Shopping, payment and coding username checker

By FreeUsername · Reviewed October 18, 2026 · Editorial policy

This group falls into three kinds of site. Developer accounts: GitHub and GitLab. Marketplaces: Etsy and eBay. Payment and creator support pages: Venmo, Patreon, Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee. Duolingo sits here too, as the one learning app.

These sites are not social networks, but your username still shows up in a public link: an Etsy profile, a Venmo payment page, a GitHub account that hiring managers open. Some of these names are hard to change later. Etsy usernames, for example, can never be changed, so it pays to check before you sign up.

For payment apps there is a second reason to look a name up. Before you send money on Venmo, it helps to confirm that the @name you were given has a profile at all. The check only tells you whether a public profile answers at that address. It cannot tell you who owns it.

Developers have one more reason to check early: a GitHub or GitLab username becomes part of your package and repository links, and changing it later breaks links others have saved. Pick the name you would be happy to show in a CV, then check it here and on the home page.

9 shopping & other checkers

Compare shopping & other platforms

What each checker can do, and the length rule from each platform's own help pages. "Live" means the page checks a name for you; "Guide" means the platform can't be checked automatically, so the page shows how to check it yourself.

Platform	Check	Length rule
GitHub	Live	GitHub's docs describe a 39-character limit for usernames.
Etsy	Guide	Up to 20 characters, with no spaces or punctuation.
Venmo	Guide	5 to 30 characters.
GitLab	Live	2 to 255 characters.
Patreon	Live	Patreon's help center does not publish length or character limits; the page settings tell you when a URL is not accepted.
eBay	Guide	6 to 64 characters, with no spaces or tabs.
Ko-fi	Guide	Not published in Ko-fi's help center.
Buy Me a Coffee	Guide	Not published in Buy Me a Coffee's help center.
Duolingo	Live	Not published in Duolingo's help center.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change my Etsy or eBay username later?

Etsy usernames cannot be changed. eBay lets you change yours once every 30 days and holds the old name for 30 days. The rules and sources are on each checker page.

Does a Venmo profile check prove I am paying the right person?

No. It only shows that a profile exists at that @name. Confirm with the person through another channel before sending money.

Is a GitHub username the same as a GitLab one?

No. They are separate services with separate accounts, so the same name can belong to different people on each.

Is this checker free?

Yes. There is no sign-up, and the names you check are not stored.

Can I check a seller before buying on Etsy or eBay?

You can confirm that a shop or profile exists at that name. For trust, read the reviews and sale history on the marketplace itself.

Other platform groups

FreeUsername is independent and not affiliated with any platform listed here. Results are leads to verify.