Sherlock review
An open-source command-line tool for checking username and profile presence across sites.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Sherlock is an open-source command-line tool for checking whether usernames appear on social networks and other websites. It is aimed at investigators and researchers who need to check public profile presence, particularly solo users and small teams looking for a focused OSINT task. The project distributes it as a Python package and Docker image, with installation options documented by the project. Sherlock is listed for Linux and self-hosted deployment, so it fits users who are comfortable running a command-line tool rather than looking for a hosted service.
Its search controls are useful for narrowing a check: Sherlock can search one or multiple usernames, restrict checks to specified sites, and try variations that replace or add underscores, hyphens, or periods. It displays discovered profiles and can open discovered results in a default browser. These capabilities keep the workflow centered on finding possible profile matches; the product does not provide domain or IP lookup, monitoring alerts, link analysis, or API access. Choose Sherlock when username presence is the main question, rather than a broader investigation workflow.
The published offering is open source and includes a free plan. Results can be saved to text files or exported as CSV or XLSX, giving researchers options for keeping or reviewing findings outside the tool. Proxy-based requests are also supported. This is a narrow utility rather than an all-in-one OSINT suite: buyers who need username searches across selected sites, multiple-name checks, and file exports may find its scope appropriate. Those who need ongoing alerts, relationship mapping, domain or IP research, or API-based access should look for a product with those capabilities instead.
Sherlock pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Checks one or multiple usernames and can limit searches to selected sites
- Tries underscore, hyphen, and period variations of a username
- Saves results as text, CSV, or XLSX files
- Where it doesn't
- Focused on username and profile checks, not domain or IP lookup
- Does not provide monitoring alerts or link analysis
- No API access
Sherlock fact sheet, pricing and score →
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