With over 722 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform on the internet. As of 2021, LinkedIn had over 57 million users in the United States alone. With such a massive global presence, many LinkedIn users wonder if they can access LinkedIn’s premium features for free through their Amazon Prime membership.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented online service. It operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched in May 2003, LinkedIn is currently owned by Microsoft. As a social network, LinkedIn allows members to create profiles and connections to each other in an online social network. Members can invite anyone (whether an existing member or not) to connect.
The main uses of LinkedIn include:
- Looking for jobs
- Recruiting talent for your business
- Advertising job openings
- Connecting with other professionals in your industry
- Following influential thought leaders to stay updated
- Promoting your business, brand or organization
LinkedIn generates revenue from 3 main sources:
- Talent Solutions: Products and services for recruiting professionals and human resource personnel to hire talent for their organizations. This includes job postings, recruitment media, and talent and hiring insights. This segment accounted for 61% of LinkedIn’s revenue in 2020.
- Marketing Solutions: Advertising products tailored for companies and organizations to reach LinkedIn’s user base. This allows advertisers to promote their brands, products, and services. This segment accounted for 28% of LinkedIn’s revenue in 2020.
- Premium Subscriptions: Paid subscriptions that offer additional services like viewing full profiles, seeing who’s viewed your profile, advanced search filters, unlimited inbox messages, and more. This segment accounted for 10% of LinkedIn’s revenue in 2020.
What is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon that gives users access to services and perks not available to regular Amazon customers. Prime was first launched in 2005 and has grown to over 200 million subscribers worldwide as of 2022.
The main benefits of an Amazon Prime subscription include:
- Free two-day shipping on eligible items
- Free same-day or one-day delivery in select areas
- Free release-date delivery on eligible pre-order items
- Free streaming movies, TV shows, and music through Prime Video and Amazon Music
- Free books, magazines, and more through Prime Reading
- Free unlimited photo storage through Prime Photos
- Access to exclusive deals and discounts
- Access to Prime Gaming for free games, in-game content, and a free Twitch channel subscription each month
In the United States, an Amazon Prime membership currently costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Members can share some benefits with other members of their household through Amazon Household.
Does a Prime membership include LinkedIn Premium?
Unfortunately, an Amazon Prime membership does not include or provide free access to LinkedIn Premium. LinkedIn Premium is a completely separate paid subscription from Amazon Prime.
While Amazon Prime and LinkedIn provide complementary business services, they do not have any formal partnership or bundling deal to provide mutual benefits across the platforms. The subscriptions operate independently.
LinkedIn Premium Features
LinkedIn Premium provides members with additional features and perks such as:
- Seeing who viewed your profile
- Seeing more profile information when viewing other members
- Advanced profile filtering and search options
- Unlimited message sending
- Ad-free browsing experience
- Free Learning courses and professional exam practice tests
- Audio version of articles
LinkedIn Premium costs $29.99 per month for the base Premium package. There are also more expensive Premium packages like Premium Career and Premium Business that provide more features.
Why Prime doesn’t include Premium
There are a few reasons why LinkedIn Premium is not bundled with Amazon Prime:
- LinkedIn and Amazon are separate companies. There is no partnership agreement between them to bundle services.
- LinkedIn Premium and Amazon Prime don’t overlap much in terms of core benefits, so there isn’t a strong incentive to bundle them.
- Both services generate significant standalone revenue. There is no compelling financial reason for either company to bundle them.
- Antitrust regulations likely discourage major players like Amazon and LinkedIn from forming exclusive partnerships that could limit consumer choice.
Can I get a discounted LinkedIn Premium subscription through Amazon?
Amazon does not sell LinkedIn Premium subscriptions directly on its platform. So an Amazon Prime membership does not provide any pathway to purchase LinkedIn Premium at a discounted rate.
You can only purchase LinkedIn Premium subscriptions through LinkedIn directly. LinkedIn does not authorize or allow third-party vendors like Amazon to sell Premium access.
How to get LinkedIn Premium discounts
While Amazon Prime doesn’t help you get LinkedIn Premium cheaper, there are a few ways you may be able to get a discount on LinkedIn Premium:
- Student discount: Verified students can get Premium for $14.99 per month, 50% off the regular price.
- Annual subscription: Purchasing an annual Premium subscription reduces the effective monthly price versus paying month-to-month.
- Group or corporate plans: Employers sometimes subsidize employee Premium subscriptions or negotiate group discounts.
- Promotional offers: LinkedIn occasionally offers discounted Premium trials or limited-time deals.
- Third-party seller deals: Some deal sites may offer discounted Premium gift cards, though terms often restrict new users.
Other Amazon Prime benefits for LinkedIn users
While Amazon Prime does not provide free LinkedIn Premium access, Prime members can take advantage of the following benefits when using LinkedIn:
Free photo storage
Amazon Prime members get unlimited photo storage through Prime Photos. This makes it easy to store all your profile photos and other images you may use on LinkedIn.
Free audiobooks
The free audiobooks included with Prime are useful for brushing up on business, career, and personal development skills. This can give you an edge on LinkedIn.
Free Kindle books
Amazon Prime gives you unlimited access to thousands of free ebooks through Prime Reading. You can use these to build your business acumen and other job skills.
Amazon benefits for recruiters
For recruiters and HR professionals who use LinkedIn for hiring, an Amazon Prime membership provides benefits like:
- Free expedited shipping on corporate supplies, gifts, and recruiting collateral
- Media benefits to develop employer brand videos and other content
- Credits for online services that support recruitment processes
Discounts on LinkedIn Premium alternatives
Some Amazon Prime members may not find enough value in LinkedIn Premium to justify the cost. In that case, Prime members can purchase discounted access to online learning platforms through Amazon that provide career and professional development courses to help build their skills and resumes.
The bottom line
While LinkedIn Premium and Amazon Prime both provide great benefits, they are separate paid services without any bundling agreements. Amazon Prime does not include or offer discounted LinkedIn Premium access.
LinkedIn Premium subscriptions must be purchased directly through LinkedIn. However, Prime members can take advantage of some complementary Prime benefits like free storage, media, and books to enhance their LinkedIn experience.
For the greatest access to premium features on both platforms, independent subscriptions to LinkedIn Premium and Amazon Prime are required. But each service can still be useful even without the other.