Sherlock
Open-source command-line tool that checks a username across 400+ social networks
ToolOSINT ToolsSelf-hosted, Open source
Pricing: Free and open source (MIT).
Reviewed by the Cyber Vendor Guide editorial team against the public sources cited below · Last reviewed September 2026 · How we review listings
What is Sherlock?
Sherlock is an open-source (MIT) command-line tool that checks whether a username is registered on more than 400 social networks and websites. It can search several usernames at once and saves the accounts it finds to text, CSV or Excel files, with options for proxies, timeouts and checking a single site. It installs with pipx, pip or uv, or runs in Docker. The project has been on GitHub since 2018.
Best for: Analysts who want a free, scriptable first check of where a username is registered.
Pros
- Free and open source under the MIT licence
- Widely used: more than 90,000 stars on GitHub
- Simple to install and script
Things to check
- Command line only; no web interface
- Reports whether an account exists, with little profile data
Reported in public reviews and vendor documentation. See sources below.
Key Features
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Sources & references
Where the information on this listing comes from. Always verify pricing and capabilities against the vendor before a purchasing decision.
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Key facts
- Pricing
- Free and open source (MIT).
- Model
- Open source
- Founded
- 2018
- Cloud
- No
- Self-hosted
- Yes
- Open source
- Yes
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