Hunchly OSINT Review: Web Capture for Online Evidence

Hunchly OSINT capture is built for one job: preserving every web page an investigator visits, with the URL, a timestamp and a hash, so findings can be shown and defended later. This review is based on Hunchly's official site, its pricing page, its support documentation and Maltego's announcements, checked on 10 October 2026.

Email your brief Social media evidence capture

Automatic page capture with SHA-256 hashes
Windows, macOS and Ubuntu
$169 or €149 a year (Classic)
Owned by Maltego since May 2025

Not tested by OSINT-S. Based on vendor documentation and pricing pages. No affiliation with Hunchly or Maltego.

Short answer

Hunchly OSINT tool is a desktop application with a Chrome-compatible browser extension that automatically captures each page you visit during an online investigation, hashes it and lets you tag, annotate and report on it. It suits investigators, journalists, lawyers and analysts who need defensible records. The Classic license costs $169 or €149 a year after a free 30-day trial; Hunchly has been part of Maltego since May 2025.

What Is Hunchly?

A web capture tool for investigators that records what you see as you browse, so you do not have to remember to take screenshots.

Hunchly says it "empowers investigative professionals with tools to securely collect, preserve, and organize online evidence" and that it "automatically collects the URL, timestamps, and hashes of every page you visit" (Hunchly). Instead of relying on manual screenshots, the investigator browses normally in a Chromium-based browser with the Hunchly extension, and the desktop application stores a copy of each page inside the active case.

The tool launched in 2015 and was acquired by Maltego in May 2025 (Maltego). It remains sold as a separate product and is also bundled into Maltego's paid plans.

How Hunchly OSINT Web Capture Works

Open a case, browse with the extension switched on, and Hunchly captures, hashes and indexes each page automatically for later review and reporting.

Create a caseEach investigation gets its own case, so captures, notes and attachments stay separate.
Browse with the extensionInstall the Hunchly extension from the Chrome Web Store in Chrome or another Chromium-based browser (support).
Automatic capture and hashingPage content, photos and attachments are hashed with SHA-256 at capture time, before they are stored (support).
OrganizeTag pages, add captions to images, attach files such as Maltego graphs and use selectors to find every page mentioning a name, email or IP address.
ReportGenerate DOCX or PDF reports, optionally from a reusable template (Maltego Academy).

Key Hunchly Features

Automatic capture, integrity hashing, selectors and court-oriented reporting are the core; storage can be local or in the cloud.

Capture

Every page, automatically

Full-page captures of websites, searches and social media as you browse, with URL and timestamp.

Integrity

SHA-256 hashing

Content, photos and attachments are hashed before storage, supporting later checks that nothing changed.

Analysis

Selectors

Track names, emails or IP addresses across all captured pages and filter your history to the relevant evidence.

Audit

Audit trail

Hunchly describes an automatic audit trail that shows each step of the research.

Reporting

DOCX and PDF reports

Assemble tagged pages, captions and attachments into reports, with reusable templates.

Storage

Local or cloud

Classic stores cases on your computer and works offline; Cloud is accessed from any computer through Kasm Workspaces.

Hunchly Pricing and Plans

One published price for the local Classic license, a free 30-day trial, and Cloud and multi-license pricing through sales.

Option	Price (checked 10 October 2026)	Notes
Free trial	Free for 30 days	No credit card required
Classic	$169 or €149 a year	Local storage, works offline
Cloud	Not public; contact sales	Convert from Classic or add to an existing license
Multiple licenses	Bulk discounts through sales	Tax-exempt purchase available for eligible organizations
Maltego Entry or Professional	€3,000 or €7,500 a year	Hunchly is included for web capture

Sources: Hunchly pricing; Maltego pricing.

System requirements are modest: Windows 10 x64, macOS 10.15 or Ubuntu 20.04 or later, 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended) and at least 20 GB of free disk space for case data (support).

Hunchly and Maltego: What the 2025 Acquisition Means

Maltego announced the acquisition on 19 May 2025; Hunchly is still sold on its own and now also ships inside Maltego's paid plans.

Maltego's announcement, dated 19 May 2025, states that "Hunchly was acquired by Maltego in May 2025" and quotes CEO Philip Mayrhofer: "With the acquisition of Hunchly, we're taking a decisive step toward covering the entire investigative workflow" (Maltego). The post says the companies would integrate products, teams and brands while keeping continuity for customers.

In practice, by October 2026 the Hunchly site carries Maltego Technologies' copyright, support articles sit on Maltego's help center, and Maltego's Entry, Professional and Enterprise plans list Hunchly for "automatic capture and archiving of web pages with full metadata and chain of custody" (Maltego pricing). If you already pay for one of those Maltego plans, check whether you need a separate Hunchly license at all.

Who Hunchly Suits and Who It Does Not

It suits anyone whose online findings may be challenged later; it is less useful for automated collection at scale.

Good fit: private investigators and corporate investigators; litigation and law firm teams preserving web content; journalists who need to prove what a page said before it was deleted; compliance and fraud analysts; trainees learning good evidence habits.
Poor fit: bulk scraping or monitoring thousands of pages; teams that need capture of mobile apps rather than websites; organizations that want an outside party to capture and certify content for them.

