Steampipe review
A flexible, open-source SQL engine for live cloud configuration analysis.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Steampipe is an open-source CLI and database extension for querying cloud APIs, services, infrastructure, and code through SQL. It is aimed at developers, operations engineers, and security teams that want a flexible way to inspect cloud configuration across AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, GitHub, Terraform, Slack, and other supported services. Its agentless deployment model and availability on Windows, macOS, and Linux make it suitable for teams that prefer command-line and database-oriented workflows.
The product's main strength is its live-data query model. Installable plugins connect Steampipe to services, while SQL supports filtering, joining, and aggregating resource data across them without ETL synchronization. It can run as a PostgreSQL foreign-data wrapper, a SQLite extension, or standalone CLI binaries for exporting data. Compliance controls and CIS benchmarks are available through mods, and the same approach extends to infrastructure-as-code files and other code. This gives security and operations teams one query language for cloud configuration analysis, cross-service checks, and policy-as-code work.
Steampipe is a strong fit when flexibility, open-source access, and SQL-based investigation matter more than a packaged remediation workflow. It is free and open source, with optional hosted instances through Turbot Pipes. However, it is primarily a general-purpose query engine: benchmarking and workflow automation are associated with companion products such as Powerpipe and Flowpipe, while verified drift detection and automated remediation are not part of Steampipe's core focus. Teams seeking direct configuration correction or an integrated drift-management workflow should consider a product built around those functions instead.
Steampipe pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Queries live cloud data without ETL synchronization
- Joins cloud resources across services with SQL
- Supports CIS benchmarks and infrastructure-as-code queries
- Where it doesn't
- Drift detection is not part of Steampipe's core focus
- Automated remediation is associated with companion products
- Requires SQL knowledge for advanced configuration analysis
Steampipe fact sheet, pricing and score →
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