LinkedIn Premium gives you tools to stand out to recruiters, see who viewed your profile, and message people outside your network

LinkedIn Premium is a paid subscription that sits on top of your free LinkedIn account. It does not change who can see your profile or what you post — it adds features aimed at job seekers and people building professional relationships. The main ones are: a way to see who has looked at your profile in the past 90 days, the ability to message recruiters and hiring managers you are not connected to, access to LinkedIn Learning (video courses on work skills), and a monthly allotment of "InMail" messages that bypass the normal connection request step.

LinkedIn offers several tiers of Premium, each with a different price and feature set. The most common is Premium Career, aimed at people looking for work or a new role. There is also Premium Business for salespeople, and Premium Sales Navigator for people whose job is selling to other businesses. Each one costs a different amount and unlocks different tools. You can start a free trial of most tiers before you pay, and you can cancel at any time.

Key Takeaways

  • Premium Career shows you who viewed your profile and lets you send messages to people outside your network, which recruiters use to reach candidates.
  • LinkedIn offers three main Premium tiers — Career, Business, and Sales Navigator — each with different features and costs depending on your goal.
  • You can try Premium free for a limited time before your first charge, and you can cancel your subscription at any point without penalty.
  • Premium does not make your posts reach more people or change how the LinkedIn algorithm works — it is mainly about direct outreach and visibility to recruiters.

The three main Premium tiers and what each one includes

Premium Career is the entry-level paid plan. It shows you who viewed your profile over the past 90 days (free LinkedIn shows only the last five), lets you send a limited number of messages to people you are not connected to, gives you access to LinkedIn Learning, and shows your profile to more recruiters. The monthly cost varies by region and whether you pay month-to-month or commit to a longer term.

Premium Business adds features for people who sell to other companies or manage business relationships. It includes everything in Career, plus more message credits per month, the ability to see which companies are viewing your profile, and access to LinkedIn's Sales Navigator tool (which is also sold separately). This tier costs more than Career.

Sales Navigator is a standalone subscription for professional salespeople. It is built around finding and tracking leads, seeing detailed company information, and managing a pipeline of prospects. If your job is sales and you use LinkedIn to find customers, this is the tier designed for you. It costs more than the other two because it includes features that Career and Business do not.

How to start a Premium subscription and what the free trial covers

To start a Premium trial, go to your LinkedIn profile and look for the "Upgrade" or "Try Premium" button, usually near the top of your profile card. Click it and choose which tier you want to try. LinkedIn will ask you to confirm your payment method, but you will not be charged during the trial period — usually 30 days, though this varies by region and current promotions.

During the trial, you get full access to all the features of the tier you chose. You can see who viewed your profile, send messages outside your network, and explore LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn will send you an email reminder a few days before the trial ends. If you do not cancel before that date, your payment method will be charged and your subscription will continue month-to-month.

If you decide Premium is not for you, cancel through your account settings under "Subscriptions" before the trial ends. You will keep access until the end of the trial period, but you will not be charged. There is no penalty for canceling, and you can restart a Premium subscription later if you change your mind.

What you can do with the messaging and outreach features

One of the main reasons people buy Premium is the ability to message people they are not connected to. On free LinkedIn, you can only send messages to people who have already accepted your connection request. Premium Career gives you a monthly allotment of "InMail" credits — usually between 5 and 15, depending on the tier — that let you send a message directly to someone's inbox without being connected first.

When you send an InMail, the recipient sees it in a separate folder and knows it came from someone outside their network. They can reply, ignore it, or mark it as spam. Unlike a connection request, an InMail does not require them to accept anything first. Recruiters use this feature heavily to reach candidates they think are a good fit for an open role. If you are job hunting, having Premium makes you visible to this channel of outreach.

Premium also lets you see who viewed your profile, which can tell you whether a recruiter or hiring manager has been looking at your background. On free LinkedIn, you see only the last five profile viewers and no details about who they are. Premium Career shows you the last 90 days of viewers and their job titles and companies, so you can sometimes tell if someone from a company you want to work for has been checking you out.

