Your LinkedIn account can be a mean, lean, money-making machine.
But if you want to harness the real power of this social network, you must first understand the LinkedIn account types and the benefits of a LinkedIn subscription.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about LinkedIn Premium:
- How much does LinkedIn Premium cost?
- What are the benefits of LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter?
- How much is LinkedIn Learning?
Free LinkedIn Account
The free LinkedIn account is the default option for most users. With this type of account, you can connect with other professionals, post content, and interact with others to grow your personal brand.Â
LinkedIn Free Benefits
Although free, the standard LinkedIn account will still provide you with a lot of benefits. Some of the most notable ones include:
Access to Creator Mode
The basic Linkedin account allows you access to creator mode to showcase your content and skills at the top of your profile, making them more visible to others.Â
Visibility in Search Results
Recruiters, hiring managers, and potential clients often use LinkedIn to search for professionals in their industry, and having an updated, active account gives you a better chance of being found.
Looking at Basic Analytics
Understanding basic analytics on LinkedIn can significantly enhance your networking strategy. Each time someone views your profile or engages with your content, LinkedIn provides insights into these interactions:Â
- Number of profile views
- Number of impressions on your post
- Number of searches you've appeared in
- Number of engagements your posts gathered (this includes likes, reactions, shares, and comments)
Using the Search Tool
The search tool on LinkedIn can be a gold mine for networking opportunities, even on the free plan. While it's not as advanced as Sales Navigator, it can still provide you with a lot of filters to find potential leads or industry peers.
Sending Connection Requests
The basic LinkedIn account also allows you to send connection requests to other professionals without any restrictions. This is a great way to expand your network, reach out to potential clients or employers, and build important relationships.
Our advice: don't exceed 20 per day. Exceeding this number could get your account flagged or even restricted.
Direct Messaging
Direct messaging on LinkedIn allows you to have private conversations with other professionals on the platform. Whether you're responding to a potential employer or discussing a business opportunity with a peer, this feature ensures that you can communicate effectively without having to leave the LinkedIn environment.
Receiving InMail Messages
On the free account, tou cannot initiate conversations with LinkedIn members who are not in your connections, but you can still receive InMail messages as a user with a free account. InMail allows paid subscribers to send messages to anyone on LinkedIn, regardless of connection status.
Adjusting Privacy Settings
Privacy on LinkedIn is paramount, and even with a free account, you have control over your visibility and the information you share with the network. You can adjust:
- Who sees your profile changes
- Who can view your connections
- Whether you're visible or viewing in private mode
- If others can tag you in their posts, and more.
Weekly Alerts
Free LinkedIn also allows you to set up three weekly alerts that will inform you when:
- Someone has viewed your profile
- When a lead or job opportunity is within the company size you're interested in
- And when there's an update on a person you follow.
LinkedIn Free Limits
The free LinkedIn account comes with many limitations you should be aware of too. The most important ones include:
- InMail messages: You can't send InMail messages to people who aren't in your network.
- Search limitations: You have limited access to the advanced search tool, and you can only see up to 100 results per search.
- Who's viewed your profile: You can only see the last five people who viewed your profile.
- Basic analytics: You have limited access to basic analytics
LinkedIn Premium Career ($29.99/month)
LinkedIn Premium Career is geared at people who are currently looking for a job. With this type of account, you get all the benefits of the standard LinkedIn account and some extra features to help you get ahead of other job seekers and land a new job.
How Much Is LinkedIn Premium Career?
The LinkedIn Premium cost for the Career plan is $29.99/ month. You can save money if you choose to pay annually, and you can get a free trial as well.Â
LinkedIn Premium Benefits (Career Plan)
What does LinkedIn Premium offer?
LinkedIn Premium is split into two sub-categories: Career and Business.
The Premium Career plan is the lowest-priced paid plan on LinkedIn, but covers pretty much anything you need to get noticed and be successful in your job search. This plan includes the free features and some extra ones:Â
AI-Powered Advice for Your Profile
LinkedIn Premium Career's AI-powered profile advice offers personalized suggestions help you stand out in the job market, based on successful patterns and recruiter preferences.
Access to Profile Views
Premium members enjoy can see the full list of users who have checked their profile, which can unlock potential networking opportunities and understand who is interested in their skills.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Premium Career gives subscribers access to LinkedIn Learning, which includes a wide variety of career-enhancing courses taught by industry experts.
