The number of messages you can send per day on LinkedIn depends on your account type. With a free Basic account, you can send up to 30 messages per day. With a Premium Business account, you can send up to 100 messages per day. The number of InMail credits you have may also impact how many messages you can send.
Messaging limits for Basic accounts
If you have a free Basic LinkedIn account, you are limited to sending 30 messages per day. This includes connection requests and 1st degree messages sent directly to your connections. If you try to exceed 30 messages in one day, you will get an error notification telling you that you’ve reached your daily limit.
The 30 message daily limit applies to all messaging activity, including:
- Connection requests sent
- 1st degree messages to existing connections
- 2nd degree “introductions” through a shared connection
- Invitations to like/follow/share your content or profile
Keeping under 30 messages is important if you want to maintain full messaging capabilities as a Basic member. If you go over the limit too frequently, LinkedIn may further restrict or suspend your account.
Tips for staying under the 30 message Basic limit
Here are some tips to avoid hitting the 30 message cap with a Basic LinkedIn account:
- Spread out connection requests over multiple days instead of sending many at once.
- Limit 1st degree messages to essential conversations only.
- Use the Share and Like buttons to selectively engage your network instead of messages.
- Upgrade to a Premium account if you need to message more than 30 people per day.
Messaging limits for Premium Business accounts
With a Premium Business account on LinkedIn, your daily messaging limit increases to 100 messages per day. This allows you to more actively engage your network by sending 3x as many connection requests, InMail messages, and 1st degree messages.
As with the Basic account, the 100 daily message allowance encompasses all messaging activity, including:
- Connection requests
- 1st degree messages to connections
- InMail messages to anyone (with available credits)
- 2nd degree introductions through shared connections
- Invitations and reminders to your network
Having a 100 message per day limit gives Premium Business subscribers much more flexibility and room to build relationships. But the same general guidance applies in not significantly exceeding your limit on a regular basis.
Staying under 100 messages per day
To avoid hitting the 100 message cap, Premium members can:
- Spread out connection requests over multiple days or weeks.
- Use campaigns and automation tools to space out your messages.
- Only send 1st degree messages when you have something important to communicate.
- Monitor your daily usage and adjust your outreach accordingly.
As long as you pay attention and actively manage your messaging, staying under 100 per day with a Premium account is very doable for most users.
The role of InMail credits
Along with the daily message limit, the number of InMail credits you have can also impact how many messages you can send in a day on LinkedIn.
InMail allows you to message LinkedIn members that you are not connected to. But each InMail message deducts from your available credits, which refresh monthly.
Here’s how InMail credits work:
- Basic accounts do not include any InMail credits.
- Premium Business accounts start with 25 InMail credits per month.
- Each InMail message costs 1 credit to send.
- Unused credits roll over for up to 12 months.
- Additional credit packs can be purchased if needed.
So if you have 25 InMail credits as a Premium member, you could theoretically send 125 messages in a day – 100 standard messages + 25 InMail messages. But you would then be out of credits for the rest of the month.
Most Premium members with a typical 25 credits spread their InMail messages over time. But the credits do allow additional messaging flexibility if needed in a particular day or week.
Strategies for using InMail credits
To maximize your InMail credits each month:
- Use most credits in the first 2 weeks before new credits refresh.
- Focus InMails on your top priority prospects.
- Personalize each message to improve response rates.
- Buy extra credit packs if you regularly use up credits each month.
- Track your monthly credit usage to optimize your outreach.
With some planning, 25 credits per month can support limited but targeted outreach to key prospects that you lack connections with.
Upgrading from Basic to Premium
If you find yourself constrained by the 30 message per day Basic limit, upgrading to a Premium Business account is worth considering.
Premium offers several messaging benefits compared to Basic, including:
- 100 messages per day instead of 30
- 25 included InMail credits per month
- Unlimited 1st degree messages
- Expanded network and search filters
- Premium Badge on your profile
Premium Business starts at around $30 USD per month with discounted annual subscriptions. Many frequent LinkedIn users find the extra messaging flexibility worth the subscription cost.
Upgrading your account also signals that you are a serious professional user of the platform. This can improve perceptions among your network connections.
Who should upgrade to Premium?
Upgrading to a paid Premium account makes the most sense for users like:
- Sales & marketing professionals actively prospecting
- Recruiters & HR personnel sourcing candidates
- Business owners & executives networking
- Freelancers & consultants seeking new clients
- Anyone messaging over 30 people per day consistently
For most Basic users, intermittent days over 30 messages is fine. But heavy daily messaging volumes warrant upgrading.
Key takeaways
To summarize the key points on LinkedIn messaging limits:
- Basic accounts can send 30 messages per day
- Premium Business accounts can send 100 messages per day
- InMail credits allow additional outreach to unconnected members
- Staying under your daily limit is important to maintain full access
- Premium Business upgrades provide more messaging flexibility
Understanding and properly using your account’s messaging limits ensures you get the most out of LinkedIn for your professional networking and prospecting needs.