LinkedIn Account Types Compared: Free, Premium, Sales Navigator and Recruiter (2026)
Samuel Rondot
9 min read
On this page
- LinkedIn account types at a glance
- Feature comparison: free vs Premium vs Sales Navigator vs Recruiter Lite
- LinkedIn Basic: what the free account does and doesn't do
- Premium Career vs Premium Business: what's the difference?
- Premium All-in-One: the new small business plan
- Sales Navigator: Core vs Advanced vs Advanced Plus
- Recruiter Lite vs LinkedIn Recruiter
- Premium Company Page: an upgrade for your Page, not your profile
- What happened to LinkedIn Learning, Business Plus and other old plans?
- Which LinkedIn account type should you choose?
- Getting more out of whichever account you pick
- FAQ
LinkedIn has eight account types in 2026: the free Basic account and seven paid subscriptions. Premium Career is for job seekers, Premium Business for professionals who network and prospect, Premium All-in-One for small business owners, Sales Navigator (Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus) for salespeople, Recruiter Lite for occasional hiring, LinkedIn Recruiter for talent teams, and Premium Company Page for company Pages. LinkedIn Learning is no longer sold as an individual subscription: you get it with Premium.
Every individual plan attaches to your personal profile, and only the account owner can buy it; Premium Company Page attaches to a company Page instead. The difference between them is the toolbox: job search insights, prospecting filters, recruiting pipelines or Page features. Here is each account type side by side, then what sets them apart.
LinkedIn account types at a glance
| Account type | Who it's for | Price (US, October 2026) | InMail credits per month | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Everyone | Free | 0 | Profile, network, job applications, messages to connections |
| Premium Career | Job seekers | $39.99/month or $239.88/year | 5 | Applicant insights, "Top choice job", full list of profile viewers, LinkedIn Learning |
| Premium Business | Freelancers, founders, networkers | $69.99/month or $539.88/year | 15 | Unlimited people browsing, business insights, custom profile button |
| Premium All-in-One | Small business owners (limited rollout) | $89.99/month or $899.88/year | 30 | Prospect suggestions, advanced search, post-boost and hiring credits |
| Sales Navigator | Salespeople and sales teams | Core $119.99/month, Advanced $159.99/month, Advanced Plus on quote | 50 | A separate prospecting tool: 50+ filters, lead lists, alerts |
| Recruiter Lite | People who hire a few times a year | About $170/month | 30 | Candidate search, hiring projects, job posting |
| LinkedIn Recruiter | Talent acquisition teams | On contract | Set by contract | Full recruiting platform, access to all members |
| Premium Company Page | Company Pages | $99.99/month or $839.88/year | n/a | Page visitors, testimonial, credibility highlights, auto-invites |
Prices come from LinkedIn's Premium and Sales Navigator plan pages and may exclude tax. LinkedIn shows the Recruiter Lite price only at checkout. Every price, in dollars, euros and pounds, is in our LinkedIn Premium cost guide.
Feature comparison: free vs Premium vs Sales Navigator vs Recruiter Lite
| Feature | Basic (free) | Premium Career | Premium Business | Premium All-in-One | Sales Navigator Core | Recruiter Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InMail credits per month | 0 | 5 | 15 | 30 | 50 | 30 |
| Who viewed your profile | 3 most recent viewers (90 days) | Full list, up to 365 days | Full list, up to 365 days | Full list, up to 365 days | Full list, up to 365 days | Full list, up to 365 days |
| Personalized invitation notes | 3 per month, 200 characters | Unlimited, 300 characters | Unlimited, 300 characters | Unlimited, 300 characters | Unlimited, 300 characters | Unlimited, 300 characters |
| Monthly limit on people searches | Yes | Yes | No (unlimited browsing) | No (unlimited search) | Raised | Raised |
| LinkedIn Learning | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Private browsing and still see your viewers | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Applicant insights | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Business insights and custom button | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| "Top choice job" | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Advanced search | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lead lists, alerts, separate interface | No | No | No | Lead recommendations only | Yes | No |
| Candidate tracking and job posting | 1 free job post at a time | Same as free | Same as free | $50/month hiring credit | Same as free | Yes |
Sources: LinkedIn Help on free vs Premium accounts, profile viewers, invitation notes, the commercial use limit and free job posts, checked in October 2026.
LinkedIn Basic: what the free account does and doesn't do
The free account is enough for most members. With it you can build your profile, connect with people, message your 1st-degree connections, post and comment, apply to jobs, receive InMail from anyone, save up to three searches with weekly alerts, and see your three most recent profile viewers.
Its limits show up when you use LinkedIn to find people you don't know yet:
- No InMail. You can only message people you're connected to, plus a limited number of free messages per month to Premium members who have turned on Open Profile.
- Three personalized invitation notes a month, 200 characters each. Every other connection request goes out without a note.
- The commercial use limit. Search for people or browse profiles a lot and LinkedIn caps you until the 1st of next month. It doesn't publish the number.
- The weekly invitation limit, which applies to every account, paid or free. Our guide to LinkedIn's weekly invitation limit explains how it works.
Premium Career vs Premium Business: what's the difference?
Both share the same base: the full list of profile viewers, private browsing, applicant insights, "Top choice job", AI writing help, LinkedIn Learning and unlimited invitation notes. Business adds what you need to prospect:
| Premium Career | Premium Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | $39.99/month or $239.88/year | $69.99/month or $539.88/year |
| InMail credits | 5 a month (up to 15 accumulated) | 15 a month (up to 45 accumulated) |
| Monthly limit on people searches | Still applies | Removed (unlimited people browsing) |
| Business insights on companies | No | Yes |
| Custom button on your profile | No | Yes |
| Premium Service Page features | No | Yes |
| Built for | Finding a job | Finding clients, partners, investors |
Pick Career if your goal is a new job. Pick Business if you search for and contact people for your business every week. Also note that you can downgrade from Business later, but LinkedIn doesn't offer a downgrade from Career (LinkedIn Help).
