Having a premium LinkedIn account can provide many benefits for job seekers, professionals, and businesses. The additional features that come with LinkedIn premium subscriptions, such as being able to view all profiles, send unlimited messages, and see full candidate analytics, are valuable for expanding your network and getting noticed by recruiters. However, the costs of premium subscriptions can be prohibitive for some. This leads many LinkedIn users to wonder: is it possible to get LinkedIn premium for free?
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s paid subscription service. There are three tiers of LinkedIn Premium accounts:
- Premium Career – $29.99/month
- Premium Business – $49.99/month
- Premium Sales – $64.99/month
Premium Career is targeted at individual professionals and job seekers looking to boost their profile and get noticed by recruiters. Premium Business has all the features of Premium Career, plus additional tools for managing a company page, posting jobs, and getting insights on potential hires. Premium Sales has everything in Premium Career and Premium Business, with extra sales-oriented features like lead recommendations and unlimited saved leads.
Some key benefits that come with a LinkedIn Premium subscription include:
- Unlimited profile views of other members, instead of just recent visitors
- See full profiles of your 3rd degree network instead of just their name and photo
- Unlimited InMail messages instead of the basic 300 allotted per month
- Candidate insights like likelihood to respond and top skills
- Advanced filters to target your searches by experience, location, company size, etc.
Having these additional features and capabilities can really help maximize the value of LinkedIn, especially when job seeking, recruiting employees, researching leads, or promoting your business. However, paying the monthly or annual fee for Premium may not be feasible or desirable for everyone. Next, we’ll look at some ways you may be able to get LinkedIn Premium for free.
Take advantage of LinkedIn Premium trials
The easiest way to access LinkedIn Premium for free is to sign up for their free trial. LinkedIn offers one month free trials of both Premium Career and Premium Business. This gives you full access to all the Premium features for 30 days at no cost. You can take advantage of the LinkedIn Premium trials to:
- Boost your profile and network during a job search
- Research candidates extensively when hiring
- Reach out to a wider range of prospects and leads
- See if Premium is worth the investment for you before committing
To start your free trial, simply visit the Premium section of LinkedIn and click “Start your free month”. You’ll have to enter your payment information upfront, and LinkedIn will begin charging you monthly rates after the 1 month trial unless you cancel your subscription. So be sure to set a reminder to cancel before the month is up if you don’t want to pay.
Refer friends to Premium
Another way to earn free access to some LinkedIn Premium features is through LinkedIn’s referral program. When you get friends or colleagues to sign up for paid Premium accounts after clicking your referral link, you can earn up to 12 months of Premium access through referrals every calendar year.
Here’s how the referral rewards work:
| Number of Referrals | Reward |
| 1 | 1 month free Premium |
| 3 | 3 months free Premium |
| 5 | 6 months free Premium |
| 8 | 12 months free Premium |
To start referring friends, go to the “Me” section of your LinkedIn toolbar and click “Refer a friend”. Enter their email address and LinkedIn will send them a referral invite. If they accept it and sign up for a paid Premium subscription, you’ll get credit towards free Premium access. This can be a great way to receive Premium for free if you know others who could benefit from and would be willing to pay for Premium.
Use Premium with Microsoft bundled subscriptions
If your company uses Microsoft for productivity software and services, you may already have access to free LinkedIn Premium benefits. Microsoft partners with LinkedIn to offer Premium bundled with some Microsoft subscriptions. For example, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 customers often have LinkedIn Premium included.
Depending on the specific Microsoft license your company has, you may be able to activate Premium Career or Sales Navigator subscriptions for some or all employees at no added cost. These Premium plans would be paid for through existing Microsoft agreements.
Check with your IT or software management teams to see if your Microsoft contract includes any complimentary LinkedIn services. If so, you can get Premium access without having to pay anything additional as an individual or company.
Look for student discounts
Students can sometimes get discounted Premium subscriptions, making LinkedIn’s paid services more affordable. If you’re a current college or graduate student, check to see if your school offers reduced rate partnerships or bundled deals with LinkedIn Premium.
