Sherlock Username Scraper - Find Accounts by Username

Hunt a username across 480+ social networks and websites and get back every site where that handle has an account - with the profile URL and a verified match status. Built on the site database of the well-known open-source Sherlock project, with an added precision layer that suppresses false positives.

Give it one handle or a hundred. No login, no API key.

What it does

• Checks a username against 481 sites (social media, forums, dev platforms, gaming, marketplaces, and more).
• Reports the sites where an account exists, each with the direct profile URL.
• Verifies every hit (verifyClaims, on by default): re-checks each positive with a decoy handle and drops sites that can't tell accounts apart - so a "found" really means found.
• Optional full per-site audit (includeUnclaimed): also returns the sites where the handle is free or couldn't be determined - useful for username-availability research.
• Runs up to 100 usernames in a single run.

Example output

{
  "type": "account",
  "username": "torvalds",
  "site": "BitBucket",
  "url": "https://bitbucket.org/torvalds/",
  "status": "claimed",
  "detectionType": "status_code",
  "httpStatus": 200,
  "source": "sherlock",
  "checkedAt": "2026-08-27T04:55:00.000Z"
}

Field	Meaning
username	The handle that was checked
site	Site / network name
url	Direct profile URL for that handle
status	claimed (account exists), or available / unknown when Include unclaimed is on
detectionType	How the site was checked: status_code, message, or response_url
httpStatus	HTTP status returned by the site

Input

Field	Description
Usernames	One or more handles to hunt (up to 100).
Max sites per username	How many of the 481 sites to check per handle (lower = faster/cheaper).
Verify claims	Re-check positives with a decoy handle to kill false hits (recommended, on by default).
Include unclaimed / unknown sites	Also output sites where the handle was NOT found - full per-site audit.
Include adult (NSFW) sites	Include adult sites in the check (off by default).
Proxy	Residential proxies improve coverage (some sites block datacenter IPs).

Use cases

• OSINT & investigations - map a person's or brand's online footprint from a single handle.
• Brand protection - find impersonation accounts using your brand name across the web.
• Username availability - turn on Include unclaimed to see where a new handle is still free.
• Lead & profile enrichment - resolve a known handle to its profile URLs across networks.

Notes on accuracy

Username hunting is best-effort by nature. claimed means the site's "not found" signal was absent and (with Verify claims on) the site could distinguish a real handle from a decoy. Some sites block automated checks from datacenter IPs and are reported as unknown rather than guessed - use residential proxies for the widest coverage.

Run it from an agent (MCP / API)

This Actor is agent-ready. It exposes a typed input schema and returns structured JSON, so an LLM agent or automation can call it over the Apify API / MCP to answer "where does this username exist?" as one step in a workflow. Point your agent at the Actor, pass usernames, and read the account records back.

FAQ

Does it need my login or an API key? No. It checks public presence signals only. Will it find every account? No tool can - handles can be private, blocked, or use different names. This maximizes coverage across 481 sites and is honest about what it can't determine (unknown). Is scraping public profile presence legal? This checks publicly observable existence signals. You are responsible for using the results in line with the sites' terms and applicable law.