Quick take
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Short answer: Maltego is a link-analysis tool used by investigators, fraud teams and threat-intelligence analysts to map relationships between entities — domains, email addresses, organizations, infrastructure — on a visual graph. Maltego Graph Community Edition (CE) remains free in 2026 with a Maltego ID, but with limits: graphs of up to 10,000 entities, up to 24 results per lookup ("transform"), and a monthly credit allowance. It's a good way to learn graph-based investigation; professional work generally needs a paid plan.
What Maltego is used for
- Threat intelligence: mapping attacker infrastructure (domains, IPs, certificates) from indicators found in an incident.
- Fraud and brand protection: finding lookalike domains and related accounts.
- Your own organization's footprint: understanding which domains, subdomains and public records are linked to your company, to reduce exposure.
- Investigations and journalism: visualizing connections in public-record data.
Community Edition limits (2026)
Limit | CE |
|---|---|
Cost | Free with a Maltego ID |
Entities per graph | Up to 10,000 |
Results per transform | Up to 24 |
Credits | A monthly allowance (Maltego lists 200 credits/month at the minimum) |
Data sources | Limited access to built-in data integrations |
Commercial use | Not intended for commercial investigations — check Maltego's terms |
Some older third-party pages still cite stricter limits (12 results per transform); Maltego's own 2026 documentation lists the figures above.
Paid plans
Maltego offers paid Professional and Organization plans with higher limits, more data integrations, collaboration and commercial-use rights. Pricing is set by plan and data needs; check Maltego's site.
Legal and ethical use
Maltego aggregates publicly available and licensed data, but investigations involving individuals raise privacy and legal issues (for example under GDPR). Use it within your organization's legal authority, for legitimate purposes, and avoid collecting personal data you don't need.
Alternatives
- theHarvester: free command-line tool for discovering an organization's public domains and hosts.
- SpiderFoot: open-source automated OSINT collection.
- Shodan: internet-exposure data for infrastructure.
- Threat-intelligence platforms: combine graph analysis with curated intelligence feeds.
Verdict
Maltego is the standard tool for visual link analysis, and the free Community Edition is still a capable way to learn it. Expect to upgrade for serious or commercial investigative work.
Frequently asked questions
Is Maltego CE still free?
Yes. Maltego says Community Edition remains available and free with a Maltego ID, with limits on graph size, results per transform and monthly credits.
What is a Maltego transform?
An automated lookup that takes one entity (such as a domain) and returns related entities (such as IP addresses or subdomains) from a data source.
Can Maltego CE be used commercially?
Community Edition is aimed at non-commercial use. Check Maltego's licensing terms for commercial investigations.
Sources
- Maltego, What is Maltego Graph Community Edition (CE)?
- Maltego, Maltego FAQ
- Maltego, Products and plans
The bottom line
