LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million members worldwide. As a LinkedIn member, you can connect with other professionals in your industry to build your professional network. But LinkedIn limits how many connections members can send per week to maintain the quality of the platform and prevent spamming. The connection limit depends on whether you have a free basic account or a premium paid account.
Connection Limits for Free Accounts
With a free LinkedIn account, you are allowed to send up to 30 connection requests per week. This limit applies to inviting new connections whether by email address or LinkedIn profile link. If you hit the limit of 30 per week, you will not be able to send further requests until the next week resets. Some tips to make the most of your 30 free connections per week:
- Prioritize connecting with contacts you know well or have worked with previously.
- Personalize your invitation with a note to increase your chance of acceptance.
- Follow up if you don’t receive a response within a week.
- Connect strategically with influential members in your field.
- Engage regularly with your network by liking and commenting on posts.
The 30 connection limit per week for free accounts is fairly restrictive. But it aims to prevent spam-like behavior from members trying to expand their networks too fast.
Upgraded Connection Limits
To send more than 30 connection requests per week, you need to upgrade to a premium LinkedIn account. Here are the connection limits for LinkedIn’s paid offerings:
LinkedIn Premium Career
With the Premium Career tier, you can send up to 60 connection requests per week – double the amount for free accounts. This gives you more flexibility to grow your network faster. Premium Career costs $29.99 per month when paid monthly.
LinkedIn Premium Business
Premium Business boosts your weekly connection limit to 90 requests. So you can rapidly expand your professional network with this tier. Premium Business is best suited for sales professionals and recruiters. It costs $49.99 per month with monthly billing.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Professional
Sales Navigator Professional is LinkedIn’s premium sales tool. One of the perks is increasing your weekly connection requests to 150. This gives sales professionals wide reach to connect with prospects and new leads. Sales Navigator Professional is $64.99 per month paid monthly.
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite allows recruiters to send up to 150 connection invitations per week. This expanded reach helps source candidates and build talent pools. Recruiter Lite starts at $119.95 per month with annual billing.
LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate
The top-tier Recruiter Corporate plan removes weekly connection limits entirely. Recruiters can send unlimited requests. This provides maximum flexibility for rapidly sourcing talent. Recruiter Corporate starts at $249.95 per month with annual billing.
Tips for Managing LinkedIn Connections
Here are some best practices for making connections efficiently within LinkedIn’s limits:
- Invest in a premium account if you need to regularly connect with over 30 contacts per week. The boosted limits will give you more freedom.
- Focus on quality over quantity. Build genuine relationships rather than spamming connections.
- Personalize invitations to increase acceptance rates.
- Export your email contacts to find connections on LinkedIn. This makes it easier to connect without searching profiles.
- Use advanced search to find connections by company, job title, school, and more.
- Follow up with those who haven’t responded after a week.
- Remove stale connections to free up room in your network for new, active contacts.
- Turn on open profile visibility to appear in search results and be discoverable for new connections.
- Engage regularly with your connections by liking, commenting, and sharing.
How Many Connections Overall?
In addition to weekly connection limits, LinkedIn also enforces an overall cap on your total connections:
| Account Type | Maximum Connections |
|---|---|
| Free Account | 500+ |
| Premium Career Account | 10,000 |
| Premium Business Account | 25,000 |
| Sales Navigator Accounts | 30,000 |
| Recruiter Accounts | 40,000 |
So even if you have unlimited weekly connection abilities with Recruiter Corporate, you still can only amass up to 40,000 connections total.
Premium accounts expand your network potential substantially compared to just 500 connections for free. But there are still reasonable limits in place.
Strategies to Maximize Your LinkedIn Network
To grow your LinkedIn connections within the platform’s limits, employ these strategies:
Optimize Your Profile
An eye-catching, professional profile attracts more connections. Include a photo, headline, summary, experience, and skills.
Connect with Colleagues
Import email contacts or search for colleagues to connect with current and former coworkers.
Follow Companies
Follow relevant companies to connect with their employees and join industry groups.
Personalize Invitations
Send customized connection requests with a note to increase acceptance rates.
Recommend Connections
When viewing a profile, LinkedIn suggests connections you may know. Reach out to them.
Share, Comment, and Like
Proactively engaging with posts keeps you top of mind for new connections.
Search by Industry and Title
Discover connections through advanced search filters and suggestions.
Attend Industry Events
Conferences and trade shows provide the opportunity to connect in-person.
Conclusion
LinkedIn limits weekly connection requests and total connections to maintain quality, prevent spam, and provide value for members. Free accounts can send 30 invitations per week and have 500+ total connections. Premium paid tiers boost weekly limits up to 150 or unlimited, with total connections up to 40,000. To maximize your network, opt for a premium account and leverage LinkedIn tools to connect strategically. Focus on building genuine relationships with each connection. With the right strategy, you can grow your professional network successfully within LinkedIn’s limits.
