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LinkedIn Premium is the paid subscription tier of the most widely used professional networking site. Is it worth the steep monthly fee, or are you better off using the free version? Find out here.
What Is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn is the largest career-focused social media website on the web. While the site is free to use, there are a lot of features that are only available if you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium. It's a paid upgrade you can get for your LinkedIn account. Premium is primarily intended for current job-hunters, recruiters, and those looking to get new clients to their business.
Annual pricing ranges from $29.99/month to $99.95/month, with a free 1-month trial available for all LinkedIn members. However, several features are standard across all tiers of the plan:
- InMail Credits: InMail allows you to message anyone, even if that person is not a connection. Each plan gets a certain number of credits per month.
- Profile Viewers: This allows you to see the names and accounts of those who have looked at your profile or company page in the last 90 days. You can also browse in invisible mode, which will hide your account from other peoples' viewer lists.
- LinkedIn Learning: All premium accounts get access to the site's library of online courses, with subjects ranging from spreadsheets to online marketing.
The Premium Plans
There are four different tiers of LinkedIn Premium, each intended for a different kind of user. Here's a breakdown of each plan's features, pricing, and who they're meant for:
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Premium Career: The base plan starts at $29.99 a month, and is for people who are currently hunting for jobs and want to connect with hiring managers. Features include:
- 3 InMail message credits
- Comparing your profile with other candidates applying for the same jobs
- Resources for helping you with interviews and recruitment
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Premium Business: This plan starts at $47.99 a month, and is for company owners and those in business development to connect with potential partners and promote their brand.
- 15 InMail message credits
- Insights and information regarding company pages on LinkedIn
- Viewing an unlimited number of people when browsing through the site
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Sales Navigator: It starts at $64.99 a month, and is for professionals who want to generate sales and build leads on LinkedIn.
- 20 InMail message credits
- Insights on potential accounts and leads on LinkedIn
- Creating lists of leads via an on-site lead builder and recommendations
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Recruiter Lite: The highest-end tier starts at $99.95, and is intended for recruiters and headhunters to find quality talent on the site.
- 30 InMail message credits
- Advanced unlimited search with filters specifically for recruiting
- Integrated hiring functionality and candidate tracking
- Dynamic candidate suggestions for each opening
LinkedIn Really Wants You on Premium
If you currently have a LinkedIn account, there's a good chance you've been asked to subscribe to LinkedIn Premium recently. Whether it's via constant e-mails or the prompts to upgrade scattered across the site, they market the service very aggressively.
You will also frequently receive e-mails telling you about who's recently viewed your profile, while not providing you with any names. This e-mail will direct you to a premium subscription page so you can find out who looked you up.
While LinkedIn Premium certainly has a few features that may be worth the asking price, seeing who viewed your profile is a relatively unimportant one. The majority of the people who viewed you are likely first or second-degree connections, and may not be worth the steep initial asking price of $29.99 a month for an entire year.
But Is It Worth it?
Should you pay up for a Linkedin subscription? It depends on what you plan to use it for.
If you're a recruiter, business owner, or a salesperson, LinkedIn may be an excellent way to connect with potential clients and candidates. This is especially true if most of the people in your industry use LinkedIn as a way of connecting with other professionals. However, before you get a subscription, you should carefully consider if LinkedIn is the ideal way to build a network.
For regular users, on the other hand, the only real benefit is additional job-hunting features. However, if you're currently employed or are not actively seeking new work, the mail credits and seeing who viewed your profile may not be worth the price of admission.
If you're currently in the process of looking for a job, however, it might be a good time to try out the trial.