Top 10 OSINT Tools in 2025 (Free & Paid)

OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tools help gather publicly available data from websites, social media, domains, dark web, emails, IPs, and more — all legally.

🔟 1. Maltego

• Use: Link analysis, social network mapping

• Features: Visual graphs, entity linking, transform hubs

• Best for: Law enforcement, cybercrime, investigators

• Platform: Desktop (Windows, Linux, macOS)

• Free + Paid

🔟 2. SpiderFoot

• Use: Automated reconnaissance

• Features: Scans IPs, domains, emails, dark web, and breaches

• Best for: Red teams, penetration testers

• Platform: Web interface & CLI

• Free + Paid

🔟 3. Shodan

• Use: Search devices connected to the internet

• Features: Find open ports, vulnerable devices, IoT metadata

• Best for: Network security and exposure audits

• Platform: Web

• Free + Paid

🔟 4. TheHarvester

• Use: Collect emails, subdomains, hosts

• Features: Works via CLI, uses search engines and DNS

• Best for: Early phase recon

• Platform: Linux CLI

• Free

🔟 5. Recon-ng

• Use: Web reconnaissance framework

• Features: Modular structure, integrates APIs

• Best for: Ethical hackers, automated scanning

• Platform: Linux CLI

• Free

🔟 6. Google Dorks

• Use: Advanced search hacking

• Features: Find hidden files, login pages, sensitive data

• Best for: Penetration testing, data leaks

• Platform: Google Search

• Free

🔟 7. Sherlock

• Use: Find usernames on 300+ social networks

• Features: Python script, fast scanning

• Best for: Identity and impersonation investigation

• Platform: Linux/Windows/macOS

• Free (GitHub)

🔟 8. OSINT Framework

• Use: Central directory of OSINT resources

• Features: Categorized by target (IP, people, DNS, etc.)

• Best for: Beginners, researchers

• Platform: Web

• Free

🔟 9. Social-Searcher

• Use: Real-time monitoring of social networks

• Features: Search by keyword or username

• Best for: Digital footprint & brand tracking

• Platform: Web

• Free + Paid

🔟 10. CheckUsernames (Namecheckr / Namechk)

• Use: Check username availability

• Features: 100+ platforms support

• Best for: Brand security, user impersonation checks

• Platform: Web

• Free

🎯 Bonus Tools:

• IntelX – Dark web, email, leaks search

• FOCA – Extract metadata from files

• ExifTool – Image & document metadata investigation

• HaveIBeenPwned – Check email or phone in breaches