Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator worth it? A test you can run first
It is worth it if you are hitting LinkedIn’s commercial use limit most months. That limit caps how many profiles you can search and view on a free account, LinkedIn will not say what the number is, and it resets on the first of each month. If you have never seen it, Sales Navigator is solving a problem you do not have yet.
We build a browser tool that works on LinkedIn every day, so we watch people meet this wall. The arithmetic below is for your numbers: we have no survey of what a seat returns.
| Free account | Sales Navigator | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile search and views | Capped by the commercial use limit | Raised |
| When the cap resets | Midnight PST on the 1st | Not applicable |
| Is the number published | No, and it cannot be lifted on request | Not applicable |
| Saved lead and account lists | No | Yes |
| Alerts on job changes and company news | No | Yes |
| Cost | Nothing | US$1,079.88 a year on Core, billed annually |
The test to run before you subscribe
For the next two weeks, prospect the way you normally do and notice two things. First, whether a progress bar appears in your search results: LinkedIn shows one when about 30% of your allowance is left, then again as it drains. If you see it before the month is out, you are the buyer. Second, how many days you actually spend prospecting. Not how many you meant to. If the honest answer is two or three days a month, lists and alerts will not change your week, and neither will paying for them.
The arithmetic
Core billed annually is US$1,079.88 a seat. Put your own average deal value next to that. For most people selling anything with a four-figure contract, the tool pays for itself on a single deal it helped create, which is why the price is rarely the real objection. The real cost is the hour a day it wants from you. A tool you open twice a month is expensive at any price, and a tool you open daily is cheap at this one.
When Sales Navigator is not worth it
If you prospect in bursts a few times a quarter. If your pipeline comes from inbound, referrals or events. If you have never seen the commercial use limit warning. If you are buying it to get contacts into your CRM, which it does not do below Advanced Plus, and then only for four CRMs. In those cases a free account and a way to save the people you do find will serve you better, and cost less.
One warning about browser tools
LinkedIn’s own page notes that third-party plug-ins can consume your commercial use limit in the background, without the warnings you would normally see, because they run searches and open profiles for you. If you use one and the wall arrives early, that is worth checking before you conclude you need a subscription. A tool that only reads the profile you opened yourself does not add views you did not make.
What we see in the field
The subscription changes how you find people. It does not change how they reach your CRM. Sellers who pay for Sales Navigator still type contacts into Pipedrive or Zoho by hand, because LinkedIn’s own sync belongs to Advanced Plus and covers four CRMs. Whichever way you answer the question on this page, that part stays yours to solve.
Questions
How do I know if I have hit the commercial use limit?
A progress bar appears in your search results when roughly 30% is left, and LinkedIn stops further searches once it is spent. It resets at midnight PST on the first of the month.
Can I get the limit lifted without paying?
No. LinkedIn’s help page says it cannot lift the limit on request, and it does not publish the number.
Is Premium enough instead?
Premium Business also raises the limit and costs less than Sales Navigator. If the limit is your only problem, start there.
Does Sales Navigator get contacts into my CRM?
Not on Core or Advanced. Only Advanced Plus syncs, and only with HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle Sales and Salesforce.
Is there a free trial?
LinkedIn offers one from its own pages. Our cost post covers what happens when it ends.