Limitations of Hunchly for OSINT Evidence

Hunchly preserves what you saw, but admissibility still depends on your method, your access being lawful and your documentation.

A tool, not a certification. Hashes show a capture has not changed since it was stored; they do not prove the page was authentic or complete. Courts and tribunals weigh the whole process. The Berkeley Protocol on digital open source investigations is a useful reference for documenting collection and preservation.
Lawful access still applies. Capturing a page does not make the way you reached it lawful. Do not use fake profiles, pretexting or someone else's credentials to view private content, and respect platform terms.
Dynamic content. Videos, infinite scroll and content behind interactions may need extra steps or separate tools to preserve fully.
Captures everything. Automatic capture also records unrelated browsing if the extension is left on. Use a dedicated research browser profile.
Personal data. Cases hold personal data, so storage, retention and sharing must meet the GDPR and similar laws.

Hunchly Alternatives for OSINT Web Capture

Free archiving tools cover basic preservation; legal capture services and Maltego bundles cover heavier needs.

Option	What it is	Price model
Maltego (Entry or above)	Link analysis platform that now bundles Hunchly	From €3,000 a year
ArchiveWeb.page	Webrecorder's browser extension and desktop app for archiving pages as you browse	Free, open source (AGPL-3.0)
Page Vault	Web capture for legal teams, as self-service software or done by its staff	Quote on request

For tools grouped by investigation task, including capture and case management, see our OSINT tools guide.

Need the Answer, Not the Tool?

If you need content preserved and documented for a dispute, or a full investigation behind it, an analyst-led service can do both.

Hunchly helps an investigator preserve their own work; it does not decide what to capture or how to present it. Our social media evidence capture service preserves posts, profiles and pages with documented methods, and our OSINT investigations answer the question behind the evidence. Reports get senior analyst review and work is confidential, with NDAs on request. Small capture tasks can sometimes be done in one business day.

To see the full range, start with our OSINT services for legal teams.

Need Online Evidence Preserved Properly?

Tell us what must be captured, why and by when. We preserve it with a documented method and explain what it shows.

Email your brief OSINT training

Hunchly OSINT FAQ

I'm a solo investigator who keeps losing track of screenshots — would Hunchly OSINT capture actually save me time, and what does it record that a screenshot does not?

Yes, if you research in a browser most of the day. Hunchly captures every page automatically while you browse, so nothing depends on remembering to take a screenshot. Each capture keeps the URL and timestamp, and content is hashed with SHA-256 before it is stored (support). You can then tag pages, search across them with selectors and build a report, which a folder of screenshots cannot do.

Our firm is preparing for litigation and wants to preserve a competitor's web pages before they change — will Hunchly captures be accepted as evidence in court?

Hunchly gives you strong raw material, but admissibility depends on the court, your method and who testifies to it. Hashes, timestamps and an audit trail help show the capture was not altered. You still need a documented process, a witness who can explain it and lawful access to the content. The Berkeley Protocol is a useful reference. For high-stakes matters, ask counsel whether an independent capture is better.

I heard Maltego bought Hunchly — if I renew my Hunchly license now, am I paying twice if my team also has a Maltego subscription?

Possibly. Maltego announced the acquisition on 19 May 2025, and its pricing page lists Hunchly for web capture in the Entry, Professional and Enterprise plans (Maltego). If your team is on one of those plans, check with Maltego whether your seats already include Hunchly. The free Basic plan does not list it, and Hunchly Classic is still sold on its own at $169 or €149 a year.

I work from a Mac and sometimes from an Ubuntu laptop — will Hunchly run on both, and do I have to use Google Chrome or can I use another browser?

Hunchly supports macOS 10.15 or later, Ubuntu 20.04 or later and Windows 10 x64, with 4 GB of RAM minimum and 20 GB of free disk space (support). The extension installs from the Chrome Web Store, and the support site explains how to use it with other Chromium-based browsers such as Chromium. Classic licenses keep cases locally, so moving between machines is easier with Cloud.

We're a small newsroom on a tight budget — is there a free alternative to Hunchly that still lets our reporters prove what a deleted page said?

Yes, for basic needs. ArchiveWeb.page from Webrecorder is free, open-source software that archives pages as you browse, through a browser extension or a desktop app (ArchiveWeb.page). It lacks Hunchly's selectors, case reporting and support. Whatever you use, write down who captured what and when, keep originals unchanged and store archives securely, because method matters as much as software.

I'm training new analysts at our company — should they learn to use Hunchly from day one, or is it better to teach evidence capture habits without a paid tool first?

Teach both together. The habits come first: a dedicated research browser, notes on why each page matters, consistent naming and lawful access only. Hunchly reinforces them by capturing everything automatically, so trainees see a complete record of their research and can review mistakes. A 30-day free trial is enough for a course. Make sure trainees keep personal browsing in a separate browser profile.

Sources and Notes

Sources checked 10 October 2026. This review is based on official documentation, support articles and pricing pages; OSINT-S has not run the tool for this review and has no affiliation with Hunchly or Maltego.