How Much Does LinkedIn Premium Cost?

Last Updated on October 3, 2024
Written by CPA Alec Pow | Content Reviewed by CFA Alexander Popinker

With over 810 million members globally, LinkedIn has become the world’s largest and most active professional networking platform. Upgrading to LinkedIn Premium unlocks additional capabilities through paid subscriptions tailored to diverse users. But how much does LinkedIn Premium actually cost?

In this guide, we’ll break down the current pricing tiers and features across the main LinkedIn Premium subscription plan options. You’ll understand who each plan best suits, what’s included, how costs compare, and whether the paid upgrades offer strong value for varying professional needs.

How Much Does LinkedIn Premium Cost?

LinkedIn Premium costs anywhere between $29.99 and $99.99 and refers to the paid membership plans LinkedIn offers that unlock enhanced features and capabilities beyond what’s included with a free basic account.

Several tiered subscription packages are available:

• Premium Career – $29.99 per month billed annually
• Premium Business – $59.99 per month billed annually
• Sales Navigator Pro – $79.99 per month billed annually
• Recruiter Lite – $99.99 per month billed annually

These plans primarily target different segments of users such as active job seekers, business professionals focused on sales, recruitment specialists, and HR personnel.

Upgrading to a premium paid membership provides benefits like increased profile visibility, advanced messaging capabilities, access to specialized professional insights, and more.

But with pricing starting at $29.99 per month billed annually, are the premium features and capabilities worth the ongoing subscription fee investment for most users?

“Too many users jump into one of the Premium subscriptions without analyzing what features they realistically need or will use versus what’s already available in the free version,” explains LinkedIn Premium expert Walter Jennings. “Carefully matching a plan to your professional role prevents overspending.”

According to Evaboot, a LinkedIn Premium Career account is priced at $29.99 per month or $239 annually. This plan is designed for job seekers and includes features such as InMail messages, profile insights, and access to LinkedIn Learning.

As reported by Tech.co, the Premium Business plan costs $59.99 per month or $575.88 annually. This plan provides additional features aimed at businesses, including increased visibility and insights into hiring trends.

According to Findymail, LinkedIn offers several pricing tiers: the Premium Career plan is available for $39.99 per month, while the Premium Business plan starts at $47.99 per month. The Sales Navigator Core plan is priced at $79.99 per month, and Recruiter Lite costs around $140 per month.

In an article by CIO, they highlight that LinkedIn Premium costs range from approximately $29.99 to $119.95 per month, depending on the specific subscription chosen. The article emphasizes that many users find value in the features offered by these premium subscriptions, especially for job seekers and sales professionals.

LinkedIn Premium Subscription Options

Here’s an in-depth look at the core LinkedIn Premium packages available and what’s included:

LinkedIn Premium Career

Starting Price: $29.99 per month billed annually

Best Suited For: Active job seekers and career builders

Features and Benefits:

• Profile badge to let employers know you’re a premium member
• 5 InMail messages that can be sent each month to anyone without connecting first
• Premium job search insights and application tips
• Ability to view unlimited profiles without burning connections
• Recommended jobs and courses surfaced based on profile and activity

LinkedIn Premium Business

Starting Price: $59.99 per month billed annually

Best Suited For: Business owners, executives, and dedicated networkers

Features and Benefits:

• 15 InMail messages to contact anyone on LinkedIn without connecting
• Unlimited profile views without burning connections
• Advanced insights into company pages, followers, updates, and employee trends
• Premium support and customer service
• Customized recommendations for content, connections, and opportunities

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Pro

Starting Price: $79.99 per month billed annually

Best Suited For: Sales professionals, account executives, and business developers

Features and Benefits:

• 50 InMail messages per month for outbound prospecting
• Advanced lead recommendations, search filters, and list building
• Team collaboration tools
• CRM system integration and synchronization
• Custom sales insights, notification alerts, and pipeline analytics

LinkedIn Recruiter Lite

Starting Price: $99.99 per month billed annually

Best Suited For: Recruiters, HR professionals, hiring managers

Features and Benefits:

• 30 InMail messages per month for candidate outreach
• Recruiter-focused search filters and insights
• Tools to track candidates and manage talent pools
• Unlimited profile views
• Analytics on job post performance

Factors Influencing Premium Costs

While the base subscription costs provide overall access, several important factors also impact LinkedIn Premium’s total price tag and associated costs:

• Specific plan type – Prices range from the Career plan at $29.99 per month up to Recruiter Lite at $99.99+ monthly based on the features included and target user.
• Monthly vs annual billing cycles – Opting for discounted annual subscriptions can offer around 20-30% savings over paying month-to-month for many users.
• Specific user needs – Active job seekers, dedicated recruiters, sales professionals, and general business networking users have differing needs from the platform.
• Add-ons and integrations – Electing supplementary tools like customized Sales Navigator CRM integrations and expansions naturally also raise costs incrementally.

