Is LinkedIn Premium worth the price?

If you work in technology or want to work in technology, having a LinkedIn profile is a given. However, the base version of LinkedIn may not be enough depending on what you hope to accomplish on the world’s most popular business networking platform.

If you’re a job seeker, recruiter or sales professional looking for an edge – or are serious about growing your business network, LinkedIn Premium may be worth the investment to gain that competitive edge. The LinkedIn community is big and growing fast. Last November,  LinkedIn reported 1 billion subscribers.  Tomer Cohen, chief product officer at LinkedIn, wrote in a blog post that milestone coincided with the company deploying AI across its Premium platform with features such as AI-driven profile suggestions based your career, engaging with hiring managers using AI-powered messaging and increases in signaling you as a Top Choice Job. LinkedIn claims that Premium subscribers who’ apply using Top Choice Jobs feature are 43% more likely to receive a message back from a recruiter.

As of December 2023, LinkedIn had an estimated 175.5 million premium users, up from 154.4 million in 2022, reports Statista. While the number of Premium subscribers has increased, the vast of majority of LinkedIn users have only basic subscriptions – enter your competitive edge.

In a rare, but noble, business strategy, LinkedIn has not changed the pricing for its Premium packages over the years, while adding new features and capabilities to all Premium packages. “The goal actually has been the opposite where we just want to add a lot more value and keep the price the same with the intention of improving customer [return on investment],” says Gyanda Sachdeva, vice president of product management’

For example, when Microsoft acquired the company in 2017, LinkedIn added new features to its LinkedIn Premium subscription plans, designed to make better use of both existing and new data sets the company gathers on salary, firmographics and educational courses its users are completing on LinkedIn Learning, an online MOOC service the company repackaged after its acquisition of Lynda.com.

What does LinkedIn Premium cost?

There’s no way around it, LinkedIn Premium isn’t cheap. Despite the benefits, spending between $30 and $120 per month (less if you pay for the whole year) for access to LinkedIn Premium’s features and data is an expense most will have to justify.

The good news is you can use any Premium tier for free for a month and decide if the basic version is enough or if a taste of LinkedIn Premium hooks you on the expanded features.

These new additions increase the value of LinkedIn Premium and are aimed at improving the direct outcomes delivered through LinkedIn data on businesses, careers and education, says Sachdeva. “The goal for us on the Premium team is to deliver direct economic outcomes to our members.”

Here is an overview of what LinkedIn Premium offers and whether one the four tiers is right for you (also see the comparison chart below).

The base version, Premium Career, is aimed at job seekers and costs $29.99 a month, or $239.88 annually, for five InMail messages (messages you can send to any LinkedIn user, no connection required), additional details on the people who view their profiles, and more tools to help make those profiles stand out to recruiters.

The next tier, Premium Business, includes 15 InMail messages, advanced search filters, unlimited searches in your extended network and additional company data. Premium Business is available for $59.99 per month, or $539.88 when billed annually.

LinkedIn Premium’s Sales Navigator version provides a lead-builder tool, lead recommendations and real-time insights on existing accounts and leads, as well as 50 InMail messages for $99.99 per month. Sales Navigator also comes in a multi-seat version, Sales Navigator Team. Sales Navigator Enterprise offers unlimited seats.

Finally, LinkedIn Premium Recruiter Lite, costs $119.95 per month. It gives you 30 InMail messages, advanced search, unlimited visibility of your extended network, automatic candidate tracking and integrated hiring, with a recruiting-specific design. Recruiter Lite is also the base tier of LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions.

LinkedIn Premium bonuses

Like LinkedIn Learning, LinkedIn Salary is included with all four versions of LinkedIn Premium, allowing job seekers to see how they stack up against other potential applicants. Professionals can view more unique and timely data on specific businesses, including trends in headcount, geographic expansion, employee turnover and other information useful for competitive analysis, according to LinkedIn.

“Over time we have developed more coverage and precision on some of these data points,” says Sachdeva, vice president of product management. LinkedIn is also surfacing this information in new ways, according to Sachdeva. For example, when Premium subscribers look at LinkedIn’s “Who’s Viewed My Profile” feature they will now see more pertinent data on the particular companies whose employees are viewing their profile.

“We are seeing a shift in the mindset going away from just purely job seeking to also optimizing your career,” Sachdeva says. Subscribers who may not actively be seeking a new job could uncover gaps in pay for their profession and use data from LinkedIn Salary to negotiate a better salary in their current position, for example.

Is LinkedIn Premium worth the money? Users weigh in

For most users, LinkedIn Premium is a sound investment, thanks to the tools and insights it offers.

Mike O’Neil, who has paid for LinkedIn Premium since the day it was initially offered, says the most valuable tools you get with LinkedIn Premium are InMail messages, advanced search and additional results in search queries. O’Neil has built a business around the platform, as CEO of Integrated Alliances, where he consults with and trains managers, marketing teams and sales professionals.

The benefits of LinkedIn Premium aren’t always immediately apparent. They can be “very long-term, but it depends on how you use it and how you keep up with it,” O’Neil says. “Once you close your first deal as a result of LinkedIn, it changes everything.”

Jack Martin, CEO and founder of Technology Jobs NYC, says LinkedIn Premium is an “incredibly valuable tool” in his line of work. Martin especially appreciates the capability to search LinkedIn’s entire database and quickly send InMail messages to job candidates. 

“The biggest downside is that some individuals are overwhelmed with requests, and it can drive very smart and talented people away from the service,” Martin says.

Anthony Kirlew, co-founder of digital marketing agency Imagine Wow, also agrees that LinkedIn Premium is worth the price. Kirlew says LinkedIn Premium can quickly pay for itself for anyone in a business development role. “Many users, especially at the executive level, maintain privacy settings that restrict users from connecting with them,” he says. InMail messages help facilitate connections with these people.

David Coher he says LinkedIn Premium provides value for him almost every month. In his role as principal of reliability and cybersecurity at Southern California Edison, Greater Los Angeles’s electric utility, Coher says it’s important for him to make new connections and elevate his profile among people with whom he shares a mutual connection or interest.

“I find that people are more likely to respond to a LinkedIn InMail message than to a traditional email,” he says.

“I noticed a marked increase in the number of viewers of my profile once I signed up for the LinkedIn Premium service,” Coher says. “I notice when someone — a vendor, a job applicant, a connection otherwise — has a LinkedIn Premium profile, and it does make an impact on me. I note it as that person cares about appearing professional in their online presence.”

O’Neil calls LinkedIn Premium the “best monthly investment I have ever made,” though he also says users can still get plenty of value from the free version. 

Making the LinkedIn leap from free to premium

The decision to pay for LinkedIn Premium should be a simple one for job seekers and professionals working on sales, recruiting or human resources, management, marketing or public relations, according to O’Neil. The caveat is that you need to put in the work to get most out of LinkedIn Premium.

“Unfortunately, many people pay for LinkedIn and they don’t put in the effort,” he says. “It’s kind like an athletic club membership.”

---

This is an update of an article that originally ran on April 23, 2019.