NB: NOTE: Since June 2023 Vortimo Proper (e.g. the old product with Java installation and crazy UI) is no longer supported. We keep this page for sentimental reasons only ;) If you have a copy, hang on to it since it’s not available for download any longer.
While there is some overlap between OSINT-tool functionality and that of Vortimo Proper there are quite a few differences between the two tools:
Pros for OSINT-tool’s above Vortimo Proper:
- No client install! OSINT-tool is light and requires no installation, just activating a single Chromium extension in your browser and you’re good to go.
- No database start-up before you can use it. OSINT-tool is quick to use, it’s already running when you start your browser. Also means no maintaining the client software with upgrades etc. This happens automatically inside Chrome.
- Stability – OSINT-tool is more stable than Vortimo Proper because it has a lot less moving parts and does not rely on a heavy-weight database (that is notoriously unstable).
- History graph ß - the actual thing. Vortimo does not have this! While Vortimo Proper has a graph mode, this is not based on your navigation history but rather on extracted entities.
Cons for OSINT-tool vs Vortimo Proper:
- Because OSINT-tool does not have a heavy duty database it cannot effectively save the web page and therefore cannot replay pages. With OSINT-tool, if the site is removed or changed, you’re out of luck – it’s gone unless you took a screenshot of it.
- You cannot search the text of pages - Vortimo indexes the text too, so you can search on the body of webpages too.
- Does not save images from pages. Vortimo indexes all images too.
- OSINT-tool handles infinite scroller as one site, Vortimo has concept of visits that breaks infinite scrollers into visit chunks.
- No support for multiple projects. OSINT-tool has load and save. Vortimo has projects and supports switching between them.
- OSINT-tool does not have tagging at all, Vortimo has tagging for images, objects and pages.
- OSINT-tool does not have annotations. With Vortimo you can annotate images, objects and pages and you can search through the notes too.
In effect OSINT-tool is much lighter than Vortimo Proper.
Maybe it’s a lot easier digestible too and the barrier to entry / learning curve is also a lot smaller.