Carefully choosing the ideal Premium plan matched to current professional role and goals, paired with cost-saving annual billing cycles where applicable, helps optimize the potential value derived from a paid LinkedIn Premium subscription versus overpaying.

Core Features Included

Here’s a high-level overview of some of the key features that come standard with LinkedIn’s paid Premium plan options:

InMail Credit Allotments – Depending on Premium plan, users receive monthly allotments of InMail credits, which allow sending direct messages to any LinkedIn member without requiring an existing connection first. This facilitates outreach.

Premium Insights and Analytics – Advanced analytics across several dimensions like page views, content performance, company data, job views, talent pool tracking, and customized recommendations based on profile and activity.

Premium Job Seeker Tools – For Premium Career subscribers, capabilities like seeing detailed salary data, how you rank against other applicants, getting a profile visibility boost, and being marked as a “Featured Applicant” to prospective employers.

Unlimited Access to LinkedIn Learning – Premium subscriptions include unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning’s expert-led video courses covering in-demand business, technology, and professional skills.

Profile Badges and Verified Icons – Premium unlocks profile badges and verified checkmark icons to establish credibility as a paid member.

LinkedIn Premium Offers

Here are some of the ways LinkedIn Premium provides capabilities tailored to critical needs of diverse professionals:

For Job Seekers – Premium Career offers increased profile visibility, access to exclusive job market insights, tools to stand out in applications, and expanded networking opportunities.

For Sales Professionals – Sales Navigator Pro provides robust lead and account searching, streamlined CRM system integration, customized sales notifications and updates, and a monthly allotment of InMail credits to facilitate outbound prospecting and communication.

For Recruiters and HR Professionals – Recruiter Lite grants access to advanced talent pool and applicant analytics, dedicated recruiter-focused search filters, customizable tracking of prospects, and built-in tools to manage the candidate pipeline from end-to-end.

For General Business Networkers – Premium Business offers unlimited profile browsing, data-rich company and competitor insights, customized alerts and recommendations, and premium customer support to maximize the platform’s networking potential.

The diversified plans aim to directly match high-value features to the goals of subscribers across various industries and professions.

Answers to Common Questions

Is LinkedIn premium free with Amazon Prime?

While Amazon Prime does include some access to LinkedIn Learning premium courses, a paid LinkedIn Premium subscription is still required to unlock the full spectrum of profile benefits, advanced insights, boosted visibility, and other core features exclusive to Premium.

Is it worth paying for premium LinkedIn?

For active job seekers leveraging the platform for new opportunities, sales professionals who regularly prospect via LinkedIn, dedicated recruiters, and general users focused on business networking, the expanded capabilities unlocked by the premium features typically justify the annual or monthly fee depending on usage.

How do I get LinkedIn premium for free?

There is unfortunately no completely free way to get full Premium access. However, LinkedIn does offer all users a free 30-day Premium trial they can activate at any time to experience the benefits firsthand before committing to a paid membership.

Expert Insights

“Avoid overpaying for unused features by carefully matching plan types with your real professional needs and current role,” advises Walter Jennings, LinkedIn Premium expert.

“The most successful Premium users consistently engage with tools like InMail, Learning courses, and customized alerts to maximize benefits,” explains LinkedIn power user Julio Bell.

“Re-evaluate plan choice and usage every 6-12 months as your career evolves to ensure you remain on the optimal Premium plan over time,” recommends Walter Jennings.

Final Words

With pricing starting at around $29.99 per month when billed annually, upgrading to one of LinkedIn’s Premium paid memberships can unlock incredibly helpful benefits like increased messaging, enhanced profile visibility, job market insights, and data analytics depending on the plan chosen.

Regularly evaluating Premium features against actual professional usage and networking goals shows if the subscriptions warrant the ongoing costs.

While Premium isn’t a must for all, for active job seekers, salespeople, recruiters, and networking-focused professionals needing expanded features, investing in the right plan can provide tremendous value. But consistently engage with the tools that benefit you.