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Developer Tools · head to head

Steampipe vs Trulioo

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
Trulioo logo

Trulioo

Cybersecurity

Identity and business verification against national data sources in nearly 200 countries

From
On request
Free plan
No
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.; Trulioo per-check rates vary widely by country and data source, so a blended average from the sales conversation misleads if your volume concentrates in expensive markets.
  • They diverge on capability: Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Trulioo covers Person match.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Steampipe and Trulioo actually diverge.

Attributes where Steampipe and Trulioo differ
AttributeSteampipeTrulioo
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipesquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, WebWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Trulioo

  • Person match
  • Business verification
  • Watchlist screening
  • Document and biometric
  • Single API
  • Workflow orchestration

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 Trulioo
  • Compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is askednot Trulioo
  • Inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one querynot Trulioo
  • Engineers who would rather write SQL than learn each provider command line toolnot Trulioo

Trulioo

  • A payments firm onboarding across dozens of countries where building a data-source integration per market is impracticalnot Steampipe
  • A marketplace verifying business sellers and needing beneficial ownership rather than just a company numbernot Steampipe
  • A fintech wanting a cheap frictionless first check and reserving document scanning for the minority that fail itnot Steampipe
  • A bank expanding into a market where document upload completion rates are poor and registry matching works betternot 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.

Trulioo

  • Per-check rates vary widely by country and data source, so a blended average from the sales conversation misleads if your volume concentrates in expensive markets.
  • Coverage breadth is real but depth is uneven; a country on the map may be served by one thin source with low match rates, which you only discover in a live test.
  • You are charged per query including no-match results, so a market with poor source coverage burns budget producing nothing usable.
  • Because it aggregates third-party data, data residency and consent handling depend on the underlying provider terms, which complicates GDPR assessments in some jurisdictions.
  • Document and biometric capability is competent but not the strongest in the market, so buyers whose primary need is document fraud detection usually pair it with a specialist.

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

Trulioo

On request
  • Trulioo Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced per check with rates varying by country and data source
    • Person, business and watchlist checks charged separately
    • Volume commitment negotiated annually

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 Trulioo if

  • You need person match.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want business verification.
Trulioo review

Questions people ask

Is Steampipe or Trulioo better?
Neither clearly leads. Steampipe starts at Free and Trulioo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Steampipe or Trulioo?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Steampipe and On request for Trulioo.
Does Steampipe or Trulioo run on more platforms?
Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker, Web. Trulioo runs on Web, API.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Trulioo starts at On request.
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 Trulioo is typically brought in for.
What can Steampipe do that Trulioo cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks. Trulioo covers Person match, Business verification, Watchlist screening, Document and biometric.

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.

Trulioo: Does it need a document?

Not for the core product. Data-source matching uses name, address and date of birth, which is why completion rates are higher than document flows.

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.

Trulioo: Are unmatched queries billed?

Yes, in general you pay per query rather than per successful match. Negotiate this explicitly if you are entering markets with thin coverage.

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.

Trulioo: Can it verify companies as well as people?

Yes. Business verification including beneficial ownership is a distinct product line and a common reason to choose Trulioo over document-first vendors.

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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