
  • Open camera support
  • Perpetual or subscription
  • Recording server architecture
  • Video wall
  • Cloud Services
  • Forensic search
  • First responder access

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.

Salient CompleteView

  • A school district where dozens of administrators and resource officers need viewing access without per-seat licencesnot Steampipe
  • A hospital campus consolidating legacy recorders under one recording architecturenot Steampipe
  • A city department needing first responder access to specific cameras during an incidentnot Steampipe
  • An integrator deploying a mid-sized site where an enterprise VMS would be over-engineerednot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Salient CompleteView

  • The third-party integration ecosystem is much smaller than Milestone's, so a specialist analytics, LPR or access control requirement is more likely to need custom integration work.
  • It is Windows server based with a conventional recording architecture, so it carries the server, storage and maintenance burden that cloud-native competitors remove entirely.
  • International presence is limited and the channel is concentrated in North America, so buyers elsewhere face thin support and few experienced integrators.
  • No current pricing is published; distribution list prices circulate but the actual number depends on the integrator, which makes competitive comparison slow.
  • Brand recognition is lower than the market leaders, which matters in public procurement where specifications are sometimes written around a named competitor and a substitution has to be argued.

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

Salient CompleteView

On request
  • CompleteView$undefined/one-time
    • One licence per IP camera, sold through distribution
    • No charge or licence for client workstations, unlimited clients
    • Perpetual and subscription licensing both available

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 Salient CompleteView if

  • You need one licence per camera.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want open camera support.
Salient CompleteView 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 Salient CompleteView or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Salient CompleteView starts at On request and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Salient CompleteView or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Salient CompleteView and Free for Steampipe.
Does Salient CompleteView or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Salient CompleteView runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. 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. Salient CompleteView starts at On request.
What is Salient CompleteView best used for?
Salient CompleteView is most often used for a school district where dozens of administrators and resource officers need viewing access without per-seat licences, a hospital campus consolidating legacy recorders under one recording architecture, a city department needing first responder access to specific cameras during an incident, an integrator deploying a mid-sized site where an enterprise vms would be over-engineered. Of those, a school district where dozens of administrators and resource officers need viewing access without per-seat licences and a hospital campus consolidating legacy recorders under one recording architecture are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Salient CompleteView do that Steampipe cannot?
Salient CompleteView covers One licence per camera, Open camera support, Perpetual or subscription, Recording server architecture. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Salient CompleteView: Do I pay for client workstations?

No. CompleteView licenses one licence per IP camera with no additional charge or licence for clients and no limit on the number of client workstations.

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.

Salient CompleteView: Is licensing perpetual or subscription?

Both are offered. Perpetual suits capital budgets; subscription suits organisations that prefer operating expenditure.

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.

Salient CompleteView: Does it have a cloud option?

Yes, Salient Cloud Services, with free registration for an asset dashboard and paid upgrades for remote access, monitoring and first responder connectivity.

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.

Salient CompleteView: What version is current?

CompleteView 8.0 is the current release line.

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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