Steampipe + Powerpipe vs OpenSCAP
Both are alternatives to Vanta. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as OpenSCAP vs Steampipe + Powerpipe — same comparison, one verdict.
Steampipe + Powerpipe
Query your cloud configuration as SQL, with compliance mods on top.
Steampipe exposes cloud and SaaS configuration as SQL tables; Powerpipe runs benchmark mods against them, including CIS, SOC 2, HIPAA and PCI packs. The most flexible option here — if you can express a control as a query, you can check it continuously.
OpenSCAP
SCAP-standard configuration scanning and hardening for Linux estates.
The reference implementation of SCAP, with profiles for CIS benchmarks, DISA STIG and PCI DSS. Where the estate is Linux servers rather than cloud APIs, this is the long-established way to prove hosts are hardened to a named standard.
Side by side
| Steampipe + Powerpipe | OpenSCAP | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 86 | 84 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Pricing | Free / self-host; paid Turbot Pipes hosted option | Free / self-host |
Steampipe + Powerpipe edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Steampipe + Powerpipe
Strengths
- +SQL over live cloud state is unusually powerful for bespoke controls
- +Large library of community compliance benchmarks
- +Composes well with existing data tooling rather than being another silo
Trade-offs
- −Assumes comfort with SQL and with defining your own controls
- −Split across two tools since the 2024 Powerpipe separation
- −No evidence archive, policy engine or auditor-facing output
OpenSCAP
Strengths
- +An actual standard, recognised by auditors in regulated environments
- +Ships with Red Hat and Debian ecosystems; no new vendor
- +Remediation guidance, not only findings
Trade-offs
- −Host-level only — blind to cloud service configuration
- −Tooling and profile editing feel dated next to the cloud-native options
- −Narrow: one part of one control family
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-09-01. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.