Aletheia vs Maltego
Maltego is the established name in link analysis and genuinely good at what it does: a mature graph interface, a large transform ecosystem, and years of use in serious investigations. It is a desktop application built around an analyst manually running transforms on a graph.
How to read this page. Maltego is a capable product and is the better choice for several situations, which are listed explicitly below. Pricing figures are publicly listed at the time of writing and are approximate. The criticisms noted are documented in public reviews and industry commentary, not our opinion of the vendor.
Why people look for a Maltego alternative
Per-seat licence cost
Maltego Professional is listed at several thousand per seat per year (around €7,500), which is defensible for a well-funded team and out of reach for individual investigators, journalists and small fraud teams.
Steep learning curve
The graph-and-transform model rewards training many teams never budget for. Reviewers consistently note that mastering the tool takes significant time and practice, and an unused seat is an expensive seat.
You only find what you thought to run
This is the structural limitation. Investigative breadth is bounded by how many transforms you manually run and which ones you remembered to try — so results depend on the analyst's recall rather than on what is actually discoverable.
Desktop scaffolding
A desktop app plus data-hub configuration is a lot of setup when the question is simply who is behind an email or where funds went.
Side by side
| Dimension | Maltego | Aletheia |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Desktop application (Java) + configuration | Browser-based, nothing to install |
| Investigation model | Analyst manually runs transforms | Autonomous agent plans and pivots on its own |
| Breadth of a run | Limited by which transforms you run | Agent expands until budget or no new leads |
| Graph maturity | Very mature, highly configurable | Simpler graph, less configurable |
| Transform / connector ecosystem | Large third-party ecosystem | 30+ built-in sources |
| Cross-case correlation | Per-graph | One entity graph spanning every case |
| Crypto tracing | Via paid third-party transforms | Built in, incl. multi-hop and OFAC screening |
| Continuous monitoring | Not the focus | Watchlists with Slack/Discord/SIEM alerts |
| Evidence handling | Graph export | SHA-256 hashed exhibits, chain of custody, methodology appendix |
| Learning curve | Steep; training usually required | Playbooks pick the sources for you |
| Entry price | ~€7,500 / seat / year (Professional) | Free tier; paid plans a fraction of that |
Choose Maltego if
- •You need deep, highly customised graph manipulation and visual analysis.
- •Your team already has trained Maltego analysts and established workflows.
- •You depend on specific commercial transforms that only exist in its ecosystem.
- •You need an offline desktop tool for air-gapped or restricted environments.
Choose Aletheia if
- •You want an investigation to run itself rather than remembering every transform.
- •You need crypto tracing and identity OSINT in the same workspace.
- •You need to know when an identifier reappears across your other cases.
- •Your output goes to a client, a court or a regulator and must be documented.
- •Per-seat desktop licensing is not realistic for your budget or team size.
Try it before you decide
Screen a wallet against OFAC sanctions or grade a domain's attack surface — free, no signup, no card.