LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 810 million members worldwide. As a LinkedIn member, you can create a professional profile, connect with other professionals, join groups, follow companies, and apply for jobs.
LinkedIn offers several account types – Basic, Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite, Business Plus, and more. The two most common account types for individual users are LinkedIn Basic and Premium Career. Both offer useful features to help you network and advance your career, but Premium Career provides additional benefits.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll compare LinkedIn Basic vs Premium Career and outline the key differences in features, benefits, and pricing. Read on to decide which LinkedIn account is right for your career goals and budget.
LinkedIn Basic Overview
LinkedIn Basic is the free account offered to all LinkedIn members. With a Basic account, you can:
– Create a profile summarizing your work history, education, skills, and accomplishments.
– Connect with other professionals in your network.
– Join groups to connect with professionals in your industry.
– Follow companies to get updates on their products, services, and job openings.
– Post articles, photos, and updates to your connections.
– Do basic searches for people, jobs, companies, groups, etc.
– See who viewed your profile.
– Send InMail messages to people outside your network (limited to 15 per month).
The LinkedIn Basic account is ideal for those who want to maintain a professional presence and build connections on the platform. It offers core social networking and job seeking features for free.
LinkedIn Premium Career Overview
LinkedIn Premium Career (formerly Premium) is the paid subscription plan. It offers all the Basic features, plus additional benefits like:
– Seeing full profiles of everyone who viewed your profile.
– Advanced profile search filters and preferences.
– Unlimited InMail messages.
– Ability to follow up to 200 companies for job postings and other updates.
– Access to online courses and professional coaching.
– Salary data and career statistics.
– Interview preparation tools.
– Ad-free browsing experience.
The Premium Career account aims to help you grow your network faster, gain skills, obtain more job interviews, command a higher salary, and better manage your career. It’s geared for active job seekers and career-focused professionals.
LinkedIn Basic vs Premium Career: Key Differences
Here is an in-depth look at how the Basic and Premium Career plans differ:
Profile Views
– Basic: You can see the last 5 profiles that viewed yours.
– Premium Career: View all profiles that have viewed yours in the past 90 days. This allows you to identify and connect with more professionals interested in you.
Profile Search Filters
– Basic: Filter search results by location, current company, school, industry, etc.
– Premium Career: Advanced filters for experience level, company size, when profile was updated, where they live vs work, and more. You can target very specific audiences.
InMail Messages
– Basic: 15 per month. After using 15, you must pay for additional InMails.
– Premium Career: Unlimited. You can send InMail to anyone to help get noticed by top talent and decision makers.
Following Companies
– Basic: Follow up to 100 companies.
– Premium Career: Follow up to 200 companies to stay on top of openings and trends.
Online Courses
– Basic: No access to LinkedIn Learning courses.
– Premium Career: Unlimited access to 16,000+ expert-led online courses in 7 languages to build in-demand skills.
Career Coaching
– Basic: DIY career advancement.
– Premium Career: Chat 1-on-1 with a LinkedIn career coach to get unbiased advice and insights.
Salary Data
– Basic: Limited salary data.
– Premium Career: See salary ranges for specific job titles at particular companies to command higher pay.
Interview Preparation
– Basic: Use LinkedIn content and resources to self-prep for interviews.
– Premium Career: Get expert tips on cracking interviews, including simulated interviews personalized to your goals.
Ad-Free Experience
– Basic: See ads while browsing LinkedIn.
– Premium Career: Browse LinkedIn without annoying ads disrupting your experience.
Pricing
– Basic: Free
– Premium Career: Starts at $29.99 per month when paying annually (or $34.99 month-to-month). Discounts available for students and frontline workers.
LinkedIn Basic vs Premium Career: Pros and Cons
Let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of each subscription plan:
LinkedIn Basic Pros
– Free to use.
– Covers core networking and job seeking features.
– Lets you build connections and maintain a professional presence.
LinkedIn Basic Cons
– Limited profile views and InMail messages.
– No access to advanced networking and job seeking tools.
– See ads while browsing.
Premium Career Pros
– Deeper insights into who’s viewed your profile.
– Advanced search filters for targeted networking.
– Unlimited InMail messages.
– Access to 16,000+ courses, coaching, and interview prep.
– Ad-free browsing.
Premium Career Cons
– Costs $29.99+/month if paying annually.
– Higher value for active job seekers vs. casual users.
– Must renew subscription to maintain access to benefits.
Who Should Choose Which Plan?
Here are some recommendations on which LinkedIn plan may suit different users best:
LinkedIn Basic
Good for:
– Students and recent grads starting their network.
– Working professionals content in their current role.
– Casual users who mainly want to connect sporadically.
Premium Career
Good for:
– Active job seekers leveraging LinkedIn in their search.
– Ambitious professionals wanting to advance their career.
– Recruiters and sales professionals prospecting for clients.
– Anyone who will use the extra features frequently.
Can You Use Basic and Premium Career Together?
No, you cannot combine Basic and Premium Career accounts. LinkedIn only allows you to have one type of account at a time.
You need to cancel Basic when you upgrade to Premium Career. The Premium features replace those of Basic.
However, you can switch back and forth between Basic and Premium accounts as needed. Your profile and connections will remain intact when toggling plans.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Basic offers core social networking tools for free, while Premium Career provides advanced features to boost your career for a paid monthly or annual fee.
Premium Career is best suited for professionals actively managing their careers or looking to land a new job. Casual users may find sufficient value in the Basic free plan.
Evaluate which LinkedIn account plan aligns with your career goals and budget. You can always start with Basic and upgrade later if you want access to more powerful networking, job search, and skill building capabilities.