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Developer Tools · head to head

Steampipe vs Zenlytic

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
Visit SteampipeFull review
Zenlytic logo

Zenlytic

Business Intelligence

Conversational analytics on a governed semantic layer that shows you the SQL it ran

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit ZenlyticFull review

The short version

  • Steampipe starts at $49/mo; Zenlytic prices on request.
  • Only Steampipe lists SQL over live APIs; only Zenlytic lists zoe conversational agent.
  • Where Zenlytic falls short: pricing is not published and is negotiated per deal, so small buyers have no benchmark and no leverage.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Steampipe and Zenlytic actually diverge.

Attributes where Steampipe and Zenlytic differ
AttributeSteampipeZenlytic
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot PipesQuote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, WebWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

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 Zenlytic

  • Zoe conversational agent
  • YAML semantic layer
  • LookML import
  • Row and column permissions
  • Dashboards
  • dbt integration
  • Embedded analytics
  • Query transparency

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

Zenlytic

  • A data team of three fielding sixty ad hoc requests a week from operators who could answer them in chat insteadnot Steampipe
  • An ecommerce company where merchandisers need cohort and margin questions answered without waiting for an analystnot Steampipe
  • A Looker customer looking for an exit that can import existing LookML rather than remodel from scratchnot Steampipe
  • A finance team that needs every AI-generated number to show its SQL before it goes in a board packnot 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

Zenlytic

  • Answer quality is bounded by the semantic model, so a team without a maintained dbt project and metric definitions must complete a modelling project before the AI is useful at all
  • It is a small venture-funded company in a category that Snowflake, Databricks and Microsoft are all building into natively, which is a real procurement risk on a multi-year contract
  • Pricing is not published and is negotiated per deal, so small buyers have no benchmark and no leverage
  • The visualisation and dashboard layer is thinner than established BI tools, so teams wanting pixel control over reporting will find it limiting
  • It assumes a cloud data warehouse; organisations with data spread across operational databases and spreadsheets have to consolidate first, which is the expensive part of the project

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/mo
    • Three users
    • 2,000 compute minutes
    • 20GB storage
  • Pipes Enterprise$249/mo
    • Three users
    • 10,000 compute minutes
    • 100GB storage

Zenlytic

On request
  • ZenlyticOn request
    • Annual contract quoted by seats and deployment
    • Semantic layer, dashboards and Zoe included
    • Embedded analytics licensed separately

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, Self-hosted, Web.
  • You also want wide plugin set.
Steampipe review

Choose Zenlytic if

  • You need zoe conversational agent.
  • You also want yaml semantic layer.
Zenlytic review

Questions people ask

Is Steampipe or Zenlytic better?
Neither clearly leads. Steampipe starts at Free and Zenlytic at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Steampipe or Zenlytic?
Steampipe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Steampipe and On request for Zenlytic.
Does Steampipe or Zenlytic run on more platforms?
Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web. Zenlytic runs on Web.
Can I use Steampipe for free?
Yes. Steampipe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zenlytic 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 Zenlytic is typically brought in for.
What can Steampipe do that Zenlytic cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks. Zenlytic covers Zoe conversational agent, YAML semantic layer, LookML import, Row and column permissions.

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.

Zenlytic: Does Zenlytic publish pricing?

No. Contracts are quoted annually based on seats and deployment scope.

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.

Zenlytic: Can it read my Looker model?

Yes, it imports LookML, which is the main reason Looker customers evaluate it.

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.

Zenlytic: Does it write arbitrary SQL against my warehouse?

No. Queries are constrained to the semantic layer, and the generated SQL is shown with every answer.

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.

Zenlytic: Do I need dbt?

Not strictly, but the product is designed around a modelled warehouse and works poorly without one.

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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