LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 850 million members worldwide. As of January 2023, LinkedIn has 60 million active job listings and over 20 million companies with LinkedIn business pages. With so many professionals and businesses on LinkedIn, it has become an invaluable tool for networking, job searching, recruiting, marketing, and staying up-to-date on industry news. But how much does it cost to have a LinkedIn account and access all these features? The short answer is LinkedIn’s basic account is free. However, LinkedIn does offer several premium paid subscriptions that provide additional benefits. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the cost breakdown of LinkedIn’s various account types and premium offerings.
LinkedIn’s Free Account
LinkedIn’s free account provides access to core networking features. With a free account, you can:
– Create a profile summarizing your background, skills, and experience
– Connect with other professionals in your network
– Join industry-related groups
– Follow companies to get updates on their products and job openings
– Search and apply for jobs
– View full profiles of other members (except contact info)
– Receive customized newsfeed with updates from your network
– Send and receive messages
– Publish posts sharing articles, photos, links, etc.
So the baseline LinkedIn experience is 100% free. You can create a full-featured profile and participate in many networking activities without ever paying anything.
LinkedIn Premium Subscriptions
While LinkedIn’s free account provides ample value, LinkedIn does offer three premium paid subscriptions for additional features:
LinkedIn Premium Career – $29.99/month
LinkedIn Premium Career targets job seekers and includes:
– See who’s viewed your profile and when
– Contact info for anyone who views your profile
– Unlimited profile searches
– Unlimited InMail messages
– Interview preparation tools
– Salary comparison tools
– Resume and profile reviews
– Access to free LinkedIn Learning courses
LinkedIn Premium Business – $44.99/month
LinkedIn Premium Business supports recruitment/sales goals with:
– Unlimited profile searches
– Unlimited InMail messages
– Contact info for anyone who views your profile
– See full profiles of prospects
– Lead recommendations
– Trending content feed
– Competitive intelligence on other companies
– Free LinkedIn Learning courses
LinkedIn Premium Hiring – $99.95/month
LinkedIn Premium Hiring adds advanced recruiting features like:
– Unlimited InMail messages
– Contact info for anyone who views your profile
– Candidate insights from interviews/assessments
– Skills assessments for candidates
– Interpreted skills results
– Trending content feed
– Competitive intelligence on other companies
– Free LinkedIn Learning courses
So LinkedIn’s premium plans range from $29.99/month up to $99.95/month depending on the features needed. Key benefits include seeing full profiles, contacting anyone, unlimited searches and messages, and advanced analytics.
What Features Do You Get at Each LinkedIn Account Level?
To visualize the features at each account level, here is a comparison table:
| Feature | Free Account | Premium Career | Premium Business | Premium Hiring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create Profile | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Connect with Others | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Join Groups | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Follow Companies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customized Newsfeed | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Search & Apply for Jobs | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Send/Receive Messages | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Publish Posts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| See Who Viewed Profile | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Contact Info of Visitors | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Unlimited Searches | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Unlimited InMail | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Interview Prep Tools | ✔ | |||
| Salary Comparison | ✔ | |||
| Resume Review | ✔ | |||
| Lead Recommendations | ✔ | |||
| Competitive Intelligence | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Candidate Insights | ✔ | |||
| Skills Assessments | ✔ | |||
| Interpreted Skills | ✔ |
As shown in the table, LinkedIn’s free account provides ample functionality for networking and job seeking. The premium accounts unlock additional capabilities like seeing full profiles, unlimited searches/messages, and advanced analytics. The higher-tier plans target more intensive recruiting and sales use cases.
What Perks Come with LinkedIn Premium?
In addition to the core features outlined above, LinkedIn Premium subscriptions come with a few nice perks:
LinkedIn Learning Access
All premium account holders get unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning. This is LinkedIn’s e-learning platform with over 16,000 courses across business, technology, and creative topics. Courses are delivered via video lessons and you can earn certificates to showcase on your profile.
Profile Badges
Premium members can display badges on their profile highlighting they are a premium subscriber. This can denote higher commitment and investment in networking on LinkedIn.
Expanded Profile Views
Premium accounts provide more detail on who has viewed your profile. You can filter by time period, industry, location, and more.
Ad-Free Experience
One benefit of premium is no more annoying ads! This provides cleaner page real estate to focus on content.
Premium Customer Support
Paying members get access to preferred customer support for any issues that may arise.
So in summary, premium perks include training courses, profile badges, better analytics, an ad-free experience, and dedicated customer service.
What is the Best LinkedIn Account Type Based on Your Needs?
Deciding which LinkedIn account type is best depends on your specific needs and budget. Here are some recommendations based on common use cases:
For casual networking and occasional job seeking – Free Account
If you just want to create a basic profile and connect with some colleagues or peers, the free account should suffice. You can accomplish basic networking activities without paying anything.
For active job seekers – Premium Career
Job seekers should strongly consider the Premium Career plan. The ability to see who has viewed you, contact anyone, and get interview prep/resume help can significantly boost your chances of landing a job. The $29.99/month is generally affordable for active job hunting.
For sales, recruiting, or business development – Premium Business
Sales reps, recruiters, and biz dev professionals who need to find and connect with prospects should opt for the Premium Business plan. The unlimited searches and InMail will allow much wider lead generation and outreach. Competitive intelligence and full profile viewing also facilitate this use case.
For HR managers and recruiting teams – Premium Hiring
HR and recruiting teams conducting high volume hiring should invest in the Premium Hiring plan. This unlocks candidate assessments, skills analysis, and other analytics to filter and evaluate prospects efficiently. For serious corporate recruiting functions, the $99.95/month for Premium Hiring delivers immense value.
In summary, assess your current LinkedIn needs and budget to determine which account type makes the most sense. Don’t overpay for features you won’t use extensively. But for power users, the premium options provide functionality that can transform your results on LinkedIn.
Conclusion
To recap, LinkedIn offers several account types:
– LinkedIn Basic – Free
– LinkedIn Premium Career – $29.99/month
– LinkedIn Premium Business – $44.99/month
– LinkedIn Premium Hiring – $99.95/month
The free account enables core networking activities. Premium unlocks added visibility, outreach, and analytics depending on the plan.
When choosing your LinkedIn account type, consider your budget and specific use cases around networking, job seeking, sales, or recruiting. Aligning your account with your needs will allow you to maximize the value of LinkedIn as a professional platform.