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Business Intelligence · head to head

SAP BusinessObjects vs Steampipe

SAP BusinessObjects logo

SAP BusinessObjects

Business Intelligence

Enterprise business intelligence suite

From
$400/month
Free plan
No
Visit SAP BusinessObjectsFull 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

  • SAP BusinessObjects is a comprehensive business intelligence suite.
  • Steampipe has a free plan, then $49/mo; SAP BusinessObjects starts at $400/mo.
  • Only SAP BusinessObjects lists crystal Reports; only Steampipe lists wide plugin set.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SAP BusinessObjects and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where SAP BusinessObjects and Steampipe differ
AttributeSAP BusinessObjectsSteampipe
Starting price$400/monthFree
Pricing modelSubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

Not yet recorded: 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 SAP BusinessObjects

  • Crystal Reports
  • Web Intelligence
  • Lumira
  • Analysis for Office
  • Live Office
  • SAP HANA
  • SAP ERP
  • Oracle

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.

SAP BusinessObjects

  • Enterprise reportingnot Steampipe
  • Executive dashboardsnot Steampipe
  • Regulatory compliancenot Steampipe
  • Strategic planningnot Steampipe
  • Operational analyticsnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

SAP BusinessObjects

  • SAP BusinessObjects Private Cloud Edition is listed on UK G-Cloud 14 as a Cloud software service by SAP (UK) Limited titled 'SAP Business Objects Private Cloud Edition', alongside a reseller listing from NTT DATA Business Solutions; the G-Cloud search results describe it as subscription-based but show no per-user or per-month figure in the listing summary

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

SAP BusinessObjects

$400/month
  • Standard$400/mo
    • Core BI Tools
    • Web Intelligence
    • Crystal Reports
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Full Suite
    • Advanced Features
    • Premium 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 SAP BusinessObjects if

  • You need crystal reports.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want web intelligence.
SAP BusinessObjects 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 SAP BusinessObjects or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. SAP BusinessObjects starts at $400/month and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SAP BusinessObjects or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $400/month for SAP BusinessObjects and Free for Steampipe.
Does SAP BusinessObjects or Steampipe run on more platforms?
SAP BusinessObjects runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SAP BusinessObjects starts at $400/month.
What is SAP BusinessObjects best used for?
SAP BusinessObjects is most often used for enterprise reporting, executive dashboards, regulatory compliance, strategic planning. Of those, enterprise reporting and executive dashboards are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can SAP BusinessObjects do that Steampipe cannot?
SAP BusinessObjects covers Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence, Lumira, Analysis for Office. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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