How Much Do LinkedIn InMail Credits Cost in 2026?

LinkedIn InMail lets you message anyone on the platform — even people outside your network. For recruiters, it is one of the fastest ways to reach passive candidates. But it is not free, and the credit system can be confusing.

This guide breaks down exactly how many InMail credits you get with each LinkedIn plan, what additional credits cost, how rollover and refunds work, and whether InMail is actually worth the price. We also cover practical alternatives that can stretch your outreach budget further.

If you are evaluating LinkedIn plans more broadly, see our full comparison of LinkedIn premium accounts for recruiting.

What are LinkedIn InMails?

InMails are private messages you can send to LinkedIn members who are not in your network. They appear directly in the recipient’s LinkedIn inbox and, unlike connection request notes, allow longer messages with a subject line.

There are three types:

• Free InMails — You can message anyone with an “Open Profile” (a Premium feature some users enable) at no credit cost.
• Paid InMails — Included with LinkedIn premium subscriptions. Each message uses one credit from your monthly allocation.
• Sponsored InMails (Message Ads) — A paid advertising format for bulk campaigns. These appear with a “LinkedIn Offer” label and are managed through LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager, not the recruiter interface.

InMails have an average response rate of 18–25%, significantly higher than cold email (typically 3–5%). However, that rate drops fast if your messages are generic or poorly targeted.

InMail credits by LinkedIn plan

The number of InMail credits you receive depends on your subscription tier. Here is a complete breakdown:

Notes:

• Recruiter Lite, Professional, and Corporate are the plans most recruiters use. For a detailed comparison, see LinkedIn Recruiter Lite vs Corporate.
• Sales Navigator is designed for sales professionals but some recruiters use it for talent mapping and lead generation.
• Premium Career and Business are personal plans — not designed for recruiting but sometimes used by independent recruiters on a budget.

How InMail credits work: rollover, expiration, and refunds

InMail credits follow specific rules that are easy to miss:

Rollover. Unused credits roll over to the next month automatically. However, LinkedIn caps accumulation at three times your monthly allocation. Once you hit the cap, new monthly credits stop accumulating until you use some.

• Example: With Recruiter Lite (30/month), you can accumulate up to 120 credits. If you already have 120, you will not receive your 30 for that month.

Expiration. Accumulated credits expire after 90 days of inactivity. If you downgrade or cancel your subscription, unused credits are lost immediately.

Refunds. If a recipient replies to your InMail within 90 days, LinkedIn refunds that credit to your account. This incentivizes well-targeted messages — the better your InMails, the more credits you effectively get back.

Pooled credits (Recruiter Corporate only). On the Corporate plan, InMail credits can be shared across your team. A recruiter who runs out can use credits from the team pool, which is useful for agencies or large TA teams with uneven workloads.

How to buy additional InMail credits

If you exhaust your monthly allocation, you can purchase additional credits:

• Cost: Approximately $10 per additional InMail credit. Pricing varies slightly by region and contract.
• Where to buy: Go to your LinkedIn account settings or the Recruiter/Sales Navigator admin panel. The option appears under subscription or billing management.
• Limits: LinkedIn caps the number of additional credits you can purchase per month. The exact cap depends on your plan.

Is buying extra credits worth it? At $10 per message, additional credits are expensive. If your response rate is 20%, that is $50 per reply. Before purchasing, consider whether alternatives like connection requests or email outreach could deliver similar results at lower cost (see below).

The real cost per response

InMail pricing looks different when you calculate the cost per actual response:

The math is clear: **included InMails are valuable** because you are already paying for the subscription. But **purchased InMails at $10 each have a steep cost per response** compared to email and connection requests.

The smartest approach is to use your monthly InMail allocation strategically — targeting high-value passive candidates who are unlikely to accept a connection request — and rely on other channels for volume outreach. For a multi-channel approach, see our guide on recruiting automation.

How to write InMails that get replies

Your credits are limited. Make each one count with these proven practices:

Keep the subject line under 5 words. Short, specific subject lines get higher open rates. “Quick question about [Company]” or “Opportunity in [City]” outperform long, formal subjects.

Lead with relevance, not your company. Open with something specific about the candidate — a recent project, a shared connection, a skill you noticed. Generic messages like “I came across your profile” signal mass outreach.

Stay under 400 characters for the body. LinkedIn’s own data shows shorter InMails perform significantly better than long ones. State why you are reaching out, what the opportunity is, and one clear next step.

Use a soft CTA. “Would this be worth a conversation?” converts better than “Book a call here.” People respond to low-pressure asks.

Send Tuesday through Thursday. Response rates peak mid-week. Avoid Friday afternoons and weekends.

