How much does a LinkedIn subscription cost?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide. It allows professionals to connect with each other, find jobs, follow companies, publish articles, and more. While the basic LinkedIn account is free, LinkedIn also offers several paid subscription options that unlock additional features and benefits. This article will provide an overview of LinkedIn’s subscription options and pricing to help you determine if a paid membership is worth the investment for your needs.

LinkedIn Free Account Overview

The free LinkedIn account offers users access to basic networking and profile features. With a free account, you can:

• Create a profile with job history, education, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, etc.
• Connect with other professionals in your network or company
• Perform basic searches to find people, jobs, groups, companies, etc.
• View full profiles of other members
• Join industry or interest-based groups
• Follow companies to receive updates
• See who has viewed your profile

However, there are some key limitations with the free account, including:

• You can only connect with 500+ connections
• Limited profile views per month
• No ability to send InMail messages
• No access to more advanced search filters
• No ability to post articles or long-form posts
• No access to LinkedIn Learning courses

For professionals that want to unlock more capabilities on LinkedIn for networking, recruiting, branding, and lead generation, upgrading to a paid subscription is recommended.

LinkedIn Premium Career Account

The LinkedIn Premium Career subscription focuses on helping professionals enhance their brand, search for jobs, connect with more professionals, and gain insights on career advancement. Here is an overview of what is included with a Premium Career account:

• Expanded profile views: See everyone who has viewed your profile, even anonymous visitors
• Advanced profile search filters: Unlock more filters such as years of experience, company size, location proximity, and more to find relevant profiles
• Unlimited InMail messages: Connect with anyone by sending direct messages, even if you’re not connected
• Premium badge on profile: Stand out with a Premium badge to showcase your investment in your professional brand
• Expanded network: Grow your network with up to 700+ connections
• Group follow settings: Manage notifications from the groups you follow
• Premium insights: Gain insights on how recruiters view your profile and how you compare for top jobs

The Premium Career subscription is available on a monthly or annual basis:

• Monthly: $29.99 per month
• Annually: $239.88 per year (equals $19.99 per month)

Overall, the Premium Career plan costs between $19.99-$29.99 per month depending on whether you opt for monthly or annual billing. It offers robust features for job seekers and professionals focused on career networking and development.

LinkedIn Premium Business Account

In contrast to the Premium Career plan, the Premium Business subscription is tailored for sales professionals, recruiters, marketers, and business owners selling products or services. Here is what is included with a LinkedIn Premium Business account:

• Expanded profile views: See everyone who has viewed your profile, even anonymous visitors
• Advanced profile search filters: Unlock more filters such as years of experience, company size, location proximity, and more to find relevant profiles
• Unlimited InMail messages: Connect with anyone by sending direct messages, even if you’re not connected
• Premium badge on profile: Stand out with a Premium badge to showcase your investment in your professional brand
• Expanded network: Grow your network with up to 700+ connections
• Premium insights: Gain insights on how people in your target audience respond to your content and profile
• Lead recommendations: Discover new leads based on your search history and preferences
• Advanced search alerts: Get email notifications when new prospects matching your search criteria join LinkedIn

Here are the monthly and annual pricing options for Premium Business:

• Monthly: $64.99 per month
• Annually: $559.88 per year (equals $46.66 per month)

The Premium Business subscription ranges from $46.66-$64.99 per month. It’s designed for sales and marketing professionals actively prospecting, building their brand, and generating leads through LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Account

In addition to the Premium subscriptions, LinkedIn also offers LinkedIn Sales Navigator as their premium package for sales professionals. Sales Navigator offers the most robust set of tools for finding new prospects, connecting with leads, and integrating with CRM and sales workflows.

Here is a summary of the key features included with LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

• Advanced lead recommendations: See curated lead recommendations based on ideal customer profiles
• Saved lead lists: Save prospects into organized lead lists and export to CSV or CRM
• Lead notifications: Get real-time notifications when prospects meeting your criteria view your profile or content
• TeamLink: Share saved leads, accounts, or searches with colleagues
• Contact insights: View mutual connections, past conversations, and news on leads before reaching out
• Advanced search filters: Deeply filter searches by job title, company, location, skills, and more
• Premium badge: Display Premium badge to stand out to prospects
• Unlimited InMail: Reach out to prospects through direct messaging
• Expanded network: Connect with up to 700+ connections

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is available in four paid subscription tiers:

The tiers are differentiated based on number of users and Sales Navigator capabilities included. In general, pricing ranges from $64.99 per month to over $194.99 per month for larger sales teams.

Premium + Learning Bundle

In addition to the Premium Career and Premium Business options, LinkedIn offers a Premier + Learning bundle that combines Premium access with LinkedIn Learning.

LinkedIn Learning provides over 16,000 online courses in business, technology, and creative skills taught by industry experts.

The Premium + Learning bundle offers:

• All features of Premium Career or Premium Business
• Unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning courses

Here is the pricing for the bundles:

The Premium + Learning bundles provide professionals and businesses access to both enhanced LinkedIn features and professional development courses.

Getting Started

To get started with a LinkedIn Premium subscription:

1. Go to your LinkedIn account and click on “Upgrade”
2. Select the plan you want – Premium Career, Premium Business, or Sales Navigator
3. Pick your monthly or annual billing plan
4. Enter your payment information and complete checkout

Once your order is processed, you will instantly unlock your Premium features and can start taking advantage of the expanded tools.

You can cancel or downgrade your subscription at any time through your account settings. However, you will lose access to Premium features if you cancel your subscription.

Is a Paid LinkedIn Account Worth It?

When weighing the value of a paid LinkedIn subscription, consider how you use LinkedIn for your professional networking and goals:

• If you are a job seeker, the Premium Career plan can offer robust tools for finding the right jobs, connecting with recruiters, and standing out in the search process. For serious job seekers, the $19.99-$29.99 per month investment may pay dividends in landing your next position faster.
• For sales professionals and marketers, the Premium Business and Sales Navigator plans provide powerful capabilities for finding prospects, generating leads, integrating with sales tools, showcasing thought leadership, and tracking engagement. With commissions and revenue tied directly to LinkedIn performance for many salespeople and marketers, the paid plans can have a very high ROI.
• Freelancers, consultants, executives, and other professionals can also benefit from paid memberships to maintain an influential brand, build a network, and open doors to new projects and roles.
• For those looking to build skills through LinkedIn Learning, the Premium + Learning bundles provide tremendous value given the breadth and quality of courses included.

On the other hand, if you just use LinkedIn occasionally for basic networking and profile management, the free account may still meet your needs.

Overall, for professionals using LinkedIn as a core platform for their career or business, the paid memberships deliver powerful functionality that can quickly pay for themselves many times over. The expanded capabilities in finding the right people, promoting your brand, and accessing insights can give you a distinct edge.

Conclusion

LinkedIn offers several paid subscription options, including Premium Career, Premium Business, Sales Navigator, and Premium + Learning bundles, that unlock more advanced features and benefits. These memberships range in price from $19.99 per month up to over $194.99 per month for Sales Navigator Enterprise plans.

The value of the paid subscriptions depends largely on how integral LinkedIn is to your professional networking, job seeking, prospecting, marketing, and learning goals. For many professionals, the paid plans can be well worth the investment based on the career and business opportunities facilitated by the additional capabilities. However, the free account can meet basic needs for those that use LinkedIn more casually. When weighing the benefits, consider how the expanded tools can accelerate your progress and empower you to get more value out of the professional relationships and resources available through LinkedIn.