LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 810 million members worldwide as of 2022. While LinkedIn offers a free basic account, they also provide premium paid subscriptions that unlock additional features and benefits for professionals and businesses looking to get the most out of the platform.
LinkedIn currently offers three tiers of premium subscriptions: Premium Career, Premium Business, and Sales Navigator. The price for these premium offerings ranges from $29.99 per month for Premium Career up to $79.99 per month for Sales Navigator depending on the plan you choose. Let’s take a closer look at what each tier offers and how much it costs.
LinkedIn Premium Career
LinkedIn Premium Career is the lowest tier premium upgrade targeted at individual professionals. It costs $29.99 per month when paying monthly or $239.88 per year when paying annually (a savings of $59.88/year).
Here are some of the key benefits unlocked with a Premium Career subscription:
- See who’s viewed your profile
- Get insights on how you compare to other applicants on jobs
- Contact recruiters directly without a Premium Business account
- Take unlimited free courses on LinkedIn Learning
- Get resume and profile feedback from professionals
The Premium Career subscription is designed for job seekers and individual contributors looking to maximize their personal brand and opportunities on LinkedIn. It gives you greater visibility and insights as a candidate plus unlocks useful professional development resources.
LinkedIn Premium Business
LinkedIn Premium Business is the mid-tier solution designed for business marketing and recruiting. Premium Business starts at $59.99 per month for individual users or can be purchased as team plans for multiple seats.
Here are some key Premium Business benefits:
- See unlimited member profiles when recruiting
- Use advanced search filters and candidate contact filters
- Post sponsored content ads to reach targeted audiences
- Use Company Page analytics to inform your LinkedIn strategy
- Unlimited LinkedIn Learning courses for employees
The Premium Business subscription is great for talent recruiters, HR professionals, and marketing/sales teams actively utilizing LinkedIn to promote their company, search for candidates, and recruit. It provides analytics and targeting tools to maximize your employer brand and strategy.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s premium subscription for sales professionals. It costs $64.99/month for individual users or can be purchased in customized team packages.
Here are some key features included with Sales Navigator:
- See member profiles marked as prospects
- Access conversation starter suggestions
- Get weekly account analytics and lead recommendations
- Integrate with CRM and sales tools
- Tailor saved lead lists and get notifications on lead changes
The Sales Navigator subscription provides powerful tools for sales prospecting, lead management, and account intelligence. It is designed to maximize a sales rep’s effectiveness when leveraging LinkedIn to generate leads and close deals.
Premium Subscription Comparison
Here is a quick comparison table summarizing the key differences between the three LinkedIn premium subscription tiers:
Subscription | Price/Month | Best For | Key Features |
---|---|---|---|
Premium Career | $29.99 | Individual professionals | Profile views, learning courses, career insights |
Premium Business | $59.99+ | Recruiters, marketers, companies | Advanced recruiting tools, Company Page analytics, sponsored content |
Sales Navigator | $64.99 | Sales professionals | Lead and account intelligence, CRM integration, conversation tools |
Free vs. Premium LinkedIn
LinkedIn’s free account still allows you to create a profile, make connections, join groups, follow companies, view job postings, publish articles, and more basic functionality. However, the premium tiers unlock more advanced features and insights.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the key limitations with LinkedIn’s free account:
- Limited profile views of other members
- Restricted inbox messages
- No analytics on content or Company Pages
- Limited search filters and profiles in recruiter tool
- No resume assessment tools or integration with hiring/CRM systems
- No LinkedIn Learning access or advanced insights on job applications
For many professionals early in their career or who use LinkedIn more passively, the free account may provide sufficient functionality. However, power users looking to maximize their brand and opportunities on LinkedIn will find the premium offerings well worth the monthly or annual investment.
Getting the Most from Premium
To get the most value from LinkedIn’s premium subscriptions, here are a few tips:
- Completely optimize your personal or Company Page profile – the more robust your profiles are, the more insightful LinkedIn’s analytics and recommendations will become.
- Actively use the advanced filtering and searching capabilities for lead/talent identification.
- Leverage integrations with your CRM, ATS, or other sales/recruiting systems to combine insights.
- Experiment with and analyze the performance of Sponsored Content ads.
- Proactively engage prospective clients or candidates identified through LinkedIn to convert leads.
- Use Premium to identify relevant groups and contributors to join for extended reach and engagement.
Premium subscriptions unlock functionality, but users still need to actively utilize the tools for maximum benefit. Invest time customizing your target audiences, integrating with existing systems, and engaging prospects using LinkedIn’s capabilities.
Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?
Whether one of LinkedIn’s premium subscriptions is worth the investment depends on your professional goals and how integral LinkedIn is to your role.
For most individual job seekers, the Career Premium tools can provide helpful insights on your brand and application optimization that make the $29.99 monthly fee reasonable. Recruiters and talent acquisition professionals can achieve major efficiency gains from Premium Business that likely warrant the expense.
For sales professionals who rely heavily on LinkedIn for lead generation, the Sales Navigator suite of tools is likely a no-brainer investment. However, more casual users may be fine sticking with LinkedIn’s powerful free offerings.
Conduct an honest assessment of how LinkedIn factors into your objectives and processes. The premium features can certainly take your results to the next level, but you want to make sure you will actually utilize them before committing to an ongoing subscription cost. Compare the price to the potential gain for your role and business.
Can I Cancel or Downgrade LinkedIn Premium?
Yes, you can cancel or downgrade your LinkedIn Premium subscription at any time and revert to the free account.
To downgrade or cancel Premium on LinkedIn:
- Click on the “Me” icon in the top navigation bar and select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Navigate to the “Account” tab and click “Manage Premium”.
- Here you can cancel auto-renewal for your subscription or click “Downgrade” to select a free account.
You will immediately lose access to your premium features after downgrading or canceling. However, you get to retain your profile and connections.
LinkedIn does not offer refunds for partial subscription periods after downgrading. You will be able to use the premium features you paid for until the next billing cycle.
It’s easy to upgrade back to Premium later if you change your mind. Just visit the Premium upgrade page and purchase a new subscription.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Premium provides valuable tools to take your professional brand, recruiting, sales efforts, and Company Page management to the next level. However, the subscriptions come at an ongoing cost ranging from $29.99 to $79.99 per month depending on the plan.
Carefully assess whether your usage justifies the fees based on the additional visibility, analytical insights, and capabilities unlocked by Premium features. For professionals and organizations that live on LinkedIn, the productivity and results gains will likely outweigh the expense.
You can always try Premium for a month and then downgrade if you don’t find enough value. But once you get accustomed to the advanced tools, you may find it’s well worth the investment to boost your LinkedIn presence and strategy.