Like many other people, I started with a free LinkedIn account.
When I was prepared to pay for LinkedIn I had a bit of work trying to understand what premium Linkedin will work for me better.
Let’s be honest it wasn’t so easy.
Because Linkedin has 9 different LinkedIn account types for you. Here is the complete list:
- Free LinkedIn Account
- Linkedin Premium Career: $39.99 / month
- Linkedin Premium Business: $59.99 / month
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Professional: $99.99/month
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Team: $149.99/month
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Enterprise: Custom Pricing
- LinkedIn Recruiter Lite: $2,399/year
- LinkedIn Recruiter: $8,999+/year
- LinkedIn Learning: $29.99 / month
So are you ready to choose? I bet you can’t.
Because I’ve been where you are and I know it can be difficult.
In this complete guide, I compare all Linkedin plans so you can clearly see what is the best option for your business.
Let’s dive into each of the types of LinkedIn accounts.
But before we start…
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Table of Contents
Free Linkedin Account
If you’re new to Linkedin, a basic account could be a good start for you. It’s completely free, but it comes with some limitations.
A free account can help you grow your network, connect with people from your industry, find your old friends from college, etc. You can also fill out your Linkedin profile in a way that stands out in recruiters’ searches.
Free vs paid account
Here are some limitations of having free Linkedin membership:
- You can’t send messages to people that you’re not connected with.
- You can’t see everyone who visited your profile.
- Your searches are limited.
- A free account is unsuitable for recruiters or business owners using Linkedin for hiring, because most recruiting features are lacking.
Linkedin Premium account types
Many people use the term Linkedin premium, not realizing that there are different types of premium accounts. Everything depends on whether you’re growing your business or looking for a new job.
I’ll now compare the features of these Linkedin account types and break down Linkedin premium account costs.
Linkedin Premium Career
A Linkedin Premium Career account is ideal for you if you want to stand out in the hiring process or want to grow your network. According to one Linkedin survey, job seekers with Linkedin career premium accounts get hired two times faster than those with a free Linkedin account.
Here are the features you will get if you upgrade to Premium, that Linkedin free account doesn’t have.
- You get 5 inMail credits every month, that you can use to reach out to recruiters or business owners that are hiring.
- You get to see everyone that visited your profile in the last 90 days, even if they used a private search.
- You get access to Applicants insights – a feature that allows you to see how you rank compared to other job applicants.
- You get access to Salary insights – you can see salary details before you apply for a job.
- You become a Featured applicant, which means you will be among the first applicants recruiters get to see, increasing your chances to be hired.
- You get access to Linkedin Learning where you can learn in-demand skills.
Now, you’re probably wondering what is Linkedin premium career cost. The good news is that this is the cheapest Linkedin account which makes it a perfect starting point!
You can get a Linkedin premium account for a monthly subscription of $39.99. But don’t forget that you can try out this plan for one month, completely free!
Linkedin Premium Business
The Linkedin Business Premium plan is ideal for business owners that want to promote their business, connect with more leads and potential business partners.
It’s perfect for people who want to increase their visibility, grow their personal brand and be able to send messages to whom they want, without the restrictions imposed by a free Linkedin account.
Here are the features you’ll get with a Premium Business Linkedin account:
- You get 15 inMail credits each month, allowing you to send messages to people you’re not connected with.
- You get unlimited people browsing – you get to see an unlimited number of profiles in your search.
- You get to see everyone that visited your profile in the last 90 days, even if they used a private search.
- You get access to Business insights where you can learn more about industry trends.
- You get access to Linkedin Learning courses.
To sum it up, this Linkedin premium plan is a good investment if you want to do advanced searches, get Business insights, and reach out to up to 15 people monthly.
The Linkedin business account is also great for building a personal brand and becoming a thought leader. If you’re into that you can check the 5 steps to becoming an influencer on Linkedin.
It can be a good start for small business owners, but if you want to get advanced search filters and real-time alerts on your leads, you may want to check out Linkedin Sales Navigator.
What about Linkedin Premium Business cost? It’s $59.99 per month, but you can try it for free for 30 days.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Professional
Professional sales navigator Linkedin is much more than a Premium Linkedin profile. It’s an automated sales tool that allows you to target the right leads, find your ideal prospects and access your saved searches whenever you want.
It’s ideal for business owners and sales professionals who understand the power of Linkedin and social selling.
Linkedin Sales Navigator has all the features of Linkedin Premium accounts (both Premium Business and Premium Career), but there is much more:
- You get 50 inMail credits each month, allowing you to send messages to people you’re not connected with.
- You get Advanced search filters that allow you to filter your leads based on their location, job title, seniority level, etc.
- You get real-time insights and alerts on the profiles and leads that interest you. A sales navigator account allows you to be the first one to know when your prospect changes a company, posts a job ad, etc, so you can react promptly.
- You get automated Lead recommendations, based on your previous sales navigator searches.
- You can create custom lists to keep track of your leads and leads that you want to save for later.
You can get a monthly Sales navigator subscription for $99.99 and I think it’s worth it if you want to grow your business and find targeted leads.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Team
Just like its name says, Linkedin Sales Navigator Team is made for companies with sales and marketing teams and it promotes collaboration and teamwork.
Compared to basic LinkedinSales Navigator, it has many features that allow your team to collaborate in real-time, share documents and sync CRM integrations.
Here is what each team member gets with Linkedin Team Sales Navigator:
- They get 50 inMail credits each month.
- They can save up to 5000 leads.
- They also get all other benefits of Linkedin Sales Navigator such as Advanced search filters, Lead recommendations and real-time alerts and updates on leads.
Here is what your Linkedin Sales Navigator Team account allows you to do as a manager or team leader:
- You get access to centralized account management where you can manage licences and track everyone’s activity in the Sales navigator.
