OSINT Dojo Review: A Free OSINT Learning Resource

OSINT Dojo is a free learning project for people starting out in open-source intelligence, not a search tool. It combines a rank-and-badge path, a large curated resources page and a set of "attack surface" diagrams. This review is based on the project's own pages and linked materials, checked on 10 October 2026.

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Free: no paid tier
Five ranks with digital badges
Curated links and diagrams
A learning aid, not a search engine

Short answer

OSINT Dojo is a free side project that guides beginners through open-source intelligence with challenges, five ranks and digital badges. Its resources page links guides, tools, CTFs and courses in about 50 categories, and it publishes topic diagrams for people, emails, usernames, phones and platforms. It suits self-taught beginners. It costs nothing, but it does not search for people itself.

What the OSINT Dojo Is

A side project that gamifies learning OSINT: free resources and challenges that build on one another, with badges to show progress.

The home page describes the OSINT Dojo as "a project that aims to guide those new to Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) through the first steps of their journey", offering "a number of free resources and simple challenges that build on one another" and "a simple road map" (OSINT Dojo). The FAQ calls it a side project and states the price plainly: it "will cost you nothing but time and energy" (OSINT Dojo FAQs).

The project does not publish the names of the people behind it. Contact runs through project email addresses, a Mastodon account and an X (Twitter) account, and it posts videos on a YouTube channel. The resources page also notes a partnership with Hudson Rock, an infostealer-intelligence company, linking to its free tools. Readers should know about that link when they follow it.

How the Ranks and Badges Work

You earn the Student rank first, then submit proof for each higher rank; badges are issued through Badgr.

Start at StudentThe ranks page lists five levels: Student, Ronin, Samurai, Daimyo and Shogun (ranks). Everyone begins by earning Student.
Complete approved challengesEach rank has requirements and a minimum time before you can apply. Challenges and CTFs listed in the resources section are pre-approved; others must be submitted for review.
Submit a rank-up requestYou send proof of completion. An email address is needed to receive badges, and the FAQ notes that Badgr and Google Forms may collect further information.
Keep the badgeThe code of conduct bans bullying, harassment, stalking and unlawful or unethical behavior; breaking it can mean losing badges and removal from the program.

OSINT Dojo Resources and Attack Surface Diagrams

The resources page is a categorized link directory; the diagrams are visual references, one per topic.

The resources page has four parts:

General resources: methodology (including Bellingcat's first-steps guide, an intelligence-cycle series and the Verification Handbooks), CTFs and quizzes, and OSINT employment.
Domain-specific resources: about 50 categories, from email, phone, usernames and images to geolocation, cryptocurrency, dark web, OPSEC, sock puppets and individual platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Reddit and LinkedIn.
Other resources: blogs, communities, conference talks, podcasts and YouTube channels.
Courses and trainings: one free course (limited to US government users) and seven paid providers.

The diagrams, titled "OSINT Attack Surface", cover a person, email, username, telephone number, IP address, website, images, dark web, cryptocurrency and many platforms. Each is a visual reference for one topic, offered as an image and a PDF. The diagram pages link to the sinwindie/OSINT repository on GitHub, which holds matching folders of tools and bookmarklets (3.6k stars when checked). Its README allows personal use but says the material "may NOT" be sold or hosted without permission; no open-source license is shown on the repository page.

Is There an OSINT Dojo People Search?

No. The OSINT Dojo has no search box for people; what searchers usually mean is the Person OSINT Attack Surface diagram, a reference diagram rather than a database.

Many people arrive looking for "OSINT Dojo people search" or how to find someone with the OSINT Dojo. The Person OSINT Attack Surface page is an image and PDF diagram. It is a visual reference for researching a person as a topic; it does not query anything, store records or return results about anyone.

Used responsibly, it is a checklist for thinking: what lawful sources might confirm an identity, what an organization exposes about its staff, or what your own footprint reveals. Using it to locate or profile a private person without a legitimate purpose breaks the project's own code of conduct and, in many places, the law. Under the GDPR, collecting personal data needs a lawful basis and a defined purpose (GDPR).

Cost and What You Give Up

It is free; the only costs are your time and the email address needed for badges.

Item	Cost	Notes
Resources page and diagrams	Free	No account needed
Ranks and badges	Free	Email required; Badgr and Google Forms may collect more data
Linked CTFs, e.g. TryHackMe rooms	Set by each platform	The Sakura room is rated easy, about 45 minutes
Linked paid courses	Set by each provider	Seven paid providers listed

Sources: OSINT Dojo FAQs and TryHackMe Sakura room, checked 10 October 2026.

One challenge built by the project is the Sakura room on TryHackMe, whose description reads "use a variety of OSINT techniques to solve this room created by the OSINT Dojo".

Who It Suits, and Who It Does Not

It suits motivated self-learners and new analysts; it does not suit teams that need structured, assessed training or verified casework.

