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Cybersecurity · head to head

SentinelOne vs Steampipe

SentinelOne logo

SentinelOne

Cybersecurity

Autonomous endpoint protection and response

From
On request
Free plan
No
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

  • Only Steampipe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: SentinelOne enterprise pricing requires contacting sales; 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: SentinelOne covers AI-powered detection, 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 SentinelOne and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where SentinelOne and Steampipe differ
AttributeSentinelOneSteampipe
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, Ios, AndroidmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2013Unknown

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 SentinelOne

  • AI-powered detection
  • Autonomous response
  • Behavioral threat intelligence
  • Root cause analysis
  • Threat hunting automation
  • Ransomware protection
  • Container security
  • Mobile endpoint protection

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.

SentinelOne

  • Endpoint detection and responsenot Steampipe
  • AI-powered threat huntingnot Steampipe
  • Cloud workload securitynot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

SentinelOne

  • Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales
  • Prices shown for 5-100 workstations may differ for larger deployments
  • Purchases must be made through authorized third-party partners

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

SentinelOne

On request
  • Singularity Complete$179.99/year
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection
    • Real-time threat detection and response
  • Singularity Commercial$229.99/year
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • All Complete features plus Identity Detection and Response
    • 90-day data retention
  • Singularity Enterprise$null/custom
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • All Commercial features plus Agentic AI SOC Analyst
    • Full Visibility and Forensics

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 SentinelOne if

  • You need ai-powered detection.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android.
  • You also want autonomous response.

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 SentinelOne or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. SentinelOne 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, SentinelOne or Steampipe?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for SentinelOne and Free for Steampipe.
Does SentinelOne or Steampipe run on more platforms?
SentinelOne runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, 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. SentinelOne starts at On request.
What is SentinelOne best used for?
SentinelOne is most often used for endpoint detection and response, ai-powered threat hunting, cloud workload security. Of those, endpoint detection and response and ai-powered threat hunting are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can SentinelOne do that Steampipe cannot?
SentinelOne covers AI-powered detection, Autonomous response, Behavioral threat intelligence, Root cause analysis. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SentinelOne: What is SentinelOne Singularity Complete pricing?

Singularity Complete costs $179.99 per endpoint per year and includes AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection, real-time threat detection and response, 14-day data retention, and AI Security Assistant. Pricing shown for 5-100 workstations.

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.

SentinelOne: What features distinguish SentinelOne Commercial from Complete?

Singularity Commercial costs $229.99 per endpoint per year (versus $179.99 for Complete) and adds Identity Detection and Response, 90-day data retention (compared to 14-day), and Managed Threat Hunting services.

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.

SentinelOne: How does partner pricing affect SentinelOne costs?

All SentinelOne purchases are made through authorized third-party partners, and partner pricing may differ from published rates. Customers should verify pricing with their authorized reseller.

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.

SentinelOne: What does SentinelOne Enterprise include?

Singularity Enterprise (custom pricing, contact sales) adds Agentic AI SOC Analyst and Full Visibility and Forensics capabilities to all Commercial features, plus expert-led onboarding and training.

Source
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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