- You can integrate various CRMs, like Salesforce or Microsoft 365 CRM.
- You can share lead lists with your team in real-time.
A sales Navigator Team account can increase your team’s productivity and save your precious time. It’s also great if you want to reduce the number of subscriptions and have one tool for everything. You can also learn how to manage multiple Linkedin accounts for outreach.
Linkedin sales navigator team pricing will depend on the size of your team. The price is $149.99 per user, per month, which is reasonable for all the benefits you get with this account.
The only downside is that you may not be able to integrate it will every software you use. In that case, you may need Sales Navigator Enterprise which provides custom-made advanced integrations.
Linkedin Sales Navigator Enterprise
If you’re serious about getting the most out of Linkedin and its sales navigator, you may want to consider Enterprise Sales Navigator Linkedin. It’s ideal for established companies that have big sales teams.
Many features are customizable and the price depends on the size of your company and the integrations you need. What I’ve heard is that Linkedin Sales Navigator Enterprise pricing starts at $1,600 per seat per year.
However, you can’t just get an Enterprise Linkedin subscription, you first need to book a meeting with a Linkedin account manager and explain what you need out of Sales Navigator so that they can create a custom offer for your company.
Here are the main features that come with this Linkedin account type:
- Advanced CRM integration: you get to export all Linkedin data in your chosen CRM and you can make data sync automatically
- Teamlink: you get to see whether any of your team members are already connected to your prospect on Linkedin
- Real-time contact updates: Enterprise Sales Navigator eliminates manual work as it automatically updates data in your CRM
If Linkedin is your main sales channel, investing in a custom-made Enterprise account could be one of the best investments you’ve ever made. However, if you’re a small team with limited resources, you can first start with a Sales Navigator basic account.
Linkedin Recruiter Lite
Linkedin Recruiter Lite account is ideal for HRs and business owners that are hiring at a medium scale and don’t need expensive hiring features.
Its advanced search and browsing features allow you to connect with and track ideal job candidates.
Here are some of the features that come with this Linkedin subscription :
- You get 30 inMail credits each month, as well as templates to save time.
- You get access to 20 Advanced Search filters which are made especially for recruiters and finding ideal candidates.
- You get unlimited people browsing, up to 3rd-degree connections.
- You can turn on Smart Suggestions that will help you find candidates that fit your desired profile and that you may have missed otherwise.
- You get access to advanced candidate tracking so you are the first one to know when a candidate is available for a new job.
- You can manage all hiring data in one place.
When it comes to Linkedin recruiter lite pricing 2023, the cost of Linkedin Recruiter Lite is $2,399 a year which makes it much more affordable than a regular Linkedin recruiter account.
However, there are some limitations. Recruiter Lite Linkedin is not the best option if you have a huge hiring team consisting of more recruiters. In that case, a regular Linkedin Recruiter is a much better option for collaboration and teamwork.
LinkedIn Recruiter
A recruiter account is ideal for bigger companies that hire on a large scale and want to get a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring top talents.
The biggest difference between Recruiter Lite and Recruiter Standard is that in the first case data is owned by an individual subscriber, while in the second case the data is owned by your company and it can be shared with others.
This subscription is ideal for big recruiting and hiring teams because it promotes collaboration and saves a lot of time in the hiring process.
Now, here are the additional features that this subscription offers, in comparison to Linkedin Recruiter Lite:
- You get an amazing 150 InMail credits a month. And that’s not all, you can also bulk send up to 25 messages at once and save time.
- You get access to 40 advanced search filters, in comparison to only 20 filters that come with the Lite version. Some of the filters include: skill assessment, spoken languages, being open to contract work, etc.
- You get advanced collaboration tools such as a multi-user dashboard, message sharing, notes sharing, etc.
- You can integrate your account with Linkedin Talent Insights, Linkedin Talent Hub and Linkedin Recruitment Marketing Solutions.
- You get advanced reports on pipeline analytics and recruiter usage.
Finally, the only downside is that it’s a little pricey and may not be accessible to everyone. Linkedin Recruiter pricing starts at $8,999 a year.
Linkedin Learning
Linkedin Learning is an educative platform with more than 16.000 courses available. You can use it to learn new skills and stay at the top of your industry.
Courses are constantly updated with relevant information and they’re divided into three categories:
- business courses
- technology courses
- creative courses
The Linkedin Learning price is $29.99 a month, but you can try it for one month for free. Also, don’t forget to check if you already have access to Linkedin Learning, because it comes with most premium Linkedin accounts.
It’s also possible to purchase an individual course that interests you. Linkedin Learning cost per course may vary but they’re around $50 each.
How to choose
Hopefully, by now you have a deeper understanding of Linkedin different account types. It’s time to make a final decision.
First, define your end goal, and why are you using Linkedin.
Do you want to build brand awareness and grow your personal brand?
Are you a sales dev that wants to generate leads and prospects?
Or do you want to use Linkedin to attract top talents to your company?
Then, compare prices and features and choose the one that is the best fit for you!
| Free Account | Linkedin Premium Career | Linkedin Premium Business | Sales Navigator Professional | Sales Navigator Team | Sales Navigator Enterprise | Linkedin Recruiter Lite | Linkedin Recruiter | Linkedin Learning | |
| Private Browsing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| inMail Credits | 0 | 5 | 15 | 50 | 50 per person | Depends | 30 | 150 | 0 |
| Applicant Insights | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Business Insights | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Unlimited browsing | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Advanced Search | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lead lists and Lead recommendations | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Real-time alerts | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Candidate tracking | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Linkedin Learning | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Free | $39.99/month | $59.99/month | $99.99/month | $149.99/month | Custom pricing | $2,399/year | $8,999+/year | $29.99/month |
