LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social networking platform with over 810 million members. It allows users to connect with colleagues, search for jobs, follow companies, join groups, learn new skills and more.
One of LinkedIn’s key features is LinkedIn Premium, which unlocks additional capabilities through a paid subscription. However, before committing to a paid plan, new users can try Premium through a free trial. This allows them to test out the premium features risk-free for a set period of time.
A common question that arises is – does LinkedIn charge you during the free trial period? Or can you use Premium for free during the trial duration? Let’s find out.
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s subscription service that gives users access to additional features not available to basic free members. Some key benefits of LinkedIn Premium include:
- Seeing who viewed your LinkedIn profile
- Sending InMail messages to anyone, even if you’re not connected
- Seeing full profiles of your 3rd-degree connections
- Getting insights on how your posts are performing
- Taking unlimited online courses on LinkedIn Learning
- Accessing more advanced LinkedIn search filters
LinkedIn offers three types of premium subscriptions:
- Premium Career: Focused on helping users land their dream job. It includes features like seeing who viewed your profile, advanced profile search, and interview prep.
- Premium Business: Aimed at sales professionals and recruiters. It allows sending InMail messages, seeing full profiles, and getting insights on post performance.
- Premium Hiring: For talent recruiters and HR professionals. It includes features like InMail, candidate insights, and talent pool matching.
Does LinkedIn offer a free trial?
Yes, LinkedIn allows new users to try Premium for free for a limited period through their free trial offer. This allows you to experience the benefits of Premium risk-free before subscribing.
The duration of LinkedIn’s free trial is 1 month. So you get access to all Premium features for free for 30 days.
This 1 month free trial is available for all three Premium plans – Premium Career, Premium Business, and Premium Hiring.
Some key things to note about LinkedIn’s free trial:
- It is only eligible for new LinkedIn members who haven’t had Premium before.
- You need to provide credit card details when signing up for the trial, even though you are not charged.
- You can cancel your Premium subscription at any point during the trial to avoid being charged.
- If you don’t cancel before the trial ends, your card on file will automatically be charged the subscription fees.
So in summary, the free trial allows you to experience LinkedIn Premium for 1 month for free before deciding on whether to continue with a paid plan.
Does LinkedIn charge during the free trial period?
No, LinkedIn does not charge anything during the 1 month free trial period for Premium. You get full access to all Premium features for 30 days at no cost.
Your credit card details are required upfront when you sign up for the free trial. But LinkedIn will not charge your card unless you let the trial expire and opt into a paid subscription.
So you can use Premium completely free for the duration of the trial. Only once the trial ends will you start getting billed – either the monthly or annual fee depending on the plan you choose.
Here are some common concerns around billing during LinkedIn’s free trial and the answers:
Concern | Answer |
---|---|
Will my card be charged when I sign up for the trial? | No, your card will not be charged at the start of the trial. LinkedIn only takes your card details but does not charge anything during the trial period. |
What happens if I forget to cancel and my trial expires? | Your card on file will automatically be charged the subscription fee of the Premium plan you tried out. You won’t be charged for any past usage, only for the upcoming subscription period. |
Can I cancel my trial mid-way and avoid being charged? | Yes, you can cancel anytime during the 1 month trial period and avoid being billed. As long as you cancel before the trial end date, no charges will be made. |
Will I be warned before my trial ends and I start getting charged? | Yes, LinkedIn will send you email reminders as your trial end date approaches to warn you about upcoming charges in case you don’t cancel. |
So in summary, you can make full use of LinkedIn Premium’s features during the 1 month trial without worrying about charges. As long as you cancel before the trial period ends, you won’t pay anything.
How do I cancel LinkedIn Premium to avoid charges?
Canceling your LinkedIn Premium subscription is easy and can be done directly from your account settings:
On Desktop:
- Go to www.linkedin.com and login to your account.
- Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
- In the dropdown menu, click ‘Settings & Privacy’.
