Powerpipe

Powerpipe is an open-source tool from Turbot for exploring cloud infrastructure through dashboards and for running security and compliance benchmarks. Its ready-made dashboards cover AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and other services, with views that include resource counts, cost, usage, and relationships. Benchmarks can assess environments against frameworks such as CIS, GDPR, NIST, PCI, and SOC 2. Users can create dashboards and benchmarks in HCL or combine existing content; the resulting code can be versioned, edited, and shared with Git tools. A locally hosted web interface lets users filter, group, pivot, and snapshot results. The command-line tool lists and runs benchmarks and controls, and exports results in formats including CSV, HTML, JSON, Markdown, and ASFF. Powerpipe works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or DuckDB and does not require Steampipe. The free tool is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as self-hosted use. Powerpipe Hub offers hundreds of dashboards, benchmarks, and examples.

Powerpipe combines cloud dashboards, compliance benchmarks, and command-line exports in a free, open-source tool. It is a fit for teams comfortable working with HCL and a locally hosted interface.

Powerpipe suits teams that want to review cloud assets, costs, security, or compliance through dashboards and benchmarks. Its HCL-based content and Git workflow may also fit teams that want to version and share their dashboard code.

Powerpipe is an open-source tool for building cloud dashboards and running security and compliance benchmarks. It suits infrastructure and security teams that are comfortable with HCL, Git, and a locally hosted interface. Its prebuilt content and flexible exports make it a capable starting point; teams looking for a hosted, seat-based product should choose another tool.

Overview

Powerpipe turns cloud infrastructure data and benchmark results into dashboards and reports that users can filter, pivot, and snapshot. Prebuilt dashboards for AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and other environments surface resource counts, cost, usage, and relationships. That combination makes it useful for both operational visibility and security work, though tailoring dashboards requires working with HCL.

Powerpipe Hub offers hundreds of dashboards, benchmarks, and examples, with mods for services including DigitalOcean, Alibaba Cloud, GitHub, and Docker. Teams can also create dashboards and benchmarks from scratch or compose them from existing content. Powerpipe works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or DuckDB and does not require Steampipe, giving teams options for how they supply data.

Key features

Benchmarks and command-line exports

Prebuilt benchmarks assess cloud environments against CIS, GDPR, NIST, PCI, SOC 2, HIPAA, and FedRAMP. The CLI can list and run benchmarks and controls, then export results in CSV, HTML, JSON, Markdown, or ASFF. This gives security teams several practical ways to pass findings into reporting and review workflows, while the command-line approach will be less appealing to teams that expect all work to happen in a managed web application.

Dashboards as code

Dashboards and benchmarks are written in HCL, can be version controlled, composed, shared, and edited, and can be managed with standard Git tooling. That suits teams already using code review and version control to manage infrastructure configuration. It adds a learning and maintenance burden for teams without HCL or Git practices.

Locally hosted interface

Powerpipe serves a local web UI for filtering and grouping benchmark data. Users can explore results visually without giving up the CLI workflow, but the interface is locally hosted rather than a shared cloud workspace.

Pricing

Powerpipe is free and open source. The Open-source Powerpipe CLI plan costs nothing and includes the open-source tool, which can be installed locally, used in a prebuilt container, or built from source. There is no free trial because the product is already free. The plan has no stated seat or usage quota, so it is a strong fit for teams able to install and operate the software themselves; there is no paid hosted tier described for teams that want a managed service.

Platforms

Powerpipe supports Linux, macOS, Windows, self-hosted environments, and the web through its locally hosted interface. The download page provides installation options for macOS, Linux, and Windows, as well as manual binary or source installation.

Who it's for

Powerpipe is a good fit for cloud governance, security, and compliance teams that want multi-cloud inventory, benchmark coverage, and dashboards they can adapt and maintain as code. Its use cases also include cost management, detections, and asset inventory. Teams that want a central hosted workspace, or prefer configuring dashboards without HCL, are better served by a different approach.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Free, open-source access makes the tool available without a subscription fee.
• Pros: Prebuilt dashboards and benchmarks across major cloud environments and compliance frameworks help teams get started with useful coverage.
• Pros: CSV, HTML, JSON, Markdown, and ASFF exports support different reporting and security workflows.
• Pros: HCL and Git support versioned, composable dashboards that teams can share and revise.
• Cons: HCL authoring and a CLI-centered workflow require technical comfort and ongoing ownership.
• Cons: A locally hosted UI does not provide the shared, managed workspace some distributed teams expect.

Alternatives

• OmniGCloud is a better fit for teams wanting a freemium SaaS workspace: its Free plan costs nothing and includes one connector, a single SaaS workspace, basic CSV export, and a basic audit trail.
• AWS Control Tower is worth considering for AWS-focused governance; it has no additional charge, though underlying AWS services are billed based on usage.
• CGPulse may suit teams seeking a freemium cloud governance product with a free trial; its Free plan costs nothing and includes two cloud accounts and 10 scans per month.
• Cloud Custodian is another free, open-source option for teams wanting a tool that supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted use.
• CloudBolt offers a freemium CMP plan with core capabilities for up to 100 resources, which may fit teams evaluating cloud management around a resource cap.
• Google Cloud Organization Policy is an alternative for teams focused on Google Cloud organization policies; its Organization Policy Service API is free.
• Kyverno is a free, open-source option for teams seeking policy tooling that supports Kubernetes environments.
• Open Policy Agent Gatekeeper is a free, open-source Kubernetes policy controller for teams focused on that use case.
• Explore more options in Cloud Governance Software and Cloud Security Posture Management Software.

Verdict

Choose Powerpipe if your team wants a free, open-source way to combine cloud dashboards, compliance benchmarks, and flexible exports, and is prepared to manage HCL-based content locally. Its breadth of prebuilt material and code-driven customization are the main reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if a hosted shared workspace or a no-code dashboard workflow is essential.