Which LinkedIn licence should I get?
ama works with every LinkedIn plan, from a free account up to full LinkedIn Recruiter. There are two ways to reach a candidate on LinkedIn:
- Connection request: an invitation to connect, with an optional short personal note. It is free, but you can send only about 100 a week, and the candidate has to accept before you can message them.
- InMail: a message that goes straight to the candidate’s inbox, even if you are not connected. Each one uses a credit, and your plan gives you a fixed number of credits a month.
We usually recommend using both: send an InMail first, and if the candidate doesn’t reply, follow up with a connection request.
The plans differ mainly in how many InMails you get and what you pay for them.
Plans compared
Section titled “Plans compared”| Plan | Price per month | InMails per month | Cost per InMail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free account | $0 | 0 | None |
| Premium Career | $30–40 | 5 | $6–8 |
| Premium Business | $60–70 | 15 | $4–5 |
| Sales Navigator Core | $90–120 | 50 | about $2 |
| Sales Navigator Advanced | $150–160 | 50 | about $3 |
| Recruiter Lite | $140–170 | 30 | about $5 |
| Recruiter Professional Services | $500–1,000 | 100 | $5–10 |
| Recruiter Corporate | $750–1,250 | 150 | $5–8 |
Good to know:
- Prices are per seat in US dollars, before VAT. For most plans, the lower number is with yearly billing. Full Recruiter (Professional Services and Corporate) is only sold on a yearly contract and LinkedIn quotes the price itself, so those ranges are typical figures. Check Sales Navigator and Recruiter prices before you buy.
- Unused InMails carry over to the next month, up to three months’ worth on most plans (Recruiter Lite: four). If someone replies within 90 days, you get the InMail back. Cancelling your plan wipes any saved InMails.
- Connection requests: about 100 a week on every plan, free included. On a free account you can only add a personal note to a few requests a month; paid plans have no limit.
Source for InMail limits: LinkedIn Help: InMail message credits.
Free trials
Section titled “Free trials”Sales Navigator and Recruiter Lite both come with a 30-day free trial. If a colleague already has Sales Navigator, ask them for their referral link: it usually gives you 60 days instead. You need a card to start a trial, and it turns into a paid plan unless you cancel before it ends. Trials are normally only available if you haven’t had a paid LinkedIn plan or a trial in the last 12 months.
Once you have your licence, connect it to ama.