- On the account settings page, click ‘Subscriptions’ on left sidebar.
- Under ‘Premium’ subscription, click ‘Cancel subscription’.
- Follow prompts to confirm cancellation.
On Mobile App:
- Open the LinkedIn app and tap your profile picture.
- Go to your account settings.
- Tap ‘Subscriptions’.
- Tap ‘Premium’ and then ‘Cancel subscription’.
- Confirm cancellation on the prompted screen.
Once you successfully cancel your Premium trial, your subscription will not be renewed at the end of the trial period. So you can avoid being charged anything.
What are the payment methods for LinkedIn Premium?
If you do decide to continue with a paid Premium subscription after the free trial, here are the payment methods accepted by LinkedIn:
- Credit Cards – Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards are accepted.
- Debit Cards – Most major debit cards with the Visa, Mastercard or Discover logo can be used.
- PayPal – You can pay your Premium subscription through your PayPal account.
- Google Pay – For users with Android devices, Google Pay can be used for seamless one-touch payments.
- Promo Codes – LinkedIn provides discount promo codes that can be applied to lower the subscription cost.
While signing up for the trial, you need to provide valid credit card details. But actual charges will only happen after the trial ends and on a recurring basis as per your chosen billing cycle.
You also have the flexibility to switch your payment method anytime if needed. For example, updating the card on file if your previous one expired.
How much does LinkedIn Premium cost?
If you choose to continue with LinkedIn Premium after the 1 month free trial, here are the current subscription costs:
LinkedIn Premium Career
- Monthly plan – $29.99 per month
- Annual plan – $239.88 per year (equivalent to $19.99 per month)
LinkedIn Premium Business
- Monthly plan – $64.99 per month
- Annual plan – $519.92 per year (equivalent to $43.33 per month)
LinkedIn Premium Hiring
- Monthly plan – $99.95 per month
- Annual plan – $799.60 per year (equivalent to $66.63 per month)
As you can see, the annual plans offer a decent discount compared to paying month-to-month. For example, the annual Premium Career plan saves you around 17% compared to 12 monthly payments.
LinkedIn also offers discounted rates for students and armed forces members in the United States.
Overall pricing may vary slightly in different countries and currencies. Taxes are extra as applicable. You can check the latest Premium subscription costs on LinkedIn’s website for your country.
Is LinkedIn Premium worth it?
Whether Premium is worth it for you depends on your specific needs and LinkedIn usage patterns.
Here are some things to consider when making the decision:
- How actively do you use LinkedIn for networking or recruiting? Premium unlocks features like InMail messaging and talent pool matching which can help boost your effectiveness on the platform.
- Are you a job seeker? Premium can help you stand out with profile highlights, see who viewed you, and prepare for interviews.
- Do you need to manage your professional brand? Premium provides insights to monitor content performance.
- Do you want to take LinkedIn Learning courses? Premium gives you unlimited access to 16,000+ expert-led video courses.
- Is your usage occasional or frequent? Frequent users tend to benefit more from Premium’s advanced capabilities.
The free trial allows you to experience Premium first-hand. You can then decide if the added benefits are worthwhile for you or not when the trial period ends.
Many recruiters, sales professionals, job seekers, and thought leaders find enough value in Premium to justify the subscription cost. But the choice ultimately depends on your individual needs.
Conclusion
To summarize:
- LinkedIn offers new users a 1 month free trial of Premium so they can evaluate it risk-free.
- You will not be charged anything during the trial period. Your card is only charged if you don’t cancel and continue with a paid plan after the trial.
- You can cancel Premium anytime during the trial to avoid charges.
- If you do opt for a paid subscription, you can pay via credit card, debit card, PayPal or Google Pay.
- Premium unlocks several benefits but evaluate if the features are worth it for your personal usage before subscribing.
So sign up for LinkedIn Premium’s free trial today with zero obligations. Take advantage of the added features for professional networking, recruiting, branding and learning without worrying about charges for the first month.