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LinkedIn InMail

LinkedIn InMail is a paid message you can send to a LinkedIn member you are not connected to. Sellers use it to reach buyers outside their network and recruiters to reach candidates, without waiting for a connection request to be accepted.

Updated October 2026 · 3 min read · GetSales team

How InMail differs from a message

A free LinkedIn account can message its 1st-degree connections.1 The two usual ways to reach anyone else are a connection request, where you wait for them to accept, and an InMail, which lands in their inbox right away. They can answer it or leave it unanswered.

InMail costs credits, and the credits come with a paid LinkedIn plan as a monthly allowance that differs from one product to the next.123

Kinds of InMail

  • Premium InMail comes with LinkedIn Premium plans such as Premium Business, whose InMail credits let you write to anyone on LinkedIn, even someone you are not connected to.2
  • Sales Navigator InMail comes with Sales Navigator, LinkedIn's plan for sellers. Every plan on its compare page lists it.3
  • Recruiter InMail goes out from a LinkedIn Recruiter licence to candidates anywhere on LinkedIn.1

How to write an InMail

An InMail reaches someone who never asked to hear from you, so the subject and the first line decide whether they read on.

  • A subject with your reason in it. Name the post, the hire or the change that made you write. A product name in the subject reads like an ad.
  • One line on why them. Something they said or did recently, in your own words.
  • One line on what you do. Who you help and with what. Leave the feature list for later.
  • One question. Easy to answer from a phone, with no meeting link attached.

InMail in a workflow

In GetSales, InMail is a workflow step beside Visit profile, Connection request and LinkedIn message, and a workflow can mix them with email steps and waits. Each step runs from your sender profile's own LinkedIn account, so the InMail step needs a Premium account with InMail credits left on it. By default a reply pauses the person's follow-ups, and each sending step shows what it sent, who replied and the rate.

Sources

  1. LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Free vs. paid hiring tools on LinkedIn for recruiters, undated (copyright 2026). Read 28 October 2026.
  2. LinkedIn Premium, LinkedIn Premium Business, last updated 20 April 2026 (pricing and plan details). Read 28 October 2026.
  3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Compare Plans and Pricing, updated 27 September 2026. Read 28 October 2026.

Last updated: October 2026

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