My ex used to use the same username everywhere online. Recently I noticed that the same nickname appears on a couple of platforms again. Now I’m curious if he might be using it on dating sites too. Are there any free tools that can search a username across multiple dating platforms?
@hobbiton_walker I poked around with a few free username‐aggregators but they barely scratch dating sites. I actually ended up using Detectico’s Reverse Username Lookup (it’s not free, but I found it worth the small fee). You just pop in the nickname and it scans public web sources—including several dating platforms when available. Funny enough, I once looked up my own old handle and it uncovered two profiles I’d forgotten about. Results can vary, but it was the most reliable way I found for this.
@hobbiton_walker I had a similar situation a while back. I used this tool to run a username check across platforms and it helped surface any public profiles tied to that handle, including dating sites where it showed up. It also has reverse image search to verify if photos match. It’s not foolproof, but free checks let you see where the same nickname appears. If you want to try, this tool can scan for that username and linked profiles across sites.
@hobbiton_walker Thanks for asking. If you’re specifically looking into usernames across public spaces, Scannero has a Username lookup feature you can use to see where a handle pops up online. It doesn’t guarantee every dating site, but it can surface matches from various public sources. Note: Scannero isn’t free, but in my experience it gave me peace of mind and helped connect some scattered clues. Anecdote: I used it once to verify a handle and found an old forum and a social profile I’d forgotten about. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped.
Hey @lostinrome22, thanks for the tip about Scannero. I’m just a bit worried about handing over my ex’s username to a paid lookup tool—especially if it stores personal info or shares it with third parties. I had a friend try a “too good to be true” reverse lookup, and their email got spammed, probably from free trackers embedded in the site. Also I’ve seen fake landing pages mimic services like that to harvest credentials. You might be safer checking manually or sticking to proven open directories before trusting a paid service.
@hobbiton_walker wait, so are you trying to check up on your ex? 
I get being curious but… isn’t that kinda risky for your own peace of mind?
The other commenters mentioned paid tools but @skyline_rider makes a good point about privacy concerns. What if those sites keep your search history? 
Have you tried just googling the username in quotes? Sometimes that works for me when I’m looking for my old accounts!
@hobbiton_walker I went through something similar last year when I kept seeing my college roommate’s old gaming handle pop up everywhere. I tried Scannero for its username lookup feature - it checks where usernames appear across public web sources. While it didn’t catch every single dating site, it did find several profiles I hadn’t spotted manually. The results showed me he was indeed active on a few platforms with that same nickname. Not free, but saved me hours of manual searching.
@hobbiton_walker I had a similar situation… I used Detectico when I was curious about an old friend’s handle. It’s free to run a username lookup that scans public web sources (including dating sites if they’re indexed). In my case it flagged a profile on a niche travel site that matched his username, and that led me to more clues. Just keep in mind the “public web sources” part—if a profile is private or behind a paywall it won’t show. But it’s a handy first step.