Telegram Username Checker: Channel, Group, Bot & User Info

Check thousands of Telegram usernames, @handles and t.me links in one run. For each one you get: does it exist, what it is (channel, group, bot, user or invite link), its title, description / bio, subscriber or member count, how many members are online, the verified badge, scam/fake flags, the profile photo and, for channels, when it last posted and the average views of its recent posts.

The data comes from Telegram's own public preview pages (t.me/<name> and t.me/s/<name>), the pages Telegram shows to anyone without an account. No login, no phone number, no Telegram API keys, no session files.

What you can use it for

• Clean a list of Telegram handles: find which usernames exist, which are dead and which point to the wrong kind of account
• Influencer and channel research: rank channels by subscribers, see if they are still active (last post date) and how many views posts really get
• Lead lists: keep only channels and groups above a size you choose
• Brand protection: check whether a username for your brand is taken, verified or flagged as scam/fake
• Monitoring: schedule the actor daily to track subscriber growth and posting activity of competitor channels
• Username availability: names that come back not_found are not used by a public channel, group, bot or user

Why this one

• $0.80 per 1,000 existing usernames — and not-found or invalid names are free, so cleaning a list costs only what is real
• Type detection: channel, group (members + online), bot, user, invite link
• Activity signals for channels at no extra cost: last post date, days since last post, average views of recent posts, photo/video/link counters
• Any input format: durov, @durov, t.me/durov, https://t.me/s/durov, tg://resolve?domain=durov, t.me/+invite
• Filters that save money: only certain types, minimum subscribers — filtered rows are not charged

Input

Field	What it does
Usernames or links	Any mix of names, @handles and t.me links
Channel activity	Last post date, average views, media counts (default on)
Only output existing usernames	Hide not-found / invalid rows (free anyway)
Only these types	Channel, group, bot, user, invite
Minimum subscribers / members	Skip small channels and groups
Max usernames	Cap per run
Parallel checks	1–8 (default 4)

{
  "usernames": ["durov", "@telegram", "https://t.me/BotFather", "t.me/python", "thisnamedoesnotexist_123"],
  "includeChannelActivity": true,
  "minSubscribers": 0
}

Output

A channel:

{
  "input": "durov",
  "username": "durov",
  "url": "https://t.me/durov",
  "type": "channel",
  "exists": true,
  "title": "Pavel Durov",
  "description": "Founder of Telegram.",
  "verified": true,
  "scamOrFake": false,
  "subscribers": 10194770,
  "photoUrl": "https://cdn4.telesco.pe/file/...",
  "previewUrl": "https://t.me/s/durov",
  "photosCount": 102,
  "videosCount": 47,
  "linksCount": 200,
  "lastPostDate": "2026-10-11T14:52:40+00:00",
  "daysSinceLastPost": 18.8,
  "avgViewsRecentPosts": 4684000,
  "recentPostsSampled": 20,
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-30T10:38:11+00:00"
}

A group returns members and online; a bot returns type: "bot"; a name nobody uses returns {"exists": false, "type": "not_found"} (free).

Fields

Field	Meaning
exists	true when Telegram shows a public page for the name
type	channel, group, bot, user, invite, not_found or invalid
title, description	Display name and bio / channel description as shown publicly
subscribers / members / online	Audience size for channels and groups
verified, scamOrFake, flag	Telegram's verified badge and SCAM / FAKE labels
photoUrl	Profile or channel photo
lastPostDate, daysSinceLastPost	Channel activity (channel activity option)
avgViewsRecentPosts, recentPostsSampled	Average views of the latest public posts
photosCount, videosCount, filesCount, linksCount	Media counters on the channel page

How much does it cost?

Pay per event: $0.0008 per existing username plus $0.001 per run start. Not-found, invalid and expired-invite rows cost nothing. Higher Apify plans get tier discounts (Bronze −5%, Silver −10%, Gold and up −15%).

Worked examples (Free tier):

• 1,000 handles from a spreadsheet, 700 exist: 700 × $0.0008 = $0.56
• 50 competitor channels checked every day for a month: 1,500 × $0.0008 = $1.20
• 10,000 names, only channels with 5,000+ subscribers kept (900 rows): $0.72

FAQ

Is it legal? The actor reads only what Telegram itself publishes on its public preview pages for anyone on the web. It never logs in, never joins groups and never reads private chats. Use the data in line with Telegram's terms and privacy laws that apply to you (for example GDPR when you process data about people).

Why is a user's member count empty? Telegram shows counts only for channels and groups.

Does it see private channels or groups? No. Private ones and expired invite links return exists: false.

Is not_found the same as "available to register"? Mostly. Some names are reserved or held by private accounts with no public page, so treat it as a strong hint, not a guarantee.

How fresh is the data? It is read live when the actor runs.

Do photo links last? Telegram's photo links can expire after a while; download them soon if you need the images.

Tips

• Turn off channel activity if you only need exists/type/subscribers: runs get about twice as fast.
• Use "Only output existing usernames" to get a clean list straight away.
• Schedule daily runs and compare subscribers across runs to measure growth.

Integrations

Run it from the Apify API, schedules, Make, Zapier, n8n or Clay, and export as JSON, CSV or Excel. Pair it with our Telegram Channel Scraper to read the posts of the channels you find.

Changelog

• 0.1 (Oct 2026): first release — exists/type detection, subscribers, members and online, verified and scam/fake flags, channel activity (last post, average views, media counters), invite links.