Good fit	Poor fit
Students and career changers who want a free path and visible milestones	Organizations that need training mapped to their own cases, laws and tools
Junior analysts building a personal toolkit of links and methods	Anyone who needs a person found or a fact verified this week
Trainers looking for CTFs and reading lists to assign	Learners who need instructor feedback or formal certification

Limitations and Responsible Use

Expect dated links, little information about the operators, and methods that need a legal and ethical frame the site cannot give you.

Freshness. The resources page shows no last-updated date, and some linked guides carry 2018 to 2021 dates in their URLs. Platforms change quickly, so verify that a method still works before relying on it.
Unvetted tools. Linked tools are third-party. Read the code or documentation before running anything, and use a separate, isolated environment for unfamiliar software.
Sensitive links. The dark web section includes .onion links, and some child-protection resources carry content warnings.
Ethics and law. Badges show completed challenges, not competence in evidence handling. For work that may reach a court, the Berkeley Protocol sets out standards for digital open-source investigations.

OSINT Dojo Alternatives and Next Steps

Pair it with practice platforms such as TryHackMe and Trace Labs, then learn the open-source tools the resources page points to.

Practice: TryHackMe rooms listed by the Dojo (Sakura, OhSINT, Geolocating Images, SearchLight) and Trace Labs Search Party CTFs.
Method: Bellingcat's first-steps guide and the Verification Handbooks, both linked from the resources page.
Tools listed by the Dojo: Sherlock and Maigret for usernames, Holehe for email, SpiderFoot for automation and Maltego for link analysis.

Our OSINT tools catalog groups these and other tools by investigation task.

Need the Answer, Not the Tool?

If you need a result rather than a skill, or structured training for a team, a service is the faster route.

The OSINT Dojo teaches. It does not investigate for you, and it does not train a team against your own cases and legal duties. OSINT-S has no affiliation with the project. For teams, our OSINT training and compliance team training cover methods, documentation and lawful limits. When the question cannot wait, our OSINT investigations start from a written scope, with focused checks from 10 business days and senior analyst review before reporting.

See how these fit with our other OSINT services.

Build OSINT Skills or Hand Over the Case

Tell us whether you need a trained team or a verified answer. We confirm a fixed quote after written scoping.

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OSINT Dojo FAQ

I'm teaching myself open-source intelligence in the evenings and keep hearing about the OSINT Dojo — what is it exactly, and does it cost anything to join?

The OSINT Dojo is a free learning project that guides beginners through open-source intelligence with challenges, five ranks and digital badges, plus a large curated resources page and topic diagrams. It costs nothing: the FAQ says it "will cost you nothing but time and energy". You need an email address to receive badges, and linked third-party courses or platforms may charge separately (OSINT Dojo FAQs).

I searched for the OSINT Dojo people search because I want to find an old friend I lost touch with — is there a search box where I type a name?

No. The OSINT Dojo has no people-search engine. What comes up for that search is the Person OSINT Attack Surface diagram, a reference image and PDF, not a database. If you want to reconnect with someone, start with mutual contacts or the platforms you both used, respect their choice if they do not reply, and never use OSINT methods to locate someone who does not want to be found.

I want to earn the OSINT Dojo ranks to put on my CV — how does the badge system work, and will employers take those badges seriously?

You earn the Student rank first, then complete approved challenges for each higher rank (Ronin, Samurai, Daimyo, Shogun), wait the minimum time and submit proof; badges are issued through Badgr. Employers may see them as evidence of initiative and practice, but they are not a formal certification. Pair them with write-ups of CTFs you have solved, such as the TryHackMe Sakura room, and show how you document sources.

Our company wants to train five compliance analysts in OSINT this quarter — could we just point them at the OSINT Dojo, or do we need a structured course?

The OSINT Dojo is a good free supplement, but it is not built for corporate training. It has no instructor feedback, no assessment against your own cases and nothing on your sector's legal duties, such as data protection rules for screening. For a team, a structured course covering methods, evidence capture and lawful limits works better, with the Dojo's resources page as follow-up reading and practice.

The OSINT Dojo resources page links to hundreds of tools and some look old — how do I know which ones still work and which are safe to run on my laptop?

Check each one before you rely on it. The page shows no last-updated date, and some linked guides carry 2018 to 2021 dates in their URLs. For any tool, look at the official repository or site for recent releases, read the documentation and license, and run unfamiliar code in an isolated virtual machine rather than on your work laptop. Our tool reviews summarize license, maintenance and risks for common options.

Is the OSINT Dojo connected to any company, and should I be worried about sharing my email address when I submit challenges for badges?

The project does not name its operators, and its resources page lists a partnership with Hudson Rock, an infostealer-intelligence company, linking to its free tools. For badges you share an email address, and the FAQ says Badgr and Google Forms may collect additional information that is not shared with the Dojo. If you prefer, use a separate email address for training platforms and read the linked privacy policy first.

Sources and Notes

Sources checked 10 October 2026. Figures about third-party firms and tools are as published by them or by the cited source on that date.