Personalize at scale. If you are sending InMails in volume, use LinkedIn Recruiter’s templates with merge fields (first name, company, title) to maintain a personal feel without writing each message from scratch. For more templates and tips, see our post on how to message candidates on LinkedIn.

Free InMail hack: messaging open profiles

One often-overlooked feature: you can send free InMails to any LinkedIn member who has enabled “Open Profile.” This setting is available to Premium subscribers and makes their profile reachable by anyone at no credit cost.

How to identify open profiles:

• Look for the “Message” button on a profile even if you are not connected.
• In LinkedIn Recruiter, open profiles are flagged in search results.

Why this matters: A significant percentage of senior professionals and executives enable Open Profile to stay accessible. This means your highest-value targets may actually be free to message.

Limitations: You cannot include attachments, and the message appears as a free InMail (the recipient can see this). The content and length limits are the same as regular InMails.

Combining open profile messaging with targeted connection requests and email outreach can dramatically reduce your cost per contact.

Alternatives to LinkedIn InMails

InMails are not your only option. Here are four alternatives that can complement or even replace them:

Connection requests

Free and often more effective than InMails. By adding a short personalized note (under 300 characters), you can introduce yourself and establish a real connection. Once accepted, you can message the person freely — no credits needed.

The key is personalization. A generic “I’d like to add you to my network” gets ignored. Reference a specific detail from their profile or a mutual interest. For proven templates, see our LinkedIn connection request message guide.

For a deeper comparison, check InMail vs connection requests.

Email outreach

If you can find a candidate’s professional email address (using email finder tools or data enrichment), email has several advantages over InMail:

• No per-message cost
• No character limits
• Supports follow-up sequences
• Works even if the candidate is not active on LinkedIn

The trade-off is lower response rates (3–5%) and the need for a valid email address.

WhatsApp messages

In regions where WhatsApp is widely used (Europe, Latin America, parts of Asia), a brief message can cut through inbox noise. This works best when you already have the candidate’s phone number and when the outreach is contextual — not cold.

Multi-channel sequences

The most effective outreach combines channels. A typical sequence might be:

1. LinkedIn connection request (Day 1)
2. Follow-up InMail if not accepted (Day 4)
3. Email with a different angle (Day 7)
4. Final LinkedIn message or InMail (Day 14)

This approach maximizes touchpoints without over-relying on any single (expensive) channel. Many recruiters use outreach automation tools to manage these sequences at scale.

FAQ

How much does one LinkedIn InMail credit cost?

Additional InMail credits cost approximately $10 each. The exact price varies by region and contract terms. Credits included in your monthly plan allocation are effectively free beyond your subscription fee.

Do LinkedIn InMail credits roll over?

Yes. Unused credits roll over each month but are capped at three times your monthly allocation. For Recruiter Lite (30/month), the maximum accumulation is 120. Credits expire after 90 days of inactivity or if you cancel your subscription.

Can I get InMail credits refunded?

Yes. If a recipient replies to your InMail within 90 days, LinkedIn automatically refunds that credit to your account. This applies to all plan types.

How many InMails does LinkedIn Recruiter Lite include?

Recruiter Lite includes 30 InMail credits per month per seat. You can accumulate up to 120. For more features and credits, see our Recruiter Lite vs Corporate comparison.

What is the difference between InMail and a connection request?

InMail lets you message anyone on LinkedIn without being connected, but it costs a credit. Connection requests are free but limited to a 300-character note and require acceptance before you can message freely. InMails generally have higher response rates for cold outreach but connection requests are better for long-term networking.

Can I send InMails for free?

Yes — to members who have enabled “Open Profile.” This feature is available to Premium subscribers and makes them reachable at no credit cost. You can also send free messages to members of the same LinkedIn Group.

Is LinkedIn InMail worth it for recruiters?

InMail is worth it when used strategically for high-value passive candidates who are unlikely to accept a connection request. At an 18–25% response rate, the included credits are valuable. Buying additional credits at $10 each is harder to justify — consider supplementing with email and connection requests instead.

How do I check my remaining InMail credits?

In LinkedIn Recruiter, go to your account settings or look at the top of the messaging interface. In Sales Navigator, the credit count appears in your profile dropdown. LinkedIn also sends notifications when credits are running low.

Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn InMail credits

How many InMail credits do you get per month on each LinkedIn plan?

The allocation varies by plan: Premium Career gets 5 per month, Premium Business gets 15, Sales Navigator Core gets 50, Recruiter Lite gets 30, and full Recruiter gets 150. Free LinkedIn accounts get zero InMail credits but can message Open Profiles for free. For a full breakdown of plan differences, see our LinkedIn premium accounts comparison.

Do unused LinkedIn InMail credits roll over?

