LinkedIn allows all members to send a limited number of free messages each month. The exact number of free messages depends on your account type.
Free Account
If you have a free basic LinkedIn account, you can send up to 15 free InMail messages per month. InMail messages allow you to directly contact LinkedIn members you are not connected with.
With a free account, your 15 monthly InMail credits reset on the first day of each calendar month. Any unused InMails do not roll over to the next month.
You can easily check your remaining InMail credits by going to the My Network tab and viewing the Send InMail section on the right side of the page. This will show you how many InMails you have available for the current month.
Premium Accounts
If you upgrade to a Premium LinkedIn account, either Premium Career or Premium Business, you get enhanced messaging capabilities and more InMail credits per month.
With a Premium Career account, you get 25 InMail messages per month. Premium Business accounts get up to 100 InMail credits monthly.
As with the free account, your InMail allotment resets on the 1st of every month for paid Premium accounts. Leftover credits do not carry over month to month.
InMail Limits for Premium Accounts
- Premium Career: 25 InMails per month
- Premium Business: 50 InMails per month
- Premium Business Plus: 100 InMails per month
Sales Navigator Accounts
If you have a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription, either Team or Enterprise, you get a set number of InMail messages each month determined by your account level.
InMail Limits for Sales Navigator
- Sales Navigator Team Member: 30 InMails per month
- Sales Navigator Professional: 50 InMails per month
- Sales Navigator Enterprise: 75 InMails per month
Sales Navigator accounts get a new InMail allotment on the anniversary date of subscription renewal, not necessarily the 1st of the month.
Recruiting and Job Seeker Accounts
If you have a Recruiter Lite, Recruiter, or Job Seeker account on LinkedIn, you get additional capabilities and limits for sending InMail messages.
InMail Limits for Recruiting/Job Seeker
- Recruiter Lite: 30 InMails per month
- Recruiter: 75 InMails per month
- Job Seeker: 20 InMails per month
The monthly InMail allotment for these account types also resets on the subscription renewal anniversary date.
Sending Messages to Connections
The InMail limits outlined above apply specifically to messages sent to people who are not connections in your LinkedIn network. You can send unlimited free messages directly to your 1st-degree connections without using any InMail credits.
To start a conversation with a 1st-degree connection, simply go to their profile and use the Message button. This will let you send them an unlimited number of messages.
Increasing your Monthly InMail Limit
If you want to increase the number of InMails you can send per month, you have a few options:
- Upgrade to a Premium account
- Purchase additional InMail credits as needed
- Upgrade to a Sales Navigator subscription
With Premium accounts, each successive level (Career, Business, Business Plus) gets you more InMails per month. Sales Navigator and Recruiting accounts also increase your InMail limit.
You can also buy extra InMail credits on a pay-as-you-go basis if needed. Bundles of 10, 25, and 50 InMails can be purchased at any time to supplement your monthly limit.
Tips for Using InMail Messages
To get the most out of your allotted InMails each month, keep these tips in mind:
- Personalize each message – reference their profile/experience
- Only use InMail for targeted outreach – don’t spray and pray
- Follow up within a week if no response
- Provide value – don’t just pitch something
- Use relevant subject lines
- Monitor response rates to improve future outreach
With the right strategy, you can maximize the impact of each InMail credit. Take the time to craft relevant, personalized messages that provide value to the recipient.
Following up promptly and tweaking your outreach based on response rates can help optimize your InMail effectiveness over time.
InMail vs Connecting to Send Messages
InMail credits allow you to directly message LinkedIn members outside of your network. You don’t need to connect with them first.
However, connecting with new LinkedIn members also lets you message them without using InMails. The tradeoff is it requires them to accept your connection request first.
Here are some pros and cons to consider between using InMail vs connecting to message new contacts:
InMail Pros
- Instantly message anyone without connecting first
- Higher response rates due to perceived exclusivity
- No need to wait for connections to accept your invite
InMail Cons
- Limited number of credits per month
- No ongoing messaging capability after credits are used
- Pay-per-use can get expensive if used extensively
Connecting Pros
- Unlimited messaging once connected (no credits)
- Ongoing relationship after connecting
- No additional costs
Connecting Cons
- Need recipient to accept connection invite first
- Higher volume of connection requests may seem spammy
- Lower response rates compared to InMail
As you can see, both options have tradeoffs. InMail provides an upfront way to message new contacts but has volume limits. Connecting takes more effort upfront but enables unlimited messaging after connecting.
Key Takeaways
- Free LinkedIn accounts get 15 InMails per month
- Premium accounts get 25-100 InMails depending on level
- Sales Navigator accounts get 30-75 InMails per month
- Recruiting accounts get 20-75 InMails monthly
- InMails allow messaging anyone without connecting first
- Connect with recipients for unlimited free messaging after connecting
- Personalize InMails and provide value to boost responses