If you find yourself on LinkedIn frequently, looking for new sales prospects or trying to expand your network, you’ve likely thought about upgrading to LinkedIn Premium. LinkedIn is the best social media tool for professionals looking to connect with other professionals, so a “premium” version could be even more beneficial.

Short Answer: LinkedIn Premium is worth it for salespeople who need InMail messaging and demographic research. For job seekers, the value depends on how actively you’re searching. Consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator instead—it offers more features for only $17/month more.

What Are the Different LinkedIn Premium Plans?

Quick Answer: LinkedIn offers Premium Career ($29.99/month) for job seekers and Premium Business ($47.99/month) for networkers, marketers, and salespeople. Sales Navigator and Recruiter plans are also available.

The two main versions are LinkedIn Premium Career and LinkedIn Premium Business. Premium Career is geared toward job seekers, while Premium Business is made for networkers, marketers, and salespeople. There are also options specifically for salespeople (LinkedIn Sales Navigator) and recruiters.

Many features overlap between plans, with slight differences. For example, both plans include InMail messaging, but the Career plan provides 3 messages per month while the Business plan provides 15 per month.

What Features Does LinkedIn Premium Include?

Quick Answer: Key features include LinkedIn Learning courses, InMail messaging, expanded search results, advanced filters, saved searches, detailed profile views, and profile organization tools.

1. LinkedIn Learning Courses

Both tiers provide access to LinkedIn’s Learning series with over 1,000 courses in Business, Creative, and Technology categories. Courses are video-based and led by experts. You’ll also receive recommendations based on your learning history.

2. InMail Messaging

With a free account, you can only message people you’re connected to. InMail lets you message any LinkedIn member. Messages are limited to 200 characters in the subject line and 1,900 characters in the body. Career plan includes 3 messages per month; Business plan includes 15. You can also purchase individual InMail messages for $10 each without a Premium account.

3. Expanded Search Results

Premium accounts see up to 300 profiles matching your search, compared to 100 profiles with free accounts. The Business tier also lets you see profiles up to 3rd-degree connections.

4. Advanced Search Filters

Premium unlocks additional search filters to narrow down demographics. Search by seniority, company size, interests, and Fortune 500/1,000 status. Higher tiers add filters for groups, years of experience, and whether someone is new to LinkedIn. Note: Advanced search parameters aren’t fully available in the Career plan.

5. Saved Searches

The Business tier and higher lets you save searches and set alerts. Call up previous search parameters and repeat searches easily without re-entering criteria.

6. Detailed Profile Views

Premium provides more detailed information on companies and individuals up to 3rd-degree connections. View names, photos, job details, education, skills, and recommendations—information hidden on free accounts.

7. Who Viewed Your Profile

Free accounts show profile viewers from the past few days. Premium shows everyone who viewed your profile in the last 90 days, with detailed information about them and which keywords they searched to find you—valuable for profile optimization.

8. Profile Organization

Premium includes tools to organize profiles you encounter: apply tags, save profiles to a Profile Organizer, and create folders for different prospect types.

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It for Job Seekers?

Quick Answer: For job seekers, the value depends on your search intensity. Profile views tracking is the most valuable feature. Free alternatives like Coursera and EdX offer similar learning courses.

Key benefits for job seekers:

3 InMail messages: If you’d otherwise pay $10 per message, Premium pays for itself. Useful if your network is small.

Better company analyses: More information on companies and recruiters. However, much of this information is available elsewhere.

Learning courses: Helpful for new job seekers or those re-entering the market. Free alternatives exist through Coursera and EdX.

Profile views: Possibly the best benefit. Learn which recruiters are viewing you, optimize your profile, understand your strengths in the job market, and find leads for new jobs and connections.

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It for Salespeople and Marketers?

Quick Answer: For salespeople, Premium Business is useful for demographic research and InMail outreach, but Sales Navigator offers more value for just $17 more per month.

Key benefits for marketers and salespeople:

15 InMail messages: Direct messaging is powerful for reaching new prospects. You get roughly one new message every other day. Check out these LinkedIn connection request message templates.

Organization and automation: Tools to track people in your network, organize leads, sort data, save searches, and get automatic recommendations.

Learning courses: Helpful if you’re new to sales and marketing, but courses are available elsewhere.

Profile views: When someone views your profile, it’s often a cue to follow up with them or introduce yourself.

Demographic research: Advanced search filters and robust profile views make Premium an impressive demographic research tool. Learn more about the people you’re selling to.

Note: LinkedIn Sales Navigator is an even more robust tool for marketers and salespeople.

What Is the Final Verdict on LinkedIn Premium?

Quick Answer: LinkedIn Premium offers solid features, but consider Sales Navigator instead. For $17/month more, you get significantly more tools. If unsure, try the free one-month trial.

For job seekers: You’ll gain access to helpful features for learning about companies, tracking profile views, and reaching new people. Whether it’s worth $29.99/month depends on your situation—there are free platforms with similar features and many job-finding methods beyond LinkedIn.

For salespeople and marketers: Premium is effective, especially for learning about your audience. But the price is steep compared to other sales productivity tools, sales prospecting tools, and email outreach tools.

If you’re considering Premium, consider upgrading to LinkedIn Sales Navigator instead. It offers better value—more features for only $17/month more.

If you’re unsure, sign up for the free trial. Access all Premium features for one full month to see if they warrant the price.

How Do You Track LinkedIn Outreach Effectiveness?

Quick Answer: Combine LinkedIn activity tracking with email analytics to measure overall outreach effectiveness, including response time and message volume metrics.

If you’re looking for tools to manage professional interactions or improve productivity, EmailAnalytics visualizes Gmail data including messages sent and received, busiest times, and average response time.