Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Securiti vs Steampipe

Securiti logo

Securiti

Cybersecurity

Data and AI security posture management with privacy operations on a single data catalogue

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: Securiti value depends entirely on connector coverage and completed scanning, so the first useful data map commonly takes months and stalls whenever a data owner will not grant access to a system.; 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: Securiti covers Sensitive data discovery, 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 Securiti and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Securiti and Steampipe differ
AttributeSecuritiSteampipe
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebmacOS, 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 Securiti

  • Sensitive data discovery
  • Data security posture management
  • Data access intelligence
  • AI and LLM governance
  • PrivacyOps
  • Data flow governance
  • Breach impact analysis
  • People data graph

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.

Securiti

  • An enterprise that must answer, within days of a breach, exactly whose regulated data was in the affected store and in which jurisdictionsnot Steampipe
  • A privacy team automating deletion requests across dozens of systems where the hard part is knowing where a person appears at allnot Steampipe
  • A security team that needs to find sensitive data sitting in over-permissive cloud buckets and warehouse tables before an auditor doesnot Steampipe
  • A company putting internal data into retrieval-augmented AI applications and needing to prove that regulated fields are not reaching the modelnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Securiti

  • Value depends entirely on connector coverage and completed scanning, so the first useful data map commonly takes months and stalls whenever a data owner will not grant access to a system.
  • Usage-based pricing tied to data volume means costs rise as the estate grows rather than as the security programme matures, and organisations with large but low-risk data lakes pay for scanning they do not need.
  • The breadth across DSPM, privacy and AI governance means each individual module is competing with a specialist, and buyers who only need one of the three often find a focused tool does that job better for less.
  • Classification accuracy on unstructured and free-text data requires tuning, and untuned deployments generate false positives that erode trust in the catalogue precisely when teams are being asked to act on it.
  • Pricing is unpublished and modular, so scoping is difficult without a sales engagement and the eventual cost depends on module choices that are hard to evaluate before you have seen your own data map.

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

Securiti

On request
  • Data and AI Command Centre$undefined/year
    • Modular, usage based pricing quoted by data volume and modules selected
    • Available through the AWS marketplace as well as direct
    • Annual subscription with no fixed end date, cancellable

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 Securiti if

  • You need sensitive data discovery.
  • You also want data security posture management.
Securiti 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 Securiti or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Securiti 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, Securiti or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Securiti and Free for Steampipe.
Does Securiti or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Securiti runs on Web. 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. Securiti starts at On request.
What is Securiti best used for?
Securiti is most often used for an enterprise that must answer, within days of a breach, exactly whose regulated data was in the affected store and in which jurisdictions, a privacy team automating deletion requests across dozens of systems where the hard part is knowing where a person appears at all, a security team that needs to find sensitive data sitting in over-permissive cloud buckets and warehouse tables before an auditor does, a company putting internal data into retrieval-augmented ai applications and needing to prove that regulated fields are not reaching the model. Of those, an enterprise that must answer, within days of a breach, exactly whose regulated data was in the affected store and in which jurisdictions and a privacy team automating deletion requests across dozens of systems where the hard part is knowing where a person appears at all are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Securiti do that Steampipe cannot?
Securiti covers Sensitive data discovery, Data security posture management, Data access intelligence, AI and LLM governance. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Securiti: Is Securiti a DSPM tool or a privacy tool?

Both, deliberately. It runs data security posture management and privacy operations off one discovery catalogue, which is its main argument against buying two products.

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.

Securiti: What does it cost?

Not published. Pricing is modular and usage based, quoted by data volume and selected modules, and it is also available through the AWS marketplace.

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.

Securiti: How long until it is useful?

Expect months, not weeks. The limiting factor is configuring connectors and getting access approvals to the systems you most want scanned.

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.

Securiti: Does it govern AI use?

Yes, it includes controls over data flowing into models and retrieval pipelines, which is increasingly the reason enterprises shortlist it.

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

More on Securiti

More on Steampipe

Keep looking

Other head to heads