InMail Messages
With LinkedIn Premium Career, you can also send up to five InMail messages per month, reaching out directly to any LinkedIn member, even if they are not in your network.
Applicant Insights
Career subscribers can see the Applicant Insights on job postings. It provides a breakdown of the skills, education, years of experience, and connections that successful applicants usually have for that specific job, to help you determine if you're a good fit for the job before applying.
LinkedIn CTA Button
The LinkedIn CTA (Call To Action) button is a feature that allows Premium users to add a customizable button on their profile to encourage profile visitors to take a specific action, such as contacting them or viewing their portfolio.
Top Choice Jobs and Top Applicant Features
Top Choice Jobs and Top Applicant features on LinkedIn Premium Career amplify your visibility as a job seeker and highlight your application among recruiters, increasing your chances of landing your desired position.
Advanced Search
Career Premium also allows you to access the advanced search tool, with unlimited searches and the ability to filter results by specific criteria such as company size, job function, and location.Â
LinkedIn Premium Business ($59.99/month)
LinkedIn Premium Business is similar to the Career plan, but the main focus lies on finding leads, as opposed to finding job opportunities. It's a plan suitable for freelancers, small business owners, and sales pros who to grow their businesses and find new clients.
How Much Is LinkedIn Premium Business?
The Premium Business plan on LinkedIn is $59.99/ month with the option of savings if you pay annually. You can also test LinkedIn Premium Business for free, for 30 days, and cancel any time in that time span if you find the features are not what you're looking for.
LinkedIn Premium Benefits (Business Plan)
Most of the benefits of Premium Business are based on Premium Career, so you will get access to roughly the same features, with a few (important) bonuses:
More InMail Messages
With LinkedIn Premium Business, you can send up to 15 InMail messages (as opposed to five and zero, on Career, respectively the free account.) This greater number of InMail messages allows for more expansive networking opportunities and the chance to forge stronger business relationships.
Unlimited Browsing
Premium Business also offers unlimited profile browsing (and seeing the full list of people who checked out your profile.) This can help identify potential leads and opportunities for collaboration.
Key Business Insights
LinkedIn Premium Business subscribers get a deeper understanding of companies with access to comprehensive data and analytics on industry trends, and track competitor performance.Â
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core ($99.99/ month)
The Core plan is the least expensive LinkedIn Sales Navigator option. It offers you access to the Sales Navigator tool, which can help you reach out to potential leads and close more deals.
How Much Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core?
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core costs $99.99/ month, but you can also pay annually (which would save you 5%.) You can try it out for free for up to 30 days before deciding if it's worth investing in.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core
The Sales Navigator tool offered by LinkedIn works as more than just an advanced search feature -- it's a way for you to discover potential leads, build a relationship with them, and grow your business. Some of the key features included in the Sales Navigator Core plan are:
More InMail Messages
Unlike Premium Business, Navigator Core will offer you 50 InMail messages per month.
Advanced Lead & Company Search Filters
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core plan elevates your lead generation game with an array of advanced search filters. These allow users to fine-tune their searches for leads and companies with laser-sharp precision, so you can focus on the most promising prospects, save time, and boost the potential for successful outcomes.
Lead Recommendations
LinkedIn's Lead Recommendations provides you with a list of suggested leads based on your saved lists, searches, and activity. The algorithm is designed to constantly learn about your preferences and generate personalized suggestions – alls so you can expand your network and discover new business opportunities.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced ($149.99/ month)
If you need more features and more InMail messages, the LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced plan might be the right fit for you. This plan is designed for larger teams and businesses that need to scale their lead generation efforts.
How Much Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced?
The LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced costs $149.99/ month, with the option of saving 5% by paying annually. If you have a bit more leeway with your budget for the Linkedin sales navigator cost, this plan is definitely worth it.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Benefits
On top of the features in Premium Business and Sales Navigator Core, the Advanced version also offers:
Book of Business CSV Uploads
This powerful feature allows you to upload a CSV file containing your business contacts. By importing your existing network, the Book of Business upload enables more efficient account planning and strategy development.
With this integration, Sales Navigator Advanced can provide tailored lead recommendations and insights, directly align with your current business relationships. This helps you streamline your offline connections and LinkedIn's online network streamlines to make sure the entire team reverts to a single source of truth.