Premium All-in-One: the new small business plan
All-in-One combines profile and Page tools for small business owners: 30 InMail credits a month, 15 daily prospect suggestions, unlimited advanced search, trending posts from your target clients, automatic follow invitations, a premium dashboard, and $50 a month each in post-boost and hiring credits. In October 2026 LinkedIn still describes it as "currently rolling out to a limited group", so it may not appear in your account.
Sales Navigator: Core vs Advanced vs Advanced Plus
Sales Navigator is a separate interface built for prospecting, with 50+ lead and account filters, saved lead and account lists, lead recommendations, real-time alerts, AI account and lead insights, and 50 InMail credits a month on every tier.
| Core | Advanced | Advanced Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | $119.99/month or $1,079.88/year | $159.99/month or $1,799.88/year | On quote |
| Best for | Individual sellers | Sales teams | Sales teams using an integrated CRM |
| Adds | The core prospecting toolset | Team features such as centralized seat management and billing, and TeamLink introductions | CRM integration, sold through LinkedIn's sales team |
Older articles mention "Sales Navigator Professional" at $79.99 a month: that's an outdated plan name and price. Our Sales Navigator pricing guide covers the tiers in detail, and Sales Navigator vs Premium helps if you're torn between it and Premium Business.
Recruiter Lite vs LinkedIn Recruiter
According to LinkedIn's Recruiter Lite page, Recruiter Lite is built for people "hiring just a few people a year" who need basic sourcing, while LinkedIn Recruiter is for talent and HR teams that hire more or source for competitive roles.
- Recruiter Lite (about $170 a month, self-serve): 20+ search filters, saved search alerts, daily candidate recommendations, hiring projects, job posting and 30 InMail credits a month. You can search your 1st, 2nd and 3rd-degree network.
- LinkedIn Recruiter (on contract): unlimited access to all LinkedIn members, for teams that source candidates every week. It's bought through LinkedIn's sales team, and LinkedIn says services purchased under its order forms are non-cancelable and non-refundable except as its subscription agreement provides.
Premium Company Page: an upgrade for your Page, not your profile
Premium Company Page ($99.99 a month) is bought by a Page admin and upgrades the company's LinkedIn Page: see who visited it, add a custom testimonial and credibility highlights, and auto-invite people who engage with your posts to follow the Page. Creating a Company Page stays free.
What happened to LinkedIn Learning, Business Plus and other old plans?
- LinkedIn Learning is no longer sold as an individual subscription. LinkedIn says Premium Career is now the closest thing for individuals; organizations buy Learning separately.
- Business Plus, Job Seeker and Sales Plus are old plan names from earlier versions of Premium.
- Sales Navigator Professional, Team and Enterprise were the former names of today's Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus tiers.
- Premium DACH Essentials is still active for some members in German-speaking countries but can no longer be purchased.
Which LinkedIn account type should you choose?
- You use LinkedIn to keep in touch and post: Basic.
- You're looking for a job: Premium Career, monthly, for the length of your search.
- You look for clients or partners every week: Premium Business.
- You run a small business and also hire or advertise: Premium All-in-One, if it's available to you.
- Prospecting is your job: Sales Navigator Core, or Advanced for a team.
- You hire a few people a year: Recruiter Lite.
Not sure the upgrade will pay for itself? We give a verdict for each profile in is LinkedIn Premium worth it, and explain how InMail credits work in what is InMail on LinkedIn.
Getting more out of whichever account you pick
Whatever your plan, LinkedIn won't export your search results or give you your prospects' emails. useArtemis does both: its LinkedIn scraper turns any LinkedIn or Sales Navigator search into a lead list with Premium and Open Profile signals, finds verified emails, and runs LinkedIn and email sequences from your own account at a human pace. It works with a free LinkedIn account as well as with Sales Navigator. Plans start at $69 a month as of October 2026.
FAQ
What are the different types of LinkedIn accounts?
There's one free account (Basic) and seven paid subscriptions: Premium Career, Premium Business, Premium All-in-One, Sales Navigator (Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus), Recruiter Lite, LinkedIn Recruiter and Premium Company Page. Each paid plan targets one use: job search, business networking, small business growth, sales prospecting, hiring or company Pages.
What is the difference between LinkedIn Premium Career and Premium Business?
Premium Career ($39.99 a month) is for job seekers, with applicant insights and 5 InMail credits a month. Premium Business ($69.99 a month) is for networking and prospecting: it removes the monthly limit on people searches, adds business insights and a custom profile button, and gives 15 InMail credits a month.
Can I switch between LinkedIn account types?
Yes. You can upgrade from the Premium features page by clicking Change plan, and the price difference is prorated. Downgrades are only possible on desktop, for Premium Business and Sales Navigator; Premium Career can't be downgraded. To move between Sales Navigator and Recruiter Lite, you cancel one and buy the other once it expires, or contact LinkedIn support (LinkedIn Help).
Is there a free business account on LinkedIn?
Yes: a LinkedIn Company Page is free to create. Premium Business is a paid plan for your personal profile, and Premium Company Page is the paid upgrade for a company Page.
How do I know which LinkedIn account type I have?
Click the Me icon at the top of LinkedIn, then Premium features. If you have a subscription, the My Premium page shows its name and status; if you're on a free account, LinkedIn invites you to try Premium instead.