For example, some programs provide students one year of complimentary Premium Career or Business edition after graduation. Student subscriptions may also be offered at a 50% discount off normal pricing. Student access usually requires verification of active enrollment status.
Additionally, LinkedIn offers student bundles that pair Premium with additional tools like LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Office. The LinkedIn for Students Starter Package includes Premium Career plus unlimited Learning course access for around $20-30 per month. While not free, this can be up to 50% cheaper than a regular Premium subscription.
Apply for Premium scholarship opportunities
Occasionally, LinkedIn awards free one year Premium subscriptions through special scholarship programs. These are competitive and typically require applicants to demonstrate how Premium would help them achieve education or career goals.
For example, LinkedIn’s annual #LinkedInLife scholarship awards a one year Premium Career subscription to 200 recipients. To enter, applicants make a video highlighting how Premium would empower their professional journey. 30 finalists are selected to win the scholarship.
Similar one-time scholarship contests are sometimes run as well. Following LinkedIn’s social media pages can help you stay aware of any special Premium scholarship opportunities arising. If eligible, it’s worth applying to potentially get Premium at no cost.
Use Premium temporarily for events or training
LinkedIn will occasionally offer organizations, events, or training programs free temporary Premium access for their members, attendees, or participants. For example, Premium trials may be provided for a set time period to job fair or conference goers to help maximize their experience.
If you are taking part in a professional development or networking event, check with the organizers to see if they have arranged any temporary LinkedIn Premium access. Conference platforms like Hopin and Bizzabo sometimes partner with LinkedIn to provide participants limited Premium trials during virtual events.
Additionally, LinkedIn partners with organizations like public libraries, workforce agencies, and non-profits to offer Premium to their members for skills training and career development programs. If you utilize resources at community agencies like these, inquire whether they offer any Premium access for patrons engaged in career advancement activities.
Use a free Premium alternative
If you are unable to get actual LinkedIn Premium for free through any of the above approaches, there are some free alternatives that offer similar professional social media features. While not identical to LinkedIn Premium in capabilities, these sites can provide comparable value in many cases.
BeKnown
BeKnown is a free professional networking app with core features mimicking LinkedIn. You can create a profile, connect with colleagues, join industry groups, and message contacts just like with LinkedIn. BeKnown also has job boards, articles, and premium accounts offering added capabilities for reasonable rates.
Hanzo
Hanzo bills itself as an alternative to LinkedIn that is free forever. It provides professional profiles, 1st degree connections, group discussions and messaging. Hanzo still has a smaller user base than LinkedIn but can be a free option for basic networking.
joonko
joonko has a clean, visual interface for professional networking and profile building. Core features like profiles, contacts, and messaging are free. Premium paid plans add more significant presence management and influencer marketing tools.
These sites recreate some of the core value propositions of LinkedIn without the paid subscription model. While the networks are smaller, relying on free alternatives like these can offer comparable functionality to Premium in certain use cases.
Limitations of free LinkedIn access
While the options covered in this article can provide free access to some Premium features, normal LinkedIn profiles still have significant restrictions. Those relying solely on free accounts will not have access to benefits like:
- Seeing full profile views
- Unlimited InMail messages
- Contacting anyone regardless of connections
- Advanced profile analytics and tracking
- Customized candidate recommendations
- Targeted advertising and lead generation
The full value of a paid Premium account comes from the complete feature set working together. But for more casual users, the free trials, student discounts, bundled deals, and third-party networking apps in this article can replicate parts of the Premium experience without the cost.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn Premium subscriptions normally require monthly payments, there are a number of ways users can access some or all Premium features for free. This includes taking advantage of 1 month free trials, earning rewards through referral programs, looking for student deals and discounts, entering scholarship contests, and using third-party professional networking sites.
These options each have advantages and limitations compared to full Premium accounts. But they can provide access to some Premium tools temporarily or indefinitely at no personal cost. For the right use cases, it is possible to get certain LinkedIn Premium capabilities for free through creative approaches.