LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional networking platforms, with over 800 million members worldwide. While LinkedIn dominates the professional networking space, there are some alternative sites that offer similar features and benefits.
Top Alternative Professional Networking Sites
Here are some of the top alternative professional networking sites to LinkedIn:
Xing is a European professional networking site based in Hamburg, Germany. With over 18 million members, Xing is the largest professional networking site in Europe. Some key features of Xing include:
- Profile creation with experience, education, skills, accomplishments
- Ability to connect with other professionals in your industry or location
- Job search features and recruitment services for employers
- Interest-based user groups to connect with those who share your professional interests
- News and update feeds from connections and groups
Xing is ideal for those looking to network with other professionals in Europe across industries like IT, healthcare, finance, marketing, engineering and more.
Viadeo
Viadeo is another European professional networking platform, focused primarily on France, Spain and Italy. Viadeo has over 10 million members worldwide. Key features include:
- Profile creation like LinkedIn
- Ability to connect with professionals in your network or industry
- Share professional news, status updates and messaging
- Job boards and recruitment services
- Groups focused on professional interests or associations
Viadeo is ideal for networking with professionals in France, Spain, Italy and other European countries. It offers many of the same core features as LinkedIn.
Behance
Behance is a professional networking site focused on creatives across industries like design, fashion, architecture, writing, filmmaking and more. It allows creative professionals to showcase and share their portfolios and network with 8+ million other members. Key features include:
- Build an online portfolio of your creative work
- Follow and connect with other creative professionals
- Share projects, moodboards, and creative process details
- Provide and receive feedback on creative work
- Discover new creative talent and opportunities
- Behance job listings specifically for creative roles
Behance is ideal for graphic designers, UX designers, writers, filmmakers, fashion designers, architects and other creative professionals to connect with each other.
AngelList
AngelList is a networking and funding platform for startups and investors. It allows startups to create profiles, connect with investors, share updates and discover job opportunities. Key features include:
- Startup profiles to showcase the business, team, achievements
- Connect with and follow investors, recruiters, journalists
- Apply for thousands of startup jobs
- Messaging tools and notifications
- AngelList talent search for hiring roles
- Get discovered by investors looking to back companies
AngelList is ideal for connecting startups with talented people, potential investors and business opportunities.
GitHub Jobs
While not a fully-featured social network, GitHub Jobs is a great professional networking resource specifically for software developers and technology professionals. Key features include:
- Thousands of tech and coding job listings from startups to large companies
- Filter job search by location, salary, job type, experience level
- Follow companies to get updates on new job listings
- Use your GitHub profile and repositories to showcase your work
GitHub Jobs makes it easy for developers and tech professionals to find interesting opportunities at great companies.
How Do These Alternatives Compare to LinkedIn?
Here is an overview of how these alternative professional networking platforms compare to LinkedIn:
| Platform | Users | Focus | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800+ million | General professional networking | Profiles, connections, groups, job postings, content sharing | |
| 18+ million | European professionals | Profiles, connections, job listings, groups | |
| Viadeo | 10+ million | France/Spain/Italy focus | Profiles, connections, messaging, job boards, groups |
| Behance | 8+ million | Creatives in design, writing, film, fashion | Portfolios, projects, networking, critiques, jobs |
| AngelList | 2+ million | Startups and investors | Startup profiles, fundraising, networking, hiring |
| GitHub Jobs | – | Tech/coding job board | Developer-focused job listings and profiles |
While none match LinkedIn’s scale, these alternatives can provide more targeted professional networking and opportunities in specific regions, industries and professional niches.
Choosing the Right Platform
With so many professional networking options available, how do you choose the right one? Here are a few tips:
- Consider your goals – Are you looking to find a new job? Connect with others in your industry? Share your creative portfolio? Identify funding sources? Understanding your goals will help identify the right platform.
- Compare each site’s features – Make sure the platform has the necessary features and tools to support your professional objectives.
- Evaluate the user base – Consider who is on the platform and whether they align with who you want to connect and network with.
- Think locally – If networking in a specific country is important, pay attention to region-focused platforms like Xing or Viadeo.
- Be platform agnostic – There’s no need to limit yourself to just one platform. You may find value in building your professional brand across multiple sites.
The most popular LinkedIn alternatives won’t overtake LinkedIn anytime soon. However, depending on your specific needs, they may provide more targeted opportunities to grow your professional network and career in significant ways.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn dominates the professional networking space, platforms like Xing, Viadeo, Behance, AngelList and GitHub Jobs offer useful alternatives with large user bases. Choosing the right platform comes down to aligning with your professional goals and the people you want to connect with. Unless LinkedIn is the obvious best fit, it pays to explore other niche professional networking options that may better support your career aspirations.