Yes, unused InMail credits roll over, but they expire after 90 days. You can accumulate up to three months’ worth of your monthly allocation. For example, with 50 credits per month on Sales Navigator, you can stockpile up to 150. After 90 days, the oldest unused credits disappear.

Can you send InMails for free without a Premium subscription?

Yes, in a limited way. Any LinkedIn member can send free InMail messages to users who have enabled the “Open Profile” setting, which is available to Premium members. These free messages do not deduct from your credit balance. This is a widely used strategy to extend outreach volume without paying for additional credits.

What is the difference between InMail and LinkedIn Message Ads?

Regular InMail is a one-to-one message sent from your personal account and costs 1 credit per message. Message Ads (formerly Sponsored InMail) are a paid advertising format managed through LinkedIn Campaign Manager, used for bulk campaigns. Message Ads cost between $0.50 and $1.00 per send on a bid basis. Recipients see them as promoted messages rather than personal outreach.

How can recruiters maximize their InMail credits?

Target Open Profiles first since those messages are free. Personalize each message to boost response rates, because responded InMails get credited back to your account. Keep subject lines under 10 words and send on weekday mornings for better open rates. Pairing InMail with automated LinkedIn messaging through a tool like Leonar lets you scale outreach while preserving credits for high-value prospects.

Managing your LinkedIn InMail credit budget effectively

Most recruiters know roughly how many InMail credits their plan includes, but very few treat those credits as a finite budget that deserves the same scrutiny as any other line item in their recruiting spend. Taking a disciplined approach to LinkedIn InMail credits can mean the difference between burning through your allocation by mid-month and consistently having credits available when a top candidate surfaces.

Start by auditing your current InMail credit usage. Pull up your sent InMails from the last 60 to 90 days and categorize each one: how many received a reply, how many went unanswered, and how many were sent to candidates who turned out to be a poor fit? Divide your total replies by your total InMails sent to calculate your effective credit return rate. Remember that LinkedIn refunds a credit for every InMail that gets a response, so a 25% reply rate means you effectively spend only 75% of the credits you use. If your return rate is below 15%, that is a signal to rethink your targeting and messaging before spending more.

Once you understand your baseline, the next step is strategic allocation. Not every candidate warrants an InMail credit. Connection requests are free and work well for mid-level professionals who are actively browsing LinkedIn. Save your InMail credits for the people who are unlikely to respond to a connection request: senior executives, passive candidates at competitive companies, and professionals whose inboxes are already overflowing with recruiter messages. These are the candidates where a well-crafted InMail, landing directly in their inbox with a subject line, genuinely outperforms other channels.

A practical framework is the 80/20 rule applied to your outreach mix. Route roughly 80% of your candidate outreach through free channels (connection requests with personalized notes, professional email, and LinkedIn group messages) and reserve the remaining 20% of your outreach, your InMail credits, for high-value targets where the extra visibility matters. This approach keeps your credits from running dry while still giving you a premium tool for the candidates who matter most.

Avoiding wasted InMail credits is equally important. Before spending a credit, check whether the candidate has an Open Profile. Open Profile members can receive free InMails from anyone, so messaging them costs you nothing. Also verify that the candidate is actually active on LinkedIn. A profile with no activity in six months is unlikely to see your InMail, let alone reply to it. Scanning for recent posts, comments, or profile updates takes only a few seconds and can save you from throwing credits into a void.

For teams with multiple recruiters, tracking credit usage across seats becomes critical. Without visibility, one recruiter might exhaust the team’s pooled InMail credits on low-priority roles while another scrambles to reach a finalist for an executive search. Tools like Leonar help by centralizing outreach data so managers can see exactly how many LinkedIn InMail credits each recruiter has used, what response rates they are achieving, and where credits would be better reallocated. Pairing this visibility with LinkedIn Recruiter automation tools lets you build multi-channel sequences that use InMails only at the optimal touchpoint in a campaign, rather than as a first resort. For a broader look at controlling your LinkedIn spend, our guide on how to reduce LinkedIn Recruiter cost covers additional strategies beyond credit management.

Wrapping up

LinkedIn InMail is a powerful outreach tool, but it works best when you understand the credit system and use your allocation wisely. Focus your InMails on high-value candidates, write short personalized messages, and supplement with free channels like connection requests and email.

For a complete picture of LinkedIn Recruiter costs beyond InMails, see our LinkedIn Recruiter cost breakdown. And if you want to reduce your dependency on InMail credits entirely, explore candidate sourcing software and multi-channel automation tools that combine LinkedIn, email, and other channels in a single workflow. To manage the candidates you engage through InMail, pairing your outreach with the best ATS for recruitment keeps every conversation organized from first touch to hire.