Ebook
Bellingcat Online Investigations Toolkit and Guides
Bellingcat and volunteer maintainers
The most actively maintained free tool directory, with use cases, requirements, and limitations for each entry, plus a stream of case-driven how-to guides. Not a textbook; the best free reference desk.
Launched in September 2024 to replace a long-running spreadsheet, the toolkit sorts tools into twelve categories from maps and geolocation to companies, conflict, transport, archiving, and data analysis, with each entry describing what it is for, what it needs, and where it falls short. Volunteer maintainers and guardians keep it current under staff review. Bellingcat's guides section adds new case-driven how-tos every month.
Worth it if
- You need a tool for a task and want to know its limitations before you install it
- You learn from case write-ups that show a real investigation step by step
- You want a directory that is actually maintained
Skip it if
- You want a sequenced course; neither the toolkit nor the guides is one
- You need a stated licence for reuse
What is inside
- 01
Toolkit categories
Maps and satellites; geolocation; image and video; social media; people; websites; companies and finance; conflict; transport; environment and wildlife; archiving; data organisation and analysis.
- 02
Per-tool entries
Description, use cases, requirements, and limitations, with a natural-language search.
- 03
Guides
Recent how-tos on tracking wildfire damage, using AI to find civilian harm, mining Chinese social platforms, satellite imagery gaps, flight data, and conflict monitoring.
What you will be able to do
- Choose a tool for a task with its limits known in advance
- Follow a published investigation's method on a similar problem
- Export the toolkit for your team's own reference
How current it is
Very active: the toolkit was rebuilt in 2024 and the guides section published new pieces monthly through mid-2026.
- Updated
- Toolkit launched September 2024; guides through mid-2026
- Maintained
- Actively maintained
How to get the most from it
- 01
Read the limitations field first
It is the part other directories lack and the part that saves you time.
- 02
Pick one guide a month and replicate it
The guides are case-driven; redo the steps on a comparable public case.
Strengths
- Maintained
- Limitations stated per tool
- Case-driven guides
Limitations
- Not a course
- Licence unstated
- Inclusion is not endorsement
Pair it with
FAQ
Questions, answered
Is the old spreadsheet still maintained?
The 2024 announcement links to it but does not say. Use the new toolkit.
Can I contribute?
The toolkit is maintained by volunteers with staff review and has a public source repository.
Learned the method? Practise it on real data
The resources above teach the craft. When you want to run real lookups across breach, people, domain, and crypto sources without opening a dozen vendor accounts, that is what SearchIn is for.
- Free account, no card
- Credits never expire
- Refund unused balance in 7 days