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Sentry vs Steampipe

Sentry logo

Sentry

Technology

Application monitoring platform built by developers for developers

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Each has a real cost: Sentry spending caps stop event ingestion when reached, eliminating visibility during critical moments; 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: Sentry covers Error tracking, 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 Sentry and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Sentry and Steampipe differ
AttributeSentrySteampipe
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languagesmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Sentry

  • Error tracking
  • Performance monitoring
  • Release tracking
  • Real user monitoring
  • Alerting
  • Issue assignment
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Source maps

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.

Sentry

  • Error monitoringnot Steampipe
  • Performance trackingnot Steampipe
  • Debug production issuesnot Steampipe
  • Release managementnot Steampipe
  • User monitoringnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

Sentry

  • Spending caps stop event ingestion when reached, eliminating visibility during critical moments
  • Complex configuration required for filters, sampling rules, issue grouping, and alert policies
  • Difficult to configure custom alerts and alert content without creating email inbox bloat
  • Error grouping is imperfect with noise and filtering issues causing incorrect error prioritization
  • Weak for distributed tracing across microservices compared to dedicated APM tools
  • UI dashboard is less customizable than alternatives like Datadog APM for complex monitoring needs

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

Sentry

Free
  • Developer (Free)Free
    • 5K errors per month
    • 1 user seat
    • 30-day data retention
  • Team$26/month
    • 50K errors per month
    • 5M transaction spans
    • 90-day data retention
  • Business$80/month
    • Higher quotas
    • Extended retention
    • Advanced filtering
  • Organization$199/month
    • SSO integration
    • Audit logs
    • Advanced security

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 Sentry if

  • You need error tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languages.
  • You also want performance monitoring.
Sentry 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 Sentry or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Sentry starts at Free and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sentry or Steampipe?
Sentry starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Sentry or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Sentry runs on Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languages. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use Sentry for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Sentry best used for?
Sentry is most often used for error monitoring, performance tracking, debug production issues, release management. Of those, error monitoring and performance tracking are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Sentry do that Steampipe cannot?
Sentry covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Release tracking, Real user monitoring. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sentry: Does Sentry have a free tier?

Yes. The free Developer tier includes 5,000 errors per month, one user seat, 30-day retention, and 50 session replays per month.

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.

Sentry: How much do Sentry's paid plans cost?

Team plan starts at $26/month (annual) or $29/month (monthly) with 50K errors and 5M spans included. Business plan is $80-89/month. Organization plans start at $199/month with SSO and advanced compliance features.

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.

Sentry: What programming languages does Sentry support?

Sentry supports over 30 languages and frameworks including JavaScript, Python, Go, Ruby, Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, and mobile platforms including iOS, Android, and React Native.

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.

Sentry: Does Sentry support self-hosting?

Yes. Sentry can be self-hosted, and the open-source version is available for deployment in on-premises environments.

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.

Sentry: How does Sentry billing work if I exceed my quota?

Sentry offers spending caps that stop ingestion when reached, meaning you lose visibility exactly when you need it most. You can pre-purchase reserved capacity at 20% discount or pay per event on-demand when exceeding included allotment.

Source
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.

Sentry: What integrations does Sentry support?

Sentry integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Slack, PagerDuty, most CI/CD pipelines, and many other developer tools.

Source
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