Buyer Intent Signals
Buyer Intent Signals are real-time notifications that alert you when a lead is actively engaging with your brand or is showing interest in the type of products/services you offer. With this feature, sales reps can strike while the iron's hot and proactively reach out to interested prospects for more successful outcomes.
Unified Billing
Because it is built mainly for teams, Sales Navigator Advanced offers unified billing, which means you can manage and pay for multiple team members' accounts in one place. This feature also allows for better control over account management and subscription renewals.
Team Network Engagement
The Advanced Sales Navigator plan also allows you to reach out to your team's network to expand your reach and increase the chances of finding relevant leads. This feature is especially helpful for businesses with multiple sales reps working in different regions or industries.
Advanced Content Outreach
With this plan, you can also send personalized content packages to your leads and connections. This feature is useful for nurturing relationships with potential clients or partners by providing them with valuable information that positions your business as an industry leader.
Enterprise Tools
Last, but not least, the Advanced plan also offers SSO, SCIM, Employee Data Integration, and other tools suitable for enterprise-level businesses. These features help streamline the onboarding process and ensure smooth integration with existing systems.
✅ Actionable guide: How to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to generate leads
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus (Custom Pricing)
The Advanced Plus plan offers all the LinkedIn premium benefits, the Sales Navigator ones, and then some that are suitable for larger enterprises with many sales reps.
How Much Does LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus Cost?
The pricing for the Advanced Plus plan is custom and tailored to each business's specific needs. This level of customization allows businesses to build a plan that fits their budget while still providing access to all the necessary tools and features.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus Benefits
The Advanced Plus plan includes everything in LinkedIn Advanced, but it is customized to fit large enterprise teams. On top of that, it also offers advanced CRM integrations, which allow you to integrate your CRM system with Sales Navigator for seamless lead management.Â
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite ($170/month)
If you're a recruiter (or a company looking to scale hiring efforts), the LinkedIn Recruiter plans are what you're looking for. The Lite version is geared towards small and medium businesses that need to fill multiple positions quickly.
How Much Does LinkedIn Recruiter Lite Cost?
The LinkedIn Recruiter Lite costs $170/month, with the option of saving 5% by paying annually. This plan is perfect for businesses looking for quality candidates in a shorter amount of time and want access to advanced search filters, InMail messaging, and other recruitment-oriented features.
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite Benefits
Recruiter Lite benefits set the stage for a streamlined hiring process, letting you tap into LinkedIn's vast network of professionals. Here are some of the features included in this plan:
Access to 3rd Degree Network
With Recruiter Lite, you can reach candidates up to the 3rd degree of your LinkedIn network—expanding the pool of potential hires exponentially, especially for niche roles where the ideal candidate may not be in your immediate network.
InMail Messages
Recruiter Lite gives you 30 InMail messages a month, allowing you to reach out to potential candidates directly and increase the chances of a response.
Advanced Search Filters
The Lite plan also offers more than 20 advanced search filters that allow you to narrow down your candidate pool by specific criteria, such as location, industry, and skills.Â
Recommended Matches
Recommended Matches are based on your sourcing activity and help you speed up the process by providing you with a larger pool of candidates similar to those you've been looking for.
LinkedIn Recruiter ($835/ month)
LinkedIn Recruiter is the supercharged version of Recruiter Lite, with even more tools and features to help you find the best candidates for your business. This plan is best suited for staffing firms and large enterprises with large hiring demands.
How Much Does LinkedIn Recruiter Cost?
The full-fledged LinkedIn Recruiter plan costs $835 per month, making it a significant (but worthwhile) investment for businesses looking to scale their recruitment efforts.
LinkedIn Recruiter Cost Benefits
On top of what Lite provides, the enterprise-level LinkedIn Recruiter also comes with:
Full LinkedIn Network Access
With the premium LinkedIn Recruiter plan, you unlock complete access to the entire LinkedIn network of professionals. This level of access allows for a comprehensive search for talent, crossing the 3rd-degree boundary to include practically every profile on the platform.
More InMails
While on Lite you only get 30 InMail messages per month, with LinkedIn Recruiter, you get 150. This gives larger companies more leeway in who they contact, how, and how often.
Advanced Search Filters
On the LinkedIn Recruiter plan, the advanced search filters available on Recruiter Lite are even more comprehensive, allowing for a highly targeted search and better matches for your specific job requirements.
Candidate Insights
This feature enables recruiters to see more detailed information about potential candidates, such as their recent career changes and job interests, so they can tailor their approach and increase the chances of a successful hire.
Multi-User Collaboration Tools
The LinkedIn Recruiter platform provides multi-user collaboration tools that enhance team efficiency and alignment during the hiring process. Using these tools, multiple team members can collaborate on recruitment efforts by sharing candidate profiles, providing feedback, and streamlining communication.
Custom Reporting & Pipeline Analytics
For a deep dive into recruitment metrics and candidate tracking, LinkedIn Recruiter offers custom reporting and pipeline analytics tools, allowing businesses to optimize their hiring strategies and improve the recruitment lifecycle.
ATS Integrations
ATS integrations in LinkedIn Recruiter allow for the effortless transfer of candidate data to your Applicant Tracking System, simplifying and centralizing the hiring process.
LinkedIn Learning ($29.99/ month)
LinkedIn Learning is a platform that offers online courses and tutorials to enhance professional skills and knowledge. It is a valuable resource for individuals looking to upskill or for businesses seeking to train their teams.
How Much Does LinkedIn Learning Cost?
LinkedIn Learning offers multiple pricing options. If you're an individual, you can pay monthly ($29.99/ month) or annually (and save 30%). For teams, there are the Team ($379.99/ month) and Enterprise (custom pricing) plans available.
The good news? All LinkedIn Premium accounts (including Sales Navigator and Recruiter) come with LinkedIn Learning included in the price, at no additional cost.
LinkedIn Learning Benefits
LinkedIn Learning comes with a lot of advantages for both businesses and individuals who strive for professional development:Â
Unlimited Access to Courses
LinkedIn Learning subscribers have unlimited access to over 16,000 expert-led courses covering a wide range of topics from business and technology to creative skills and personal development.Â
Personalized Learning Paths
LinkedIn Learning offers personalized learning paths based on your professional goals, skills gaps, and interests. These curated paths provide a more efficient way of acquiring the necessary skills for career advancement or job performance improvement.
Offline Viewing
With LinkedIn Learning, you can download courses and watch them offline using the LinkedIn Learning mobile app, so you can access content on the go.Â
Certificates of Completion
Upon completing a course, subscribers receive a certificate of completion that they can add to their LinkedIn profile to showcase their newly acquired skills and knowledge.Â
LinkedIn Accounts Comparison & Advice
If you feel slightly confused by the myriad of options you have on paid LinkedIn plans, it's easy to see why. Here's a quick and comprehensive breakdown of which plan is better for whom (and which one isn't):
LinkedIn Free:Â
- Ideal for job seekers, freelancers, and those just starting out on LinkedIn.
- Not so good for recruiters or businesses looking to use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool.
LinkedIn Premium Careers:Â
- Excellent for professionals looking to build a personal brand and increase their job search visibility.
- Not so good for teams looking to use LinkedIn to find leads, for example.
LinkedIn Premium Business:
- Better suited for businesses or sales teams seeking to improve lead generation and prospecting efforts.
- Not optimal for individual contributors who do not need the advanced data analysis and extended network access.
Sales Navigator:
- Best fit for B2B sales professionals, with advanced targeting capabilities and personalized outreach features.
- Not recommended for recruitment professionals or job seekers.Â
Recruiter Lite:
- Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with moderate hiring needs.
- Not the best option for large organizations with high-volume recruiting needs.Â
LinkedIn Recruiter:
- Perfect for large enterprises and recruitment agencies looking to take their talent acquisition efforts to the next level.
- Not suited for small businesses or independent recruiters who may find the full suite of tools unnecessarily comprehensive and cost-prohibitive.
LinkedIn Learning:
- Individuals and businesses focused on skill-building and professional development.
- Not great for individuals, freelancers, and teams that need to use LinkedIn to find leads for customers or new hires.
When deciding which LinkedIn account to invest in, consider your goals and needs as well as the features that each plan offers. You can always start with a lower-tiered plan and upgrade as your needs change. Whichever option you choose, having a paid LinkedIn account can provide significant advantages for professionals and businesses alike. So take advantage of these valuable tools and elevate
P.S. Check out 5 LinkedIn Best Practices to Accelerate Growth
