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Developer Tools · head to head

Steampipe vs Treblle

Steampipe logo

Steampipe

Developer Tools

Query cloud APIs, SaaS tools and code with SQL, with no extract or load step

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Treblle logo

Treblle

APIs

API observability, security, and governance platform

From
$233/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Steampipe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Treblle no free tier is offered; the entry-level Core plan starts at $233/month billed yearly.
  • They diverge on capability: Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Treblle covers API discovery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Steampipe and Treblle actually diverge.

Attributes where Steampipe and Treblle differ
AttributeSteampipeTreblle
Starting priceFree$233/month
Pricing modelOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipessubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Webweb, api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsAPIs

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 Steampipe

  • SQL over live APIs
  • Wide plugin set
  • Embedded Postgres
  • Compliance benchmarks
  • Joins across providers
  • Hosted option

Only in Treblle

  • API discovery
  • Runtime security
  • API governance
  • Compliance monitoring
  • API documentation and analytics
  • Agentic AI support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Steampipe

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

Treblle

  • Gaining full visibility into API traffic across multi-cloud environmentsnot Steampipe
  • Detecting shadow APIs and runtime security risksnot Steampipe
  • Meeting compliance audit requirements such as HIPAA or GDPRnot Steampipe
  • Governing API design standards through CI/CDnot Steampipe

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Treblle

  • No free tier is offered; the entry-level Core plan starts at $233/month billed yearly.
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is custom and not published, requiring a sales conversation to budget.
  • Core plan is limited to 1 workspace and only 30 days of data retention.
  • SSO and on-prem/BYO cloud deployment are reserved for the top Enterprise tier.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Treblle

$233/month
  • Core$233/month
    • Billed yearly
    • 5 APIs
    • 500 requests/min
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Custom APIs and request limits
    • 50M requests/month baseline
    • API security
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited workspaces, APIs, and requests/min
    • API governance and compliance
    • SSO

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Treblle if

  • You need api discovery.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want runtime security.
Treblle review

Questions people ask

Is Steampipe or Treblle better?
Neither clearly leads. Steampipe starts at Free and Treblle at $233/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Steampipe or Treblle?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Steampipe and $233/month for Treblle.
Does Steampipe or Treblle run on more platforms?
Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web. Treblle runs on web, api.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Treblle starts at $233/month.
What is Steampipe best used for?
Steampipe is most often used for security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly export, compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is asked, inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one query, engineers who would rather write sql than learn each provider command line tool. Of those, security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly export and compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is asked are not what Treblle is typically brought in for.
What can Steampipe do that Treblle cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks. Treblle covers API discovery, Runtime security, API governance, Compliance monitoring.

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.

Treblle: What does Treblle cost?

Treblle's Core plan costs $233/month billed yearly and covers 5 APIs and 5M requests/month; Growth and Enterprise plans use custom pricing for larger request volumes and advanced 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.

Treblle: Is there a free plan?

Treblle does not offer a free tier; it instead offers a no-credit-card demo rather than free ongoing access.

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.

Treblle: How is usage metered?

Plans are metered by number of APIs monitored and requests per minute/month, with the Core plan capped at 500 requests/min and 5M requests/month.

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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