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SolidStart vs Steampipe

SolidStart logo

SolidStart

Web Development

Full-stack meta-framework for SolidJS with fine-grained reactivity

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: SolidStart smaller ecosystem compared to Next.js or Remix due to relative newness; 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: SolidStart covers Fine-grained reactivity, 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 SolidStart and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where SolidStart and Steampipe differ
AttributeSolidStartSteampipe
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools

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 SolidStart

  • Fine-grained reactivity
  • Server actions
  • Single-flight mutations
  • Request deduplication
  • Multi-router support
  • Automatic API generation
  • Vite integration

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.

SolidStart

  • Building lightweight full-stack applications with minimal runtime overheadnot Steampipe
  • Projects requiring fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency trackingnot Steampipe
  • Applications targeting multiple deployment platforms with single codebasenot Steampipe
  • Teams prioritizing performance and small bundle sizesnot Steampipe

Steampipe

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

Where each one falls short

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

SolidStart

  • Smaller ecosystem compared to Next.js or Remix due to relative newness
  • SolidJS less familiar to developers with React experience
  • Community documentation not as extensive as larger frameworks
  • Limited third-party UI component libraries compared to React ecosystem

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

SolidStart

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the SolidStart review.

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 SolidStart if

  • You need fine-grained reactivity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want server actions.
SolidStart 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 SolidStart or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. SolidStart 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, SolidStart or Steampipe?
SolidStart starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does SolidStart or Steampipe run on more platforms?
SolidStart runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web.
Can I use SolidStart for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is SolidStart best used for?
SolidStart is most often used for building lightweight full-stack applications with minimal runtime overhead, projects requiring fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency tracking, applications targeting multiple deployment platforms with single codebase, teams prioritizing performance and small bundle sizes. Of those, building lightweight full-stack applications with minimal runtime overhead and projects requiring fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency tracking are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can SolidStart do that Steampipe cannot?
SolidStart covers Fine-grained reactivity, Server actions, Single-flight mutations, Request deduplication. Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SolidStart: What is SolidJS and how does it differ from React?

SolidJS uses fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency tracking instead of React's virtual DOM, resulting in smaller bundles and better performance.

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.

SolidStart: How many deployment platforms does SolidStart support?

SolidStart supports over 20 deployment platforms including Cloudflare, Netlify, Vercel, Deno, AWS, and Azure through Vite plugins.

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.

SolidStart: Can I use TanStack Router with SolidStart?

Yes, SolidStart supports using either the official Solid Router or TanStack Router depending on project requirements.

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.

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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