LinkedIn Learning and other Premium features

All Premium tiers include access to LinkedIn Learning, a library of video courses on professional skills. The courses cover topics like Excel, project management, communication, and industry-specific tools. Each course is broken into short videos you can watch on your own schedule. You can read some courses to watch offline, and LinkedIn tracks your progress so you can pick up where you left off.

When you finish a course, you can add a certificate to your profile to show employers or clients that you completed it. These certificates are not the same as a degree or professional certification, but they do show that you invested time in learning a specific skill. LinkedIn Learning is included with all Premium tiers, so if you are considering Premium mainly for the messaging features, the courses are a bonus you get at no extra cost.

Premium also gives you a monthly "profile update" notification that shows you how many times your profile was viewed, how many times you appeared in search results, and which of your posts got the most engagement. This is different from the regular analytics you see on free LinkedIn — it is a monthly snapshot rather than real-time data. Some Premium tiers also show you salary ranges for jobs in your field based on LinkedIn's data, though this varies by region and industry.

How Premium affects your visibility to recruiters and employers

LinkedIn does not publicly say exactly how Premium changes the algorithm that decides whose profiles recruiters see first. However, Premium members do appear higher in recruiter search results than free members with similar profiles. This is one reason recruiters see Premium subscribers more often — they are literally showing up earlier in the list when a recruiter searches for someone with your skills and experience.

Being Premium does not make your posts reach more people or change how often your content appears in others' feeds. It does not give you a badge or special label that everyone can see (though your profile does show that you are a Premium member if someone clicks on your profile). The visibility boost is mainly in recruiter searches and in the channels recruiters use to reach out, like InMail.

If you are not actively job hunting, Premium is less useful for visibility. If you are building a professional brand through posts and articles, Premium does not amplify that work. Premium is most valuable if you want recruiters to find you, or if you want to reach out to people you do not know yet.

Pricing, billing, and how to manage your subscription

LinkedIn Premium pricing varies by region, by tier, and by how long you commit to. A month-to-month subscription costs more per month than if you commit to three months or a year upfront. LinkedIn also runs promotions at different times of year, so the price you see may be lower than the regular rate. You can see the exact price for your region and tier before you confirm your payment method.

Your subscription renews automatically on the same day each month (or year, if you chose an annual plan). LinkedIn sends you a reminder email a few days before the renewal date. You can manage your subscription, change your payment method, or cancel at any time through your account settings under "Subscriptions and payments." If you cancel, you keep access until the end of your current billing period, but you will not be charged again.

If you are charged and then cancel within a certain window (usually 48 hours), LinkedIn may refund the charge. Check your account settings or contact LinkedIn support to ask about a refund if you cancel very soon after being charged. LinkedIn does not offer refunds for partial months if you cancel mid-cycle, so plan your cancellation for just before your renewal date if you want to avoid an extra charge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Premium to send unlimited messages to anyone?

No. Premium gives you a monthly allotment of InMail credits (usually 5 to 15, depending on the tier) that you can use to message people outside your network. Once you run out, you have to wait until next month or buy more credits. You can still send unlimited messages to people you are already connected to, even on free LinkedIn.

Does Premium make my profile show up first in all LinkedIn searches?

Premium members do appear higher in recruiter search results than free members with similar profiles. However, Premium does not change how you appear in searches by other LinkedIn users, and it does not affect how your posts reach people in their feeds. The visibility boost is mainly for recruiter searches.

What happens to my profile if I cancel Premium?

Your profile stays exactly the same. You lose access to the Premium features like InMail and profile viewer history, but your posts, connections, and all your profile information remain. You can restart Premium at any time, and you will regain access to those features.

Is LinkedIn Learning worth it if I already have other online course platforms?

LinkedIn Learning is included with Premium, so you are not paying extra for it. The courses are shorter and more focused on workplace skills than some other platforms. Whether it is worth it depends on whether you want those specific courses and whether the other Premium features (messaging, recruiter visibility) are useful to you.

Can I try different Premium tiers before I decide which one to buy?

LinkedIn offers a free trial for most tiers, usually 30 days. You can try one tier during the trial, cancel, and then start a trial of a different tier later. However, LinkedIn may limit how often you can start new trials, so check the terms for your region before